The Gold is back on our screens with a second season, so here’s a handy recap of series 1 and what happened to the missing Brink’s-Mat millions.

While the first episodes in 2023 recreated the Brink’s-Mat robbery and its aftermath, series 2 continues where it left off… The new six-parter follows the investigation into the second half of the missing gold.

In 1983 – as shown in the very first scene of series 1 – six men in balaclavas burst into Brink’s-Mat secure storage facility near Heathrow airport. They intended to steal £1m in cash, but instead came away with roughly £26m of gold bullion (equivalent to £90m today). Can you imagine?! At the time, it was the largest heist in world history.

But what happened to the thieves, and where did the money go? Here’s a recap of The Gold series 1, ahead of series 2…

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

The Gold series 1 recap: what happened?

Neil Forsyth, creator, writer and executive producer of The Gold series 1 and 2, was happy to give us a handy, if brief, recap of series 1.

He said: “Series 1 of The Gold is very much driven by the robbery itself and the aftermath. It focused on how people were dealing with getting rid of the gold, smelting the gold and selling it back into the system. It also showed some of the primitive money laundering that came from that, the police chase of those that were involved with the robbery and those that were immediately involved in the aftermath.”

The first six episodes of the factual crime drama followed the true story of the Brink’s-Mat robbery in 1983, where a group of thieves stole £26million worth of gold and other valuables.

The series explored the events leading up to the robbery, the robbery itself, and the subsequent aftermath, including the laundering and disposal of the stolen goods, as well as the police investigation. The show focused on the key figures involved, including Kenneth Noye and Micky McAvoy, and the detective investigating the case, Brian Boyce.

‘It was the largest robbery in world history’

The Gold series 1 began with the words: “On the 26th of November 1983, six armed men broke into the Brink’s-Mat depot near London’s Heathrow Airport. They were expecting to find a million pounds worth of foreign currency. Instead, they found gold bullion worth £26million.

“It was the largest robbery in world history, and changed British crime and policing forever. If you have bought jewellery in Britain since 1984, it is likely to contain traces of the Brink’s-Mat gold. And it all began with six men in a van.”

It continued: “The following is inspired by real events. Some characters and elements have been created or changed for dramatic purposes.”

The series then dramatised the robbery, and the events that followed, where each individual player fulfilled a separate job in the chain.

The Gold series 1 ending explained: Were the robbers caught?

At the end of The Gold series 1, police had arrested some – but not all – of the criminals who had played a part in handling the gold.

Viewers saw Kenneth Noye in court awaiting his sentence. The jury found him guilty, and the judge subsequently sentenced him to 14 years for conspiracy to dishonestly handle the stolen gold, and fraudulently conspiring to avoid VAT payments on the gold.

Meanwhile, Micky McAvoy and Brian Robinson both received 25 years for armed robbery. A judge sentenced Garth Chappell and Gordon Parry to 10 years each for conspiracy to handle stolen bullion.

Meanwhile, Brian Reader got nine years for conspiracy to handle stolen bullion, And Jeannie Savage got five years for the same crime.

Matteo Constantino received a one year suspended sentence for conspiracy to evade VAT. Lastly, John Parry returned to Tenerife having been acquitted.

Did the police find the gold?

As for the £26million in gold bullion, police had not managed to recover all of it. Although DCI Brian Boyce and his team had managed to arrest many of the criminals involved with stealing, moving, and laundering the profits, most of the bullion was never found.

In the final episode, there was a big twist. Coppers DI Nicki Jennings and DI Tony Brightwell realised that there was £13million worth of gold still unaccounted for – at least half of the swag.

In a bid to track the money down, DCI Boyce visited Kenneth Noye in his prison cell asking him to reveal the whereabouts of the missing gold. But, Kenneth insisted he’d rather be remembered for making “one and a half ton of gold” vanish into thin air…

He said: “Having you lot run around like clowns. All that chasing, all that digging – for something that was never there. I’ll be remembered for that.”

Well, it was always going to be unlikely that he’d cooperate with the police!

What else happened in the finale?

• DI Jennings and DI Brightwell realised that the gold had been “split at the beginning”.
• With two of the robbers already behind bars, all eyes were on the remaining four who could have got away with the remaining £13m.
• The investigating police force vowed never to stop looking for the missing gold bullion.
• Viewers saw one of the robbers living his best life abroad, so far having evaded capture. But for how long?

The Gold review

It’s fair to say that viewers and critics loved the 2023 six-parter The Gold. The Guardian called it “a 24-carat drama about one of the UK’s most shocking robberies”. It went on to say that it was a “hugely entertaining BBC series” with “some incredible retro sets”.

Filmhounds called it “the best British TV drama in years”, while Newstatesman.com described it as a “madly entertaining drama”.

The Independent said “The Gold is pure primetime fun that bubbles away with the vigour of a red-hot crucible”. London Evening Standard agreed, writing: “The Gold is a real audience-pleaser, a classic, classy British crime drama with a big and brilliant cast.”

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The Gold series 1 is currently available to watch on BBC iPlayer. Series 2 lands on Sunday, June 08, 2025.