The Gold series 1 and 2 on BBC One dramatised the now infamous Brink’s-Mat robbery of 1983 and the aftermath – but where are all the key players now?

More than 40 years later, the gold has still not been recovered, and likely never will be. After all, the £26m of gold bullion was smelted, laundered, and distributed back into the system. While lots of criminals got rich.

“Six men in a van” stole the fortune from the Brink’s-Mat storage depot in Heathrow and, at the time, it was the largest robbery in world history.

So what happened to the robbers, and the police task force depicted in the drama? Are the key players in BBC drama The Gold still alive, and where are they now? Here’s everything you need to know…

***Warning: spoilers from The Gold series 1 and 2 ahead***

What did Kenneth Noye do, and where is he now?

The events of The Gold were inspired by real events – and not just the theft of £26million worth of gold bullion from the Brink’s-Mat depot in Heathrow… There’s also Kenneth Noye’s bid to escape justice for murder.

In series 1 of The Gold, viewers saw Noye found guilty of conspiracy to handle the stolen gold. A judge sentenced him to 14 years in prison. He served eight before being released from prison on license.

In May 1996, police received reports of a road rage incident on a slip road of the M25 motorway near Swanley in Kent. Kenneth Noye had stabbed 21-year-old Stephen Cameron to death with a nine-inch knife (he just happened to have in the car).

Cameron’s girlfriend Danielle Cable witnessed the killing and subsequently positively identified him as part of a huge two-year manhunt. Alan Decabral, another eyewitness, was shot dead in his car in Ashford, Kent reportedly by a professional hitman.

During The Gold series 2, Noye – played by Slow Horses star Jack Lowden – was on the run, first in Tenerife, and later in Gibraltar. However, Kent police tracked him down in Spain, and arrested him where he was living in the woods. Police gave Danielle Cable a new identity under the witness protection programme.

‘Kenneth Noye will be on licence for the remainder of his life’

Noye later claimed the stabbing of Stephen Cameron was in self-defence. However, the jury didn’t believe a word of it and subsequently convicted ‘Kenny’ of the murder. A judge sentenced him to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 16 years. Her Majesty’s Service released him in 2019, amid much controversy after the brevity of his time inside.

Now 78, Noye is reportedly now living on a farm in Kent under a strict license. Police require him to live at a designated address, comply with supervision requirements, and maintain good behaviour.

The Ministry of Justice said at the time: “Like all life sentence prisoners released by the independent Parole Board, Kenneth Noye will be on licence for the remainder of his life, subject to strict conditions and faces a return to prison should he fail to comply.”

Where is John Palmer from The Gold now?

Although police were never able to charge John Palmer in relation to the Brink’s-Mat robbery, he served time for another crime. During The Gold ending, a jury found him guilty of “substantial fraud”. The judge sentenced him to eight years of imprisonment, starting in 2001, as well as placing a confiscation order against him of more than £33million.

It was one of the longest fraud trials in British legal history and Palmer represented himself (mainly because he couldn’t find a lawyer to defend him). The career criminal defrauded 20,000 people out of £30m. He served just over half of the prison time.

The court declared him bankrupt in 2005, even though his fortune at the time of his conviction was estimated at £300 million. At the time of his bankruptcy, he had debts of £3.9m.

On June 24, 2015, John Palmer was found dead in the garden of his gated home in Essex. An unknown assassin had shot him six times in the chest. He was 64 at the time of his death. Police never caught the killers, and his murder remains unsolved.

At the time of his death, Palmer reportedly faced charges in Spain for fraud, firearm possession and money laundering.

Where is Brink’s-Mat robber Charlie Miller now?

At the end of The Gold series 2, Charlie Miller had his armed robbery charge thrown out of court because of lack of evidence. However, police extradited him to Florida to face charges there.

The court eventually found Miller guilty. The authorities awarded damages against him of $151million to be seized from any assets and bank accounts.

In real life, Charlie Miller did not exist. Actor Sam Spruell, who played the character in the BBC drama, said: “Charlie Miller is an amalgam of various alleged southeast London criminals involved in the Brink’s-Mat robbery. He is no one specific.

“You see Charlie really at the end of the first series as he’s one of the Brink’s-Mat robbers. He ends up at the beginning of the second series in possession of half the gold. Throughout the first series the police thought they were dealing with all the gold but actually there is another half that Charlie Miller kept for himself.”

Crucially, the police were never able to charge four out of six of the Brink’s-Mat robbers. Micky McAvoy and Brian Robinson, who were characterised in series 1, were sentenced to 25 years for armed robbery in 1984. Both are now dead.

The Gold series 2: Was Douglas Baxter real and where is he now?

Like Charlie Miller, Douglas Baxter is a “composite character”, inspired by some of those involved in the Brink’s-Mat story.

The rather pompous and self-important Cambridge graduate is an Isle of Man financial advisor who gets brought into the story by Charlie Miller. He ends up being part of an extensive money laundering chain that stretches all the way to the Caribbean.

Although he is a really interesting character in the show, he’s not based on any one person. This is similar to Dominic Cooper’s character in series 1, Edwyn Cooper. Although Edwyn, who pops up again briefly in series 2, appears to have been loosely based on real-life figure Michael Relton. Michael was a solicitor convicted of helping to launder proceeds from the robbery. After being serving time for the crime, Relton is now living in the US, according to The Sun.

Who is Logan Campbell, played by Tom Hughes, in The Gold series 2?

Logan Campbell oversaw part of the money laundering operation on the Caribbean island of Tortola. The character, played by Malpractice actor Tom Hughes, is also a composite character.

Logan was inspired by of some of those involved with the Brink’s-Mat criminal enterprises, in this case – the laundering of a huge amount of money that was produced by the proceeds of the robbery.

