GOLDEN FENCE

SOUTH LONDERNERS GET ONE UP ON THE COPPERS

By PETER THOMAS BUSCH

Six bank robbers become befuddled by a key holder at the bank who cannot remember the combination to the bank vault at the Heathrow International Trading Estate in London, England.

But as the robbers wait to grab the cash notes from inside the safe they look around a bit and discover in plain sight 26 million pounds of gold bullion not yet inventoried.

The Gold (2023 Series) details how the robbers fenced the gold bars taken at the Brink’s-Mat robbery in 1983.

This 6 part series details the insiders view of how, if ever even imaginable, 3 tons of gold can be converted into usable cash.

Jack Lowden plays Kenneth Noye, whose leisurely pace in selling one gold bar at a time gradually picks up a bit, especially after gaining knowledge that the police chasing them are incrementally figuring out their elaborate operation.

Noye’s existing wealth provides a convenient cover story by making him look like British aristocracy in no need to become even richer with the Brink’s Matt stolen fortune.

Everything becomes possible with the services of solicitor, Edwyn Cooper. Cooper helps the robbers launder the cash in a Swiss bank for a percentage of the deposits. The sudden cash windfall transforms Cooper’s life as he finds out that what he had before may not have been so well suited for him.

Directors Lawrence Gough and Aneil Karia run one narrative about liquidating the gold and converting the bullion into cash against the police narrative. This approach becomes a bit more interesting by having the police in the second narrative piece together the first narrative before the first narrative has revealed the details of the pieces.

Hugh Bonneville plays the police superintendent in charge of the search, Brian Boyce. Bonneville shows how the police are slow learners and make several key mistakes along the way, but they remain just as determined to put all the pieces together.

Sean Harris plays the villain once again after appearing in the Mission Impossible franchise films. Harris plays Gordon Parry who manages the entire financial transaction for the original bank robbers. Parry does not know everything but he sure knows how to get advice and figure everything out before finding people who will get the job done.

The plot twists a few times with the directors taking the camera inside the personal lives of several of the characters.

Cooper separates from his wife and enters into an affair with his realtor, Sienna Rose, played by Ellora Torchia. Sienna falls in love at first sight because of Cooper’s charisma and apparent ability to get what he wants, but also because of his ability to by a penthouse condo with cash.

Noye begins to get in trouble a bit as the surveillance team figures out his existence. Mistakes are made along the way as well, such as the mule he is using losing one of several 50,000 pound bundle of notes in the parking lot outside the bank when making a deposit.

Emun Elliott and Charlotte Spencer play the rookie police team who are determined to make a career out of the robbery. This desire to succeed results in the determination necessary to achieve several successes.

With such a fantastical true story to begin with, the directors rely on realism and the unique character traits of the individual players in each narrative to tell the story of how South Londoners evened up the score a bit.

The Gold is streaming on Paramount+.