BBC One has released first look images of its new drama series based on the real-life “crime of the century”, the Brink’s-Mat robbery.
Entitled The Gold, the six-episode series was written by Neil Forsyth (Guilt) and will star Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), Jack Lowden (Slow Horses), Dominic Cooper (The Preacher) and Charlotte Spencer (Cinderella).
When six men set out on a “typical Old Kent Road armed robbery” of Brink’s-Mat security depot near Heathrow Airport on the 26 November 1983, they inadvertently stumbled upon a pile of gold bullion worth £26 million.
The vast scale of the theft meant its legacy lasted decades. The disposal of the bullion birthed large-scale international money laundering, fuelled the London Docklands property boom, united blue and white collar criminals, and left controversy and murder in its wake.
Based on extensive research and interviews with those involved, The Gold will tell the epic story for the first time in its entirety, promising a gripping dramatisation of the events from the 1980s.
This year’s Oscar-winner for Best Live Action Short Film, Aneil Karia (The Long Goodbye), will direct the series, which also features Tom Cullen (Black Mirror), Emun Elliott (Guilt), Sean Harris (Southcliffe), Ellora Torchia (Midsommar) and Stefanie Martini (The Last Kingdom).
The BBC has announced further cast, including: Daniel Ings (I Hate Suzie) alongside James Nelson-Joyce (Time), Sophia La Porta (Four Weddings And A Funeral), Dorothy Atkinson (Call The Midwife), Adam Nagaitis (Chernobyl), Hadley Fraser (Gentleman Jack), Silas Carson (Dr Who), Sean Gilder (Sherwood), Nichola Burley (Behind Her Eyes), Amanda Drew (A Very British Scandal), Sam Spruell (Small Axe: Mangrove), Frankie Wilson (Call The Midwife), Paul Thornley (Treadstone), Dan Li (Vigil), Chris Coghill (Slow Horses), Micah Balfour (The Trial of Christine Keeler), Ruth Bradley (Ted Lasso), and Peter Davison (All Creatures Great and Small).
Tommy Bulfin, the BBC’s Commissioning Editor, said: “The fact that we have assembled such a talented and exciting ensemble cast is testament to Neil’s incisive interrogation of one of the most infamous robberies in British history and the remarkable events which came in its wake.
“And to have the brilliant Aneil Karia join fresh from his Oscar win is the icing on the cake. The BBC One audience are in for a real treat when this hits the screen.”
