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The Gold: Who is in the cast of the new BBC drama?-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro
The six-part series starts tonight.
The Gold tells the story of the 1983 Brink’s-Mat robbery (Picture: BBC/Tannadice Pictures/Sally Mais)
The new BBC series The Gold pieces together the true story of the 1983 Brink’s-Mat robbery and what unfolded after six armed men stumbled across £26 million worth of gold.
It’s been 40 years since the robbery made headlines around the world, not just for the jaw-dropping amount that those involved made away with, but the fact it became the biggest theft in global history at the time.
Detectives at the time said it had begun as a ‘typical Old Kent Road armed robbery’ but ended up becoming a seminal event in the criminal history of this country.
The disposal of the bullion ended up spurring the start of large-scale international money laundering, provided dirty money that helped fuel London’s Docklands property boom, and also sparked a so-called ‘curse’, which left many people dead in the decades following.
The six-part series introduces the main players when it premieres tonight, with all episodes also available to watch on iPlayer too.
But just who are the characters involved, and who has been cast to play them?
Hugh Bonneville stars as Brian Boyce
Hugh Boneville plays detective Brian Boyce (Picture: BBC/Tannadice Pictures/Sally Mais)
Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey, Paddington) plays Chief Superintendent Brian Boyce, the real-life Met detective who was put in charge of the investigation into the robbery.
The actor has described his character as a ‘man of principle’.
‘Without him (Brian) at the helm, the investigation might have gone in a different direction. He was determined to solve this crime through dogged police work,’ he told The Express.
Before filming the series, Hugh also spent a ‘fascinating couple of hours’ with Brian, and was able to learn about the finer details of the case.
Jack Lowden as Kenneth Noye
Jack Lowden plays Kenneth Noye (Picture: BBC/Tannadice Pictures/Sally Mais)
The name Kenneth Noye may already sound familiar, with the criminal also known for murdering a man on the M25 in 1996 during a road rage incident.
Years earlier, Noye had been among those involved in laundering the bullion, and while being investigated, he also fatally stabbed Detective Constable John Fordham who was surveilling him.
Although Noye was charged, he was acquitted on the grounds of self-defence, however was found guilty of handling some of the stolen gold.
He was sent to prison for 14 years and fined £500,000. He was released after eight.
In 2019, after serving 20 years for the M25 murder, he was released from prison, aged 72.
He is played in the series by Jack Lowden (Slow Horses), who has said he was ‘careful’ to treat the role with care and try and ‘distance myself from the real guy’.
‘I was very, very strict on myself that I was basing everything on the script.’
Dominic Cooper as Edwyn Cooper
Dominic Cooper plays Edwyn Cooper (Picture: BBC)
In the series the main man who was behind laundering the money, Gordon Parry, is played by Sean Harris.
While Parry would eventually serve a decade behind bars, Dominic Cooper (Preacher, Mamma Mia) plays Edwyn Cooper, an amalgam of the real-life barristers and property developers who worked with the gang by setting up thousands of offshore accounts.
Tom Cullen as John Palmer
Tom Palmer plays John Cullen, who helped melt down the bullion (Picture: BBC/Tannadice Pictures/Sally Mais)
Just over 30 years after the Brink’s-Mat robbery, John Palmer would become another one of the people connected to the case who would be murdered.
In 2015 he was shot outside his home in Essex, with the crime still unsolved.
Once considered Britain’s richest criminal, it was reported that his £300 million fortune could mostly be attributed to his illegal dealings.
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Running a gold and jewellery dealing company in Bristol, he helped to melt down the gold, but later escaped being sentenced as he managed to convince a jury he wasn’t aware it had been stolen.
However in 2001 he was found guilty of masterminding the ‘largest timeshare fraud on record’ and jailed for eight years.
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The Gold was written by Neil Forsyth (Guilt) and directed by Academy Award-winning Aneil Karia (The Long Goodbye) along with Lawrence Gough (Misfits).
It also stars Charlotte Spencer (The Duke), Emun Elliott (Guilt), Sean Harris (Southcliffe), Ellora Torchia (Midsommar) and Stefanie Martini (Prime Suspect).
The Gold premieres tonight at 9pm on BBC One.
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