

Episode 2
Episode 2 | 53m 5sVideo has Audio Description, Closed Captions
The criminals create a system to smelt the Brink’s-Mat gold and sell it back into the market.
The criminals create a system to smelt the Brink’s-Mat gold and sell it back into the market with the profits being laundered. Jennings and Brightwell make a breakthrough in the case.
See all videos with Audio DescriptionADProblems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Funding for MASTERPIECE is provided by Viking and Raymond James with additional support from public television viewers and contributors to The MASTERPIECE Trust, created to help ensure the series’ future.

Episode 2
Episode 2 | 53m 5sVideo has Audio Description, Closed Captions
The criminals create a system to smelt the Brink’s-Mat gold and sell it back into the market with the profits being laundered. Jennings and Brightwell make a breakthrough in the case.
See all videos with Audio DescriptionADProblems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch The Gold
The Gold is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.

The Gold: Don't Miss the New Heist Drama
Discover all the reasons to watch The Gold starring Hugh Bonneville and Jack Lowden when it comes to MASTERPIECE.Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship♪ ♪ (men shouting) REPORTER: Six robbers have carried out an armed raid, stealing three tons of gold.
♪ ♪ You two picked up Brink's-Mat?
Yes, sir.
I'm taking it over.
Our friend says you can shift it.
JOHN: I'm not a villain.
Not like that.
Neither am I. All we'd be doing is turning it legit.
EDWYN: I shall take 25% to clean it through Swiss bank accounts.
JOHN: You'd need a team to do it.
You need a lot of people looking the other way.
KENNETH: I can handle it.
I'm ready.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (singer vocalizing) (New Order's "Temptation" playing) (singer continues) ♪ ♪ JOHN (on TV): Gold!
You've got it, we want it.
Best prices guaranteed.
No amount too big or small.
Send us your gold or visit us at these markets.
(shrieks) Scadlynn-- we want your gold.
I knew you'd end up in Hollywood, John, with those eyes of yours.
West Country TV at midnight's hardly Hollywood, Marnie.
(chortling) Another drink for the film stars?
(exhales): Yes, please, Marnie.
Hope it's not too expensive, all that advertising.
No, no, no.
No, pays for itself, this stuff.
♪ ♪ Hm.
♪ ♪ EDWYN: I shall be away tomorrow.
Oh?
For the night.
Golf with clients.
Wales, of all places.
You haven't played golf in 20 years.
And this is why.
You play golf, you end up in Wales.
♪ ♪ ♪ A heaven, a gateway ♪ ♪ A hope ♪ ♪ Just like a feeling inside... ♪ KENNETH: Hello, Brian.
Jesus.
(chuckles) Hello, Kenny.
(sniffs) It's good to see you back.
Yeah, well, I missed the rain.
You know, let me get you a drink.
(sniffs) (clears throat) No, no-- I'll get these, Brian.
♪ Too hard to say ♪ ♪ Up, down, turn around ♪ ♪ Please don't let me hit the ground ♪ Scadlynn Gold Merchants-- we'll buy your gold!
That's right, you might've seen us on the telly.
Come have a look.
♪ Up, down, turn around ♪ ♪ Please don't let me hit the ground ♪ Scadlynn Gold.
Rita, my love, come here.
Keeping well?
What have you got for me today?
Absolutely gorgeous, thank you very much.
GARTH: Yeah, yeah, thank you.
JOHN: Mr.
Chappell, that's from Rita.
Give me a tenner for that, will you?
(singer vocalizing) (bicycle bell ringing) ♪ ♪ MANAGER: The account operates under a codeword, but, uh, we do need a name for internal use.
That would be Mr.
Parry.
♪ ♪ (singer vocalizing) ♪ ♪ (song stops) Hello, Jeannie.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Hello, Kenny.
(door closes) (Kenneth clears throat) How are you, then?
(Jeannie sighs) It's like a dagger through my heart, actually, this, Kenny.
Yeah.
(sighs): Losing a husband, then losing an house.
(exhales) Ain't been a great few months, to be fair.
Yeah, I heard the well ran a little dry.
I need debts chasing.
I'll give you half.
Come on, Jeannie, you know plenty of blokes who could that for you.
But they can't give you what I can.
What's that, then?
A job.
A what?
("Temptation" resumes) ♪ ♪ (door closes) ♪ ♪ (phone ringing out) (other end picks up) Ready?
Yeah.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yup.
Well, then, we'd best get started.
(phone antenna retracts) (whistles) ♪ ♪ (song stops) We're looking for six robbers and three tons of gold.
