In early 2023, the BBC presented a series that has become one of the most talked about and critically acclaimed crime series in Britain. Filmin arrives Tuesday “Gold”created by Neil Forsyth and featuring Dominique Cooper … and Hugh Bonnevillemeticulously reconstructs the famous robbery of Brink’s-Matan attack which, four decades later, continues to occupy a central place in the UK’s criminal memory because of the way it exposed structural failings in security, financial supervision and the ability of institutions to track illicit capital. Forsyth himself details, in an interview with ABC, that his research work before writing took him six months, and that his involvement in the production was total, since as showrunner, “from start to finish, I am there. I’m quite obsessive… but that’s how I work”, a way of approaching the story which permeated the tone, rhythm and ambition of the project.
The series picks up this episode with an approach that combines historical rigor and a particular interest in the moral, social and economic consequences of the crime, beyond the immediate impact of the coup d’état. “The story of ‘The Gold’ is truly unique. It’s fascinating and full of unexpected twists and turns. “You think you’re going to see the story of a robbery and you end up seeing something much more complex and interesting.”
Gold and diamond bars
The events date back to November 26, 1983, when six armed men entered the Brink’s-Mat security depot, located near Heathrow Airport, after one of the facility’s guards facilitated their entry. The thieves were hoping to find cash, but opening the safe revealed a surprise that would forever change the scale of the crime: almost three tonnes of gold bars, as well as diamonds and bank notes, worth around £26 million. The British prosecution service’s own report at the time said it was the largest armed robbery committed on British soil. Several officers who participated in the investigation said years later that the discovery of the gold “completely changed the nature of the case”, since it forced the police to redirect efforts towards tracking down the precious metal and the financial networks likely to absorb it.
The series uses this starting point to articulate a story that, without deviating from the official timeline, focuses on the process of gold laundering. The episodes show how the loot, transformed by different methods to avoid identification, began to circulate through middlemen, exchange houses, front companies and international markets, in a circuit that crudely reflected the vulnerabilities of a financial system that was going through a stage of accelerated deregulation. Subsequent analyzes indicate that the Brink’s-Mat affair “contributed to the United Kingdom’s awareness of the scale of dirty money circulating in London”, an observation that the series integrates through the portrait of the inspectors, who try to reconstruct the route of the gold while the actors move between canons of loyalty, personal interests and a climate of growing distrust. In Forsyth’s words, this narrative choice was a natural one: “The flight was the least interesting part. “I didn’t want to tell a flight drama or make a documentary. »
“The Brink’s-Mat affair helped raise awareness in the United Kingdom of the scale of dirty money passing through London”
Neil Forsythe
Creator of “L’Or”
The unfolding of the plot highlights the internal tensions between the participants in the crime themselves, who, trapped in a world that sought to enrich themselves without a trace, are forced to maneuver in an environment where any mistake could lead to irreversible consequences. The series avoids simplifying group dynamics and depicts a scenario in which prior connections between criminals deteriorate alongside the complexity of the money laundering process. The initial theft gives way to a story that becomes a web of betrayals, ambition and uncertainty. “L’Or” focuses on the social implications of the operation, both due to the scale of the money stolen and the way in which part of this capital ended up infiltrating legal economic circuits.
The series’ story avoids sensationalism and relies on documented facts, although it combines dramatic elements that seek to explore the personal motivations of its protagonists. Forsyth says this is one of the keys to the project: “The story of Brink’s-Mat is full of fascinating characters from all walks of life,” he says, and this balance between reality and dramatization is only possible if it is based on exhaustive research, accompanied by “creative license that must be used responsibly.”
The result is a story that examines the extremes to which greed can lead and how one episode of violence can generate consequences that last decades. It also constitutes an x-ray of the period. “I think ‘The Gold’ tells a very interesting story about British society in the 1980s… a time when institutions were failing and the idea of what Britain was was changing,” Forsyth said.
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