The Gold Robbers

"The Gold Robbers" is a very loose television adaptation of the real life 1963 train robbery. In this mini series, the train is substituted for a plane. Peter Vaughan - excellent as villains - is successfully cast against type as the determined Senior Police officer who leads the investigation into the robbery of millions of pounds worth of Gold bullion. There is a great supporting cast, Ian Hendry, George Cole amongst others. The pace rarely lets up and the 13 episodes whiz by.

Thirty nine years after seeing this series I still remember it as a gripping and unmissable piece of television. It was an absolute must-see and our whole family watched every episode, which was exceptional. I suspect that it would seem rather dated now but I can recall that at the time The Gold Robbers was a very well-made series. In this day and age, when the standard of TV drama has plummeted and fails to innovate, a release of this series on DVD would provide the original audience with a satisfying reminder of a classic series, and could show today's programme makers how it should be done. I just hope that the tapes are still in the archive somewhere; I don't remember it being repeated after its initial airing.

"The Gold Robbers" as a title and it's illustrious cast listing for a series I had never heard of intrigued me enough to purchase the 2012 Network DVD release when it became available. I'm glad I did as I was kept intrigued, entertained and ultimately gripped throughout the 13 well-crafted episodes.

The story of a daring, efficient bullion heist and the individuals involved in it, from the lowliest petty criminal through those who organised it and ultimately to the "Mr. Big" behind it all, commences in great style with the snatching of the gold itself. This sequence, pretty violent for the time, is re-worked each week by steering the viewer towards one of the gang, before focusing on of how Chief Superintendent Cradock (Peter Vaughan) and his loyal sidekick Sergeant Thomas (Artro Morris) home in and ultimately get them. Or not, as the case might be as the intelligent writing acknowledges human failings and allows for failure or delays in success. Many obstacles stand in the Police's way, not least the underground criminal network that seems one step ahead for much of the time before they are able to make significant breakthroughs. Pressure brought to bear from many levels above only add to those faced daily to bring the entire gang to book - at a personal cost to Cradock who gradually, and subtly succumbs in an unexpectedly surprisingly way as the last episode rolls on.

This unfairly neglected series, made in black and white before full-time colour broadcasting commenced in the UK, deserves a wider audience today. It may lack a more violent edge throughout but that makes the violence that occurs effective as it arrives often unexpectedly. No histrionics or cliché's, just some excellent storytelling. Some modern audiences may find the language used a little alien, even old-fashioned. I actually enjoyed a return to a rich use of the English language and realise how much it has evolved over the past four decades - and not necessarily for the better. However, that cannot be allowed to detract from the quality of this series, even if the production values are a little cheap here and there but it has to remembered it was of its time and made by London Weekend on a budget. LWT who had to be rescued (IIRC) by a newspaper magnate, one Rupert Murdoch - Richard Bolt's distant relative one wonders?

The series begins explosively with the robbery itself. As it progresses the detective, played by Peter Vaughan probes more deeply into the conspiracy. Each episode represents a different layer, the criminals featured in each episode becoming progressively more seriously involved.

As the detective draws closer to the centre of the crime there is a greater cost to him. The series cleverly used its 13 part format to increase the tension. There were a number of high quality dramas such as this produced in the 1960s on the BBC but also as with the Gold Robbers on commercial television.

Is a record of this series still in existence?

One of the last major British TV productions to be shot on tape in black and white, this looks rather grainy today, but don't let that put you off: it's compelling viewing.

The first episode starts with the gold robbery itself, carried out with military precision. This is recapped at the start of the proceeding twelve, but angled as an introduction to the particular participant under investigation. Holding it all together is the robbers' nemesis, D.C.S. Cradock, a towering performance from Peter Vaughan. He is ably supported by the mellifluously voiced Welsh actor Artro Morris as D.S. Tommy Thomas. The individual robbers are portrayed with conviction by some of the leading British actors of the day, and the situations and the dialogue are convincing, allowing for the limits on swearing on TV in those days. Violence is inferred, rather than explicit, though there is one scene that still has the power to shock, with the discovery of the charred remains of a smaller, rival mob, the latter seemingly based on the notorious 'torture gang' run by the Richardson brothers. Cradock emerges as a truly heroic figure when his investigations lead to the murky world of The City, endangering his career, and the ending is bleak and uncompromising. It reflects contemporary concerns over links between violent criminals and the establishment, seen in the then recent Kray trials, amongst other instances: also the widespread belief in the existence of a shadowy 'Mr Big' behind the Great Train Robbery. (There were also links between the underworld and entertainment, and John Bindon, a violent thug and sometime actor, turns up in a couple of episodes). Another poster speculates whether Richard Bolt (Richard Leech) could have been based on Murdoch, but as he was just making his mark in Britain and tended to be regarded as a colonial upstart, I think that Cecil King, a megalomaniac who owned the Daily Mirror, once plotted a coup against the Wilson government and had business interests in Africa, is a more likely candidate.