We have McAvoy and Robinson, so now it's four robbers and three tons of gold.
And here they are.
Intelligence, surveillance, and a bit of common sense.
Four names, four robbers.
Take them at the same time, tell their wives they're going to Hackney nick, bring them here for questioning, then we'll have until their lawyer gets from Hackney nick to here to get one of them to give up the gold.
Questions?
Do it quietly.
(laughs softly) BOYCE: Remember, they'll be watching us just as much as we'll be watching them.
(people talking in background) KENNETH: You lot keeping busy, then?
DAVE: Oh, you know us, Kenny.
All the high-end stuff.
Car chases, cat burglars.
(chuckling): Actually, there was a cat burglar, to be fair.
Someone nicked a kitten down in Sidcup.
No.
(chuckles): Yeah.
The owner gave us a list of suspects.
Two of them are dogs.
(both laughing) And to think, the Met don't take us seriously.
(sniffs) That lot must be knocking about a bit, then.
The Met.
Oh, what would they want out here?
Oh, I just thought the, uh, Flying Squad might be poking about, that Brink's-Mat job.
Oh, no, not in bloody Kent, they're not.
Well, unless they reckon it was a couple of dogs.
(both laughing) (sniffs) Hackney?
Worth a go.
How can we help?
Go on, then.
Give me the alibis.
My client was at home with his wife, after spending the evening socializing with friends.
My client was staying with his elderly mother, who recently suffered a stroke, though fortunately is lucid enough to testify to his presence.
My client was with his family.
I have signed statements from all of them, bar the two-year-old.
But I could ask her to draw you a picture, if you'd like.
Unfortunately, my client's recently emigrated to sunnier climes, on account of his asthma.
But he has asked me to pass on his very best wishes to your investigation.
(exhales) ♪ ♪ I'm twiddling my thumbs here, Kenny.
You got to speed it up.
Yeah, I will.
I've ordered that thing from Hatton Garden to knock off the numbers.
Yeah, well, I hope you were careful.
Don't have to tell me that, John.
All quiet round your way?
(inhales sharply) Yeah.
They've not heard a peep.
Good, good, good-- good.
And make sure your lot keep their heads down, right?
Nothing flash, no spending-- all right?
(brakes squeaking softly) Yeah, you don't have to tell me that, Kenny.
(receiver replaced) (parking brake engages) (engine stops) ("So What" by Miles Davis playing) (knock at door) Sir... (sighs) ...every day, more of that gold will be getting turned into money.
And we're not doing anything about it.
(sighs) The only way the gold turns into money is if they manage to sell it back into the market.
If they do, then the only people who will notice it is the Gold and Precious Metals Division at Customs.
I mean, can, can we go and speak to them, sir?
Customs believe, with some justification, that we're corrupt.
As a result, they'll most likely tell you nothing while inflicting a level of humiliation that would be inappropriate for me to experience, but that I think you two could comfortably handle.
(music continues) (phones ringing in background) (sighs) (knocks): Hi.
It's, it's Brink's-Mat, isn't it?
Uh, can we help you?
Sorry, I'm, I'm Osborne.
I think you're waiting for my boss.
Been waiting a while, mate.
Hm.
So you do gold, do you?
Uh, yeah, uncustomed gold, yeah.
Where V.A.T.
's being avoided, which tends to mean stolen or, uh, nicked, to use your parlance.
It's Brink's-Mat, isn't it?
Will he be long?
Oh, he won't help you.
You know, this is a little déclassé for Her Majesty's Customs.
(Osborne and Tony chuckling) Yeah.
What's our jurisdiction again?
London.
All of it?
All of it.
He'll help us.
Okay.
Good luck.
(Marnie murmuring) Oh, but it's beautiful, John!
Give me the keys.
Did you see the seats?
Give me the keys-- we're taking it back.
What are you on about?
We've been waiting months for it.
We don't have the money.
(exhales): You've been out at that smelter every night.
How can we not have the money?
(door slams) (exhales) It's not as simple as that.
All right?
Look, give me some time, we can have any car that we want.
But not yet.
I'm taking it back.
♪ ♪ (keys clinking) (house door slams) Cheeky bastard.
Nice biscuits.
(sighs): They were nice biscuits.
So, not all of London, then?
(cackles) (softly): It's Brink's-Mat.
Now, tell us one thing we don't know.
Um... All right.
Well, if they have half a brain, they won't try and move the gold without removing the serial numbers.
And how would they do that?
Portable smelter.