The Gold creator and writer Neil Forsyth explained: “He was already criminally minded, laundering money for a South American drug cartel in the Caribbean. As a result, his involvement creates a very complicated and very dangerous turn in the story.

“For me, it was a wonderful find in the research and a really interesting aspect. You almost couldn’t get further away from the Brink’s-Mat Heathrow depot than the Caribbean. And having this well-respected member of the expat community that ended up laundering Brink’s-Mat money was fascinating.”

Who was Brian Reader, and where is he now?

James Nelson-Joyce made a brief reappearance as Brian Reader in The Gold series 2 final episode, who was then running a car lot. He was Noye’s accomplice, and helped him while he was on the run.

In real life, people will know Reader as a notorious British gangster described as “one of the busiest crooks in the British underworld”. He’s also infamous for his role in several high-profile robberies, including the Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary in 2015.

Career criminal Brian Reader worked closely with Kenneth Noye on the Brink’s-Mat robbery. You could say that Reader was Noye’s ‘right-hand man’. He was jailed at the Old Bailey in 1986 for conspiracy to handle stolen goods after plotting with fellow crook Noye to convert the gold. A judge sentenced him to eight years.

After multiple spells in jail, Reader retired to southeast London under the pseudonym of a gardener called McCarthy. Having suffered from years of ill-health, including multiple strokes and prostate cancer, he died at the age of 84 in 2023. The cause was cancer.

What happened to DCI Boyce, and where is he now?

DCI Brian Boyce was forced to retire, having investigated one of the most complicated cases in the history of the British police. After 30 years of service, his career in the force was over. Sadly, he had to “leave with the job half done”.

Following the Brink’s-Mat case, Boyce began working for a merchant bank, and later became involved in another infamous crime – the murder of Stephen Lawrence. In 1999, he reportedly offered his services to the Lawrence (for free), and went on to help the legal team gather evidence.

Boyce became involved in the Macpherson inquiry into the investigation of Stephen Lawrence’s murder. You may know him for being an outspoken critic of the investigation into Lawrence’s death, suggesting that it may have been affected by racial prejudice.

Former detective Brian is now in his eighties and deservedly enjoying his retirement. He spoke with actor Hugh Bonneville ahead of filming The Gold series 1, as well as the series’ writer Neil Forsyth.

Hugh said of his character: “The police investigation, extraditions and trials went on for a good 10 years after the initial robbery. Within that time, Boyce was facing retirement. He so wanted to finish the job before retirement came but it wasn’t to be.

“So that pressure underlies Boyce’s story, as does the pressure from ‘upstairs’ to produce results.”

Was DI Tony Brightwell a real person?

Detective Inspector Tony Brightwell was a real person, who investigated the Brink’s-Mat robbery. Along with his colleagues, he attempted to trace the stolen gold over the course of years.

Following the high-profile investigation, Brightwell stayed in the police until moving into the private sector. He subsequently worked for security firms such as Bishop Investigations and ISC Global. He is currently retired and in his late 70s.

Talking about his character, Emun Elliott said: “In The Gold series 2, Brightwell is very much developed as a detective – he’s much more confident, much more self-assured, even more relaxed in his procedure and ability. His connection with Brian Boyce and Nicki Jennings is much deeper and stronger.”

Where is DI Nicki Jennings from The Gold now?

Charlotte Spencer portrays the only female detective hunting the Brink’s-Mat robbers, but DI Nicki Jennings is not based on a real person. Nicki is a fictional character, which gave creator and writer Neil Forsyth the opportunity to pay tribute to a number of women in the police at the time.

Nicki is a woman in a man’s world, who actress Charlotte Spencer compares “to a rottweiler”. She said: “Nicki just wants to catch the bad guys and to bring people to justice. I don’t think she’ll stop until it happens.”

Is Tony Lundy a real person? Where is he now?

Police officer Tony Lundy is a real person, who worked on the Brink’s-Mat case in the 1980s. As portrayed in The Gold series 2, he was known as something of a maverick who wasn’t afraid to be unconventional. As a result, he received criticism over his relationships with some of the informants in his cases. He also received the nickname the Supergrass Master.

However, the DCI denied allegations of corruption and claimed he was the subject of a smear campaign. The Crown Prosecution Service found no evidence to prosecute Lundy after he was investigated in October 1994. Lundy subsequently retired in 1988, and reportedly lives in Costa Blanca in Spain according to the 2007 TV programme Supergrass.

Talking about his character, Stephen Campbell Moore said: “Tony Lundy is a real person and he has, what seems to be to the audience, a slightly checkered past. When we first meet him, he looks to be at the end of his career. He has survived an enquiry into corruption, but he’s been told by the bosses there is nowhere else for you to go, you need to retire.”

He added: “He doesn’t want to retire, and he gets brought by Boyce to be a part of the Brink’s-Mat investigation which at this point is at an extremely low level and it seems to have ground to a complete halt. Lundy operates slightly outside of the system. He has his own contacts and his own way of doing things because he doesn’t feel that following protocol is going to get him what he needs. So, he tries to fast forward and expedite things.”

‘Lundy is a maverick who gets results’

Actor Hugh Bonneville said of the introduction of Lundy to the series: “The arrival of Tony Lundy really shifts the dynamic on the team. He couldn’t be more different to Boyce. He gets results, put it that way. Boyce ends up having a grudging respect for him, too.

“Lundy is a maverick – he doesn’t do things by the book. He’s the sort of man Boyce could never be or want to be, but Lundy achieves things on the edge of the law that bring the kind of results Boyce and his team so desperately need.”

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The Gold series 1 and 2 are currently available to watch on BBC iPlayer.