The Gold Robbers

When I watched this 1969 television series on dvd, back in 2023, I had no idea how much I was going to enjoy it.

It had me hooked for days.

It was so unpredictable and unexpected, that this was television at its best.

The interesting thing about THE GOLD ROBBERS, a lot of well known actors appear in one episode each week. They were all relevant to the robbery that took place at the small airport in England.

Peter Vaughan the star of this show, dominates it with his superb performance as Chief Inspector Craddock. The police officer in charge of the investigation.

This excellent drama is worth watching out of curiosity.

Almost forgotten but excellent 13 part programme in serial form from 1969 dealing with the robbery of gold bullion from an aircraft and the subsequent investigation led by Inspector Craddock of the CID. Episode after episode the criminals responsible are tracked down,leading the dogged Craddock to the brains behind the heist. Craddock was played superbly by Peter Vaughan and there were a lot of other good actors in it too like Joss Ackland, Roy Dotrice, Alfred Lynch, Ian Hendry and Patrick Allen. It was quite tough for the time and very well written, the tension mounting each week. Like all good serials you could hardly wait for the next episode. Very unlike the great majority of programmes on British television these days. If it still exists hopefully someone will release it on DVD.

This was the era of the early police procedural -- 'Car 54 Where You?", "Z Cars", and so on. These were mild by today's standards, which is why The Gold Robbers stands out -- a violent, bleak drama with a downbeat, unresolved ending. To my knowledge it was never repeated and is unlikely to be, given that it is B&W. Notable early appearance of Peter Vaughan, whose career continues today.

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?

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.