And if, if they didn't expect the gold, then they won't have got one in advance.
Where would they get it?
Hatton Garden.
Ask for anyone paying cash.
And then what comes after the, uh, smelter?
Oh, let's just start with that.
Look at this.
The new flats at Chelsea Harbour, whatever the hell that is.
There's nothing wrong with reinvention.
"Furnishing available by the Conran Shop"?
Dear God, can you imagine?
Well, you can't buy class.
I have another trip away this week.
We're going down to the school on Wednesday.
Oh, that place-- yeah, that's one option.
Sorry?
Not one that I particularly favor.
She will be going there.
What, because you did?
Because I did, because my mother did, because my father is on the board of governors and pays for their education.
None of this is news to you, Edwyn.
I just think we should consider some more, uh, modern options.
And what might "modern" mean to you?
It means that her life won't be marked out in advance.
It means it won't be predictable, narrow, and boring.
(scoffs): Is that what I am to you?
Am I boring compared to more modern options?
That's not what I'm saying.
We're going down to the school on Wednesday.
(sipping) (door opens) (door slams) (traffic passing) MO: Nothing springs to mind.
Listen, mate, I've been in half the merchants' in Hatton Garden this morning, and, uh... (chuckles): No one's been pleased to see me.
(laughs) I know this game's blurry around the edges.
I don't care.
I just want to know if anyone's ordered a smelter for cash.
Sorry.
It's not ringing a bell.
(exhales) "No."
That's what you say to get rid of the police.
I mean, that's what the good villains say.
But people who aren't villains, people who've got themselves into a bit of a situation and don't know how to get out of it, they talk about things not springing to mind, and about bells not ringing, so... (clears throat) Let's try again.
They gave a moody name and paid cash.
When they were told it would take a week to come down from the factory in Worcestershire, they said they'd pick it up there themselves.
When?
Tomorrow.
Which means I need a bug and a pursuit vehicle flown over from Belfast today so we can bug the smelter tonight and follow whoever picks it up tomorrow.
We're fighting a bombing campaign in two countries.
If we request moving resources from Northern Ireland, it would go up the chain of command and come back down as a fairly ugly no.
You don't have to send it up.
I can speak to who I need to speak to.
You've got surveillance on the task force.
John Fordham and his team.
It doesn't get better than that.
No, they're round the clock on the robbers.
STEWART: Then why are you chasing a bloody smelter?
Your job is to catch the robbers and find the gold.
BOYCE: The case is opening up a little, sir.
Not without discussion, it's not.
MCLEAN: The smelter leads back to the gold, sir.
I'll monitor the operation personally.
STEWART: Fine, but you'll use what you have.
They're Flying Squad detectives, Boyce, not traffic wardens.
They can follow a bloody car.
Let's hope they can, sir.
(door closes) (birds chirping) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ PARRY: Never in my lifetime did I think I'd own my own wharf, Mr.
Cooper.
Neither did I. One down, seven to go.
It's too slow.
You think this is slow, you wait until we get to the planning.
For this to work, the money has to keep moving.
We have to find other places for it to go.
♪ ♪ I've got to skip.
I'll call you later.
Slowly, slowly, catchy monkey, Mr.
Cooper.
Yes.
♪ ♪ (door closes) (sighs) (engine starts) (Tony sighs) Christ, this is boring.
(exhales) How'd you get here?
Clapham, weren't it?
Yeah, uh... Burglary, and then... (inhales): Serious crimes, and then Flying Squad, and then, God help me, you.
(chuckles) Here's how I got here.
Two years at Hendon, top of the year, and then they asked if I'd switch to secretarial.
(sighs) Then three years at Hackney, but just the sex offenses, 'cause only a woman can handle that, so that was three years of battered wives and ruined kids, until I told my super I'd go above him, rank by rank, until someone let me do the same job as the blokes.
Then they put me on murder squad and told me to take statements.
So, I read the statements, and I taught myself how to see all the little holes liars leave when you read them right.
And I caught people, and I caught some more, and I caught enough to make it to Flying Squad, and to sit here and listen to you telling me this is boring.
(grunts) That's how I got here.
(softly): All right.
So stop your moaning and give me one of your sandwiches.
No way.
I told you you'd need some.
Oh, come on.
You're punishing me for being prepared.
I'll have the lot if you don't shut up.
I don't think so, I made... (both grunt) Here we go.
NICKI (on radio): Got movement.
Stand by, all cars.
I'll take it!
Just like that?
Just like that.
No wife to consult?
No, she doesn't get involved in this.
