Hatton Garden

The most we had any right to expect from "Hatton Garden" was a fairly accurate reconstruction of the crime and yet another addition to that long line of British gangster pictures and TV shows. What we got instead was one of the all-time great heist pictures, be that on television or in the cinema, and a masterclass in great acting, helped along by Paul Whittington's superb direction and a brilliant screenplay from Jeff Pope and Terry Winsor.

Spread over four nights it told the story of the 2015 Easter Weekend Hatton Garden robbery and its immediate aftermath. The first two nights concentrated solely on the robbery, filmed with a documentary=like precision and up there with the very best of them. The subsequent two nights showed how the police finally caught up with these, not-very-bright, geriatric robbers.

As the thieves who couldn't agree on anything, (it's amazing they were able to pull the job off in the first place and they very nearly didn't), Timothy Spall, Kenneth Cranham, David Hayman, Brian F. O'Byrne, Geoff Bell and Alex Norton were absolutely terrific with Spall and Cranham taking the lion's share of the honors. This wasn't just a bunch of fine British actors playing at being stock criminals but beautifully fleshed-out portrayals of living, breathing ordinary individuals and the real pleasure of "Hatton Garden" was watching great actors act. Yes, it was also a hugely entertaining crime caper, all the better for being based on fact, exciting and often very funny but it was so much more; proof that television can sometimes leave the current cinema trailing in its wake.

An audacious group of retired thieves and robbers unite to pull off a huge heist during The Easter weekend of 2015.

It's a very well made, very well acted series. I imagine bits of it were dramatised, but having read up extensively about it, they seemed to stick to the core.

If I'm honest, I think parts one and two drag a little, they could really have condensed them into one, parts three and four however are excellent. It gets better and better as it progresses.

Part four reveals the tensions and rivalries that exist, the term about thieves falling out had never been more true, you'll wonder if they'd have been a little wiser, and less greedy, it they'd have gotten away with it.

Timothy Spall and Kenneth Cranham stand out for me, but the whole cast are excellent.

8/10.

All 4 episodes were fantastically well written and well balanced with each episode giving you what most would think a very real portrayal of a load of old lags doing what they couldn't stop doing . One thing that comes over in reality is that these are a bunch of greedy , thoughtless and selfish people that cared nothing for the lives ruined . We know the end and great they were caught !

British mini-serieses about true stories are almost always worth to watch. This is certainly one of them. There is not much to spoil since this is a true story and everyone who googles for the title will get the whole story. This mini-series is more than well done. The cast is on point, the story well told. Good entertainment too. I watched the movie "King of thieves" only two weeks ago and I thought it was very boring but this mini-series is so much better. Just watch it ;-)

By far the best TV drama in years. Timothy Spall was absolutely amazing and even said the 'C' word in the last episode....lol. The casting was genius and the drama intense. I'll not give anything away but this has to be viewed and I'll be surprised if this mini-series along with the actors doesn't pull some BAFTA awards the next time around. Absolutely brilliant, well done ITV.