The Gold: The true story behind BBC’s latest drama

Virgin Radio

13 Feb 2023, 12:10

The Gold is the latest drama to hit BBC with Hugh Bonneville in the starring role, but how much of the new series is true?

Viewers have been left with a Happy Valley shaped hole in their lives following the end of the show last week, but hopefully The Gold can be a replacement.

Written by Neil Forsyth, the show chronicles that infamous Brink’s-Mat robbery of 1983, which saw £26 million worth of gold, diamonds and cash stolen from a warehouse near Heathrow Airport.

At the time, it was the biggest heist the world had ever seen.

Nearly 40 years later, the men behind the robbery and others connected to the case are being immortalised in the new crime drama.

Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville will star alongside Jack Lowden (Slow Horses), Dominic Cooper (The Preacher), Charlotte Spencer (The Duke), Tom Cullen (Becoming Elizabeth) and Sean Harris (Southcliffe).

As previously mentioned, the events of the series actually happened, with the Brink’s-Mat robbery that has since become a seminal event in British criminal history.

It was so huge, in fact, most of the gold stolen was never recovered and led to the origin of a large-scale international money laundering and the boom of the London Dockland’s property. As a result, if you have purchased gold jewellery in Britain since 1984, it probably contains traces of the gold taken from the Brink’s-Mat.

It all started when six armed men broke into the security depot, expecting to find £1million worth of cash, but instead they found gold bullion worth £26million.

Not knowing what to do with it, the gang enlisted the help of many other criminals, including a senior underworld figure known as The Fox, who could smelt it down and distribute the gold.

They also got the help of London’s most notorious crim syndicates- a jeweller who agreed to sell on the smelted gold.

In a complex turn of events, most of the gang ended up dead apart from leaders Robinson and McAvoy, who were later jailed for 25 years.

The High Court ordered McAvoy to make a payment of £27,488,299 and take full responsibility for the stolen gold. However, at that point, he had lost everything he made from the robbery.

He was released from prison in 2000.  

BBC commissioning editor Tommy Bulfin has said writers have done extenstive research on the case and interviewed those involved adding audiences are “in for a treat.”

The Gold is now available to watch on BBC iPlayer.