That keeps it simple.
(chuckles) (chuckles) We offer a furniture package through the Conran Shop, if you're interested.
I'll take that, too.
We're selling the berths, if you sail.
I can't swim.
There's a pool downstairs-- you could learn.
It's a bit late for that.
Oh?
I think a man who buys a place like this ten seconds after walking in the door can do anything he wants.
(car approaching) He's got the smelter and he's moving.
Count to ten, stay two cars behind.
Count to ten, stay two cars behind him.
(radio replaced) (exhales) Right, I'm driving.
Why?
'Cause it's like going out with my nan.
Get out.
Mm.
(sighing): Fine.
♪ ♪ (breathing evenly) ♪ ♪ Car one, location?
Still heading east through Surrey on the A25.
He's sticking to back roads-- we're on him, but we're struggling.
He's not hanging about and he's got a lot more under his bonnet than we do.
BOYCE: It's difficult to engage in a pursuit without a pursuit vehicle.
(phone rings) HARRY: Hello?
(man speaking faintly on phone) Yeah, thanks.
(receiver replaced) It's a false plate, sir.
Nicked from a lorry two weeks ago.
♪ ♪ (muted) He's turned off, south on the B522.
I'll tell you one thing, sir, he isn't going to South London.
♪ ♪ Stand down the London cars.
HARRY: Stand down, cars two and three.
Save you a bit of overtime.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Got him, sir.
Woman driver.
♪ ♪ (tires squealing) He's one car ahead.
♪ ♪ We may have a problem.
(engine revving) That ain't good.
(signal bell ringing) (engine revving) ♪ ♪ (engine revving) (signal bell ringing) (muted) (engine roaring) ♪ ♪ (signal bell ringing) ♪ ♪ Beautiful, ain't it?
(gasps) (engine roaring) (signal bell ringing) Stop, stop!
(muted) Christ, Nic!
Stop!
(muted) Christ!
(tires skidding) (panting) (sighs) (train passing) (softly): Lost him, sir.
BOYCE (softly): No.
TONY (on radio): Last seen in Kent heading east over a level crossing outside West Kingsdown.
(train clattering over radio) (train passing) (sighs) (train fades) (panting softly) Where does this end?
I don't know.
But it doesn't end with the robbers.
Next time you need something, come to me.
I'm still trying to get the mix right.
(flames roaring) The old bits, that adds character.
(clears throat) And then the new stuff, that ups the quality.
See?
(breathes heavily) (sniffs) I always think how each one of these must have a story.
I mean, who bought it.
Who they bought it for.
Why they bought it.
You just, just take all those stories and just melt them all together.
I'm making a new story.
I'm making a new life for us.
Look at the life we have now, John.
(chuckles) Neither of us could've dreamt of this.
I know.
I know, love.
But the thing about gold is, if you have enough of it, it can give you a life you didn't have any business dreaming about.
Come here.
(hinges creak) HENRIETTA (whispers): Straight back to class.
(door creaks shut) HENRIETTA (voiceover): I'm afraid that here at St.
Jude's, the sands are shifting beneath us.
To the nouveau riche, we're seen as old-hat.
Admissions are down, and government support is sensitive in our new classless society.
Our bursar, Mr.
McDonald, has been approached by property developers to buy the Old Wing and convert it into flats.
(exhales) Which is why we need to stick together, and you need to entrust your daughter to us.
Stand up for tradition and say, "Perhaps society is just fine as it is."
♪ ♪ (clears throat) 100,000 in 50s, please, love.
From the Scadlynn account.
(chuckles) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (engine idling) TONY: We're sorry, sir.
We did what we could with the resources we were given.
Can we go down to Kent?
What for, bit of trainspotting?
To try and pick up the trail, sir.
We could-- we could talk to Kent Police, see if the car means anything to them.
What's the first rule of working in Kent?
Don't tell Kent Police you're there.
Or the birds start singing.
Good luck.
(people talking in background) You ready, Jeannie?
JEANNIE: Two minutes, love, I'm just doing me barnet.
(knock at door) (door opens) Piece of piss.
(bag set down) (door closes) What's going on up top, Brian?
It's a disguise.
Our one aim is not to attract attention.
And one way to attract attention is to walk about with what appears to be a (muted) squirrel on your head.
Hello, Jeannie.
(sighing): Oh, Jesus (muted).
You look great, Jeannie.
Thank you, Brian.
I love the wig.
See?
Jeannie, the idea is that people don't remember you.
We're going up town, Kenny.
I'll not go up town in rags.
Yeah, I love it.
Still married, Brian?
(chuckles): Depends who's asking.
(exhales): Shall we have a little drink?
Yeah.
KENNETH: No!
Right.
You, lose the syrup and piss off home.
And you, get up them stairs and don't come down looking like Liberace.
Cheeky sod.
(door opens) It's pure silk, this is.
And none of your hooky stuff, neither.
Kenny, it's not as easy as that.
It's glued on.
(door closes) (clears throat) It's nice to see you, love.
Hello, Micky.
How've you been?
How the (muted) do you think I've been?
KATHLEEN: The thing is, Micky, you're looking at 20 on a good day, hm?
It's a long time.
Yeah, you're not doing much for the old morale here, love.
I'm just saying, how do I know, if I wait for you, you'll look after me?
(bell rings in background) I'm sorry.
Prove it.
How about a nice house in the country?
How about a nice house in the country?
(car passes) I could do with a drink, Kenny.
(sighs) We get this done, Jeannie, you can drink the Thames.
Hm.
(breath trembling) You know, Jeannie, people like us, we have to fight twice as hard to get anything in this world, don't we?
We fight to get it, then we fight to keep it.
So I never thought I'd see the day where Jeannie Savage would let them take that nice house of hers away without fighting to keep it, when all you need to do is stick it in the bank.
(car passes) Don't (muted) move.
(keys jangling) (exhales deeply) (car passes) NICKI: Come on, then, get them out.
TONY: Oh... (grunts, exhales) Are you taking the piss?
(sighs): All this running Boyce is making me do, it's made me think about my life, Nic.
About mortality.
About the cold hand of death that sits ever present on our shoulders.
(exhales) Bacon sandwich?
Absolutely.
(chuckling) (engine starts) (dogs barking) Good boys, good boys.
(barking continues) (phone ringing) BRENDA: Ken?
Ken, love.
Yeah.
Ken.
Yeah?
(phone ringing) That one's been going all morning.
(murmuring) (softly): Stop.
(sniffs) (button beeps) Yeah?
MICKY (on phone): You know, Kenny, I thought the one thing that'd be easier about being in here would be the old domestic.
But if anything, it's bloody worse.
What do you want, Micky?
Two houses.
(people talking in background) Tony!
Dave, hiya.
All right?
Uh, we went to Hendon together.
Oh, so he did get some training, then?
DAVE: Well, a little, yeah.
(all laugh) Hey, you're Flying Squad these days, aren't you?
TONY: That's right, yeah.
Ah, yeah, so what are you doing down here?
We're on our way to the coast.
A suspect legged it for France.
Didn't make it past Dover.
(chuckles) Right.
Good to see you, Tony.
Cheers, Dave.
(car door opens) ♪ ♪ (knocks) You're Osborne?
(stammers): Yes, yes, sir.
You were right about the smelter.
(murmuring): Right about the smelter.
Oh!
Well... Glad to be of assistance.
That's lucky.
I'm seconding you to my task force.
Oh, they, they'll never allow that.
I've just met with your superior.
I informed him of my plan to publicly announce my gratitude for the assistance of Her Majesty's Customs in the Brink's-Mat investigation.
He recognized that as the trap that it was, and we negotiated all the way down to you.
(chuckles): I see.
(softly): Go through every suspicious gold transaction you have since the day of the robbery.
Come and see me when you find something.
Okay, okay-- well, well... Should I wear some form of uniform, or... Were you in the Scouts?
Mm, no, no.
My mother felt they were fascistic.
Just wear your own gear, then.
Okay, wear my own gear.
(blows out) I was clear that I wouldn't deal with those at the coalface.
Call it a one-off.
(sniffs) This is exposing.
It's very well you and I buying property.
You're talking about the accused ringleader.
It's ludicrous.
Well, he's looking at 25 years, Mr.
Cooper.
The feeling is, if he gets the houses, he'll take the 25, everything else moves on.
And it's short-sighted.
Micky McAvoy for you.
He's in prison.
And he's got friends who ain't.
Why does he need two?
Ah, well, that's another story.
It looks a bit flimsy, with the wood.
EDWYN: It's stayed up for 300 years.
You should be fine.
KATHLEEN: Yeah, that'll do.
Yeah, I should hope so.
Be good for parties.
(mutters): Christ.
No parties, Kath, please.
God, you lot are boring.
Listen, Jackie.
(sighs) You really need to keep your head down with this one, please?
You don't need to tell me to keep my head down, Gordon.
Just trying to help, Jackie-- you know me.
I'll take it.
♪ ♪ This is a mistake.
You can't make a mistake, Mr.
Cooper, if you've got no choice.
Okay, this is boring.
Come on, then.
How did Micky McAvoy know your dad?
My old man was, by a country mile, the worst villain in England.
He paid off that many people, every time he did a job, he made a loss.
I don't mind that he paid off people like McAvoy, but I do mind that he paid off bent police and bent lawyers.
Those ones, the ones who make clean money from the law and dirty money from breaking it, those are the ones I'd like to nick.
Mm.
Those ones don't get nicked easy.
(car approaching, brakes squeaking) Yeah, and that's this country's whole problem right there.
The game's crooked, because the ones who set the rules... Don't turn around.
(engine revs) Brian Reader?
You sure?
100%, sir.
We pulled him in for the Baker Street Lloyds Bank job.
He was on the run in Spain, last time I heard.
He must have run out of money, sir.
Which means he's looking for work.
Summat's going on in Kent, sir.
(people talking in background) BOYCE (claps): Who knows someone who worked in Kent, but doesn't work there now?
My old super-- he's a DCI in Clapham.
Straight?
As a die, sir.
Don't give him the names.
(phone ringing in background) Congratulations.
Spending money doesn't require talent.
Making it does.
To a degree.
You know, I shouldn't have got this job.
When I went for the interview, I saw all the men waiting for theirs.
Older, more experienced.
So I went in and said they can keep the salary.
I'd work, for free, for a year, commission only, and I got it.
Because London's changing.
It's about... Ambition.
Possibility.
(exhales) How about dinner tonight?
Oh... I'll be going home for dinner.
Well, then.
Here's to possibilities.
(glasses clink) Special task force?
That's it, guv.
Huh.
Over the river, too.
Well, good for you, son.
Huh.
So, what's the job?
(exhales): Uh, we hoped to chat to you about Kent, sir.
(clears throat): Off the record.
NICKI: Who moves stuff on down there?
Bigger jobs, more specialist?
(blows out): Could give you a hundred names.
With links to South London.
Uh, make that 200.
It's not about names, it's about links.
So give me your suspects, I'll give you links.
It's Brink's-Mat, sir.
I knew it was Brink's-Mat when he said you were over the river.
Huh?
I've been in the game longer than the three of you put together-- stop pissing about and give me your suspects.
(lighter clicks) (lighter clicks) (exhales) We reckon that's the other four robbers, sir.
♪ ♪ (inhales) (inhales sharply, exhales) Get on the floor!
JACKSON: No.
(shouting indistinctly) No.
(shouting) Nope.
♪ ♪ Well, if he's involved... (inhales) ...he'll have his mate doing the gold.
(exhales) Who's his mate?
(inhales) Kenneth Noye.
He's linked to a McAvoy associate, and has convictions for fencing stolen goods.
I knew if I hung in there, one day, you two would tell me something interesting.
We've never heard of him.
You wouldn't have.
There's nothing in the system.
(chuckles): He's not the sort of villain you put in the system.
This is Boyce-- get me everything you have on Kenneth Noye by tomorrow morning.
We looked at him for a long time in criminal intelligence.
We knew he was a fence.
I thought he was something more, but he has something that not many of them have.
What's that, sir?
Protection.
(dart lands) Oh, you're gonna do me again here, you bandit!
(chuckling) (dart lands) Git!
(growls softly) (laughs) That is the one good thing about being a copper in Kent: you get good at darts.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
All right.
(dart lands) (clicks tongue) I saw some Flying Squad down your way the other day.
Oh, yeah?
Yeah, said they were on their way to Dover.
Well, it's a funny route to take.
Yeah, it is, yeah.
(dart clatters) (sighs) Unlucky.
(quietly): Shut up.
♪ ♪ Thanks.
(papers shifting) (clears throat): Uh, 300,000, please, love.
(clears throat): In 50s.
(sniffs) Let me just check if we've got it.
(door opens) ♪ ♪ (exhales) (door opens and closes) Scadlynn?
300,000.
I've raised our concerns.
Give him it.
I'll call it in and I'll go higher this time.
♪ ♪ (door closes) You bought it.
You bought the wing.
I'll do something tasteful with it.
(pouring) We could have given them the money, but no, you swoop in like a vulture.
Do you know how embarrassing that is for the family?
I'm not embarrassed.
I'm not talking about you.
I know you're not.
My father nearly had a heart attack.
Oh, he heard, did he?
Of course he heard, he's a bloody governor!
You wanted him to hear.
My God, Edwyn, you're a chippy little bastard, aren't you?
You know, men like him need to know this country's changing.
The money, the new money, has power.
And the old systems, the old rules, they're being swept away.
Where did you get the money?
That's no concern of yours.
It's cheap, Edwyn, this thirst you have for money.
Only those with money get to call it cheap.
Perhaps if being amongst all this entitlement is so terribly hard for you, then you should leave.
(glass clanks) Perhaps I should.
And you're wrong.
This country doesn't change-- there is nothing the system likes more than those who take it on.
That's when it gets to show its strength.
(door opens and closes) (sniffs) (pouring) (exhales) MARNIE: People couldn't decide which half of you was worse, gypsy or Irish.
Yeah, but you, you took me out.
With your one suit.
You told me all the things you were gonna do, and all the money you were gonna make.
And I thought, "If he does half of that, I wouldn't mind being along for the ride."
And then when you worked every hour of the day, when you ducked and dived and brought the coppers to the door, I let it go.
'Cause we were skint, and you were trying to change that.
But I don't know why you're still working like that, John.
And living like that-- I don't understand it.
And I don't understand you.
Seeing him, uh... Seeing him was the problem.
If I hadn't seen him, I, I could have just... Yeah, I could have just scraped him together, right?
With things I'd heard.
That he was a Peaky Blinder, that he was handsome, tough, bit of a rogue.
(scoffs): I mean, the kind of rogue that leaves seven of us in a two-bedroom flat next to a dump, but, uh... (drinks): Hm, he was a rogue all the same.
I could have just made him up, if I didn't see him.
But I couldn't miss him.
(exhales) (sighs) 'Cause he was a (muted) tramp.
(blows out) ♪ ♪ Always sleeping here or there, blind drunk.
Begging.
(sighs) You know, the other kids used to ask me, they used to say to me, "Hey, isn't that your da?"
And I'd say no, and I'd make sure they never asked again.
♪ ♪ Yeah, I saw him.
I lay in bed every night, and I thought, is that where I'd be?
Is that who I'd be?
And I decided that the only way that I could, the only way I could stop that from happening, you know, the only protection I could get, was money.
And so I grafted.
I got my first wage at 12.
I got my first shop at 18.
And from then on, graft, money, graft, money, graft, money.
Just trying to get some distance.
Look, now, this job that I'm doing now, it's legit.
And it is big.
And it's not gonna last forever.
It's another month, two-- two at most.
And then, um... (exhales) ♪ ♪ And then I'll be too far gone.
And, uh, he won't ever catch me.
And I won't ever be him.
No, you won't, John.
No, you won't.
(sighs) ♪ ♪ (gulls squawking) Thanks for coming.
SIENNA: It sounded interesting.
(inhales): I'm looking for cash purchases that I could spruce up and sell on.
That sound like something you could find?
Sounds like half of London.
I'll pay you whatever commission they give you here.
Is it legal?
I'm a lawyer.
(chuckles) That just means you know what laws you're breaking.
Yes, it's legal.
There are a lot of blokes out there making a lot of money.
I thought you could offer a little more.
I'm in the midst of an emancipation.
There are no limits to what I might offer.
(people talking in background) (sighs): There's not much here, sir.
Whatever he does, he's good at it.
Built his own house in West Kingsdown.
(phone ringing in background) You got a visitor, sir.
Hey.
What's he doing here?
I found something.
Go on.
OSBORNE: Two months ago, a man flew from England to Jersey, went to a bank, bought 11 bars of gold, went to another bank, left the gold in a safety deposit box, and flew home-- they think it's V.A.T.
evasion.
I think it might be a little more significant than that.
We're not looking for men buying gold.
Uh, yes, you are.
(marker rattles) May I?
You'll love this.
♪ ♪ Here is £26 million worth of pure gold in the possession of people who didn't expect to have it.
They need to get it to here, a compromised gold merchant capable of disguising it.
Now, the problem with this journey here is serial numbers and movement.
To move it safely, the first job is to lose the serial numbers.
For that, they're gonna use a portable smelter.
(chuckles) OSBORNE: Then they buy more gold and get a receipt for that gold.
♪ ♪ So now, if they're stopped moving a small amount of the now-unmarked Brink's-Mat gold... ♪ ♪ ...they can show a corresponding receipt.
So, they can now safely travel with that small amount of gold over and over again to our compromised gold merchant.
Now, the first thing the gold merchant needs is a cover story.
JOHN (on TV): Send us your gold or visit us at these markets.
Scadlynn Gold Merchants-- we'll buy your gold!
OSBORNE: They're gonna be handling a lot of gold, and making a lot of money.
They need to explain both to the taxman and those around them where it's coming from.
(wheels squeak) Then the stolen gold arrives.
But the Brink's-Mat gold will never look like scrap jewelry even when they disguise it.
It's just too pure.
So they need a paper trail for a vast amount of pure gold.
Now, for that, they will go to a registered gold importer.
No doubt someone they know and someone they can coerce into producing fake importation paperwork.
Then they can take that gold and their importation paperwork and have the gold certified for sale by an assay.
And if you think we're unhelpful, let's wait till you try the assays.
They're not police, and they know it.
If it's gold, they sign it off and hallmark it.
Then the merchant takes their hallmarked gold, and their importation paperwork, and sells it in bulk to a bullion wholesaler, of which there are only four in the country, of which one is Johnson Matthey.
Sound familiar?
It was their gold, weren't it?
Brink's-Mat.
It was their gold, weren't it, indeed!
Yes, exactly!
Right now, they'll be buying it all back-- as we all are.
'Cause those four bullion wholesalers supply every jeweler in Britain.
Literally, as we speak, all around the country, every ring, every watch, every retirement clock has a little bit of Brink's-Mat in it.
If you're looking for the gold, it's all around you.
And once it's here... ...it's gone.
What about the money?
Ha.
So, the merchant is paid for the gold.
Now, if this country had proper banking laws, a bank branch suddenly seeing a company earn vast amounts of money and withdrawing it in cash might tell someone about it, but, mm, we don't, so, they won't.
So, the gold merchant withdraws the cash, takes their cut, and sends the rest onwards to be paid into a new home.
♪ ♪ A disguised bank account likely set up in Europe by someone who knows how to do such a thing.
And from there to a front company, which disguises it further through investment-- anywhere they feel it will be safe.
And then... ...the money's gone, too.
And it needed a lot of that time to set this up, and a few weeks to smooth it out, but now, this will only get faster... ♪ ♪ ...and faster, and faster... JOHN (on TV): Gold!
OSBORNE: ...and faster, and faster, and faster.
JOHN (on TV): Gold!
OSBORNE: Till one day... JOHN (on TV): Gold!
(snaps) ...it's all gone.
The money and the gold, out... (whistles): ...into the ether.
It's like it never happened.
How long?
Hm... A month-- two at the most.
Get me Jersey C.I.D.
Vouchsafe Thine aid, Almighty Father and Supreme Governor of the Universe, to this, our solemn rite.
(softly): How are the, uh, Flying Squad getting on with the big one?
What big one?
You know, the Brink's-Mat.
(inhales): Ah.
That's not Flying Squad.
Oh, no?
Mm-mm-- special task force.
Under Brian Boyce.
(master continues) Boyce?
Yeah.
You know him?
♪ ♪ No.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (fax machine beeps, whirring) ♪ ♪ (fax machine beeps) Yes.
Yeah.
♪ ♪ JOHN (over phone): Who is he?
KENNETH: He's as good as they've got.
(sighs) And he got closer to me than anyone ever has.
How do we get to him?
We can't.
Come on, Kenny.
(door closes) I've never met a cozzer who can't be got to.
Yeah, well, we can't get to him.
And he isn't gonna stop.
Well, we're not gonna stop, either.
(sputtering, gasping) (panting) Because when you're in this deep, you can't stop until it's done.
KENNETH: Well, if he won't stop, and we won't stop, then it's a race.
(receiver replaced) (receiver replaced) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ KENNETH: No more big drops.
Smaller deposits, different banks.
BOYCE: The gold is either here or being brought here in batches.
We'll set up surveillance points here and here.
JOHN: When the money's gone, that's the finish line.
All we can do is run a little faster.
♪ ♪ ("2 by 4" by the Fall playing) ANNOUNCER: Visit our website for videos, newsletters, podcasts, and more.
And join us on social media.
The DVD version of this program is available online and in stores.
This program is also available with PBS Passport and on Amazon Prime Video.
♪ He was agin the rich, huh ♪ ♪ On the loose again ♪ ♪ He was agin the rich ♪ ♪ ♪
Video has Closed Captions
Preview: Ep2 | 29s | The criminals create a system to smelt the Brink’s-Mat gold and sell it back into the market. (29s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipSupport for PBS provided by:
Funding for MASTERPIECE is provided by Viking and Raymond James with additional support from public television viewers and contributors to The MASTERPIECE Trust, created to help ensure the series’ future.