The Gold (2023) s02e01 Episode Script

1
This programme contains
some strong language
NEWS: A major armed robbery
took place this morning
at a trading estate
near Heathrow Airport.
Six men broke in to the
Brink's-Mat storage depot
and made off with what
has just been confirmed
as £26 million worth
of gold bullion.
The Metropolitan Police say
that the robbers are believed to
have South London connections.
Inquiries are being conducted
across London and roadblocks have
You're going to go to your mother
and confess that you broke it.
But YOU broke it!
Yes, I know that, but
she can't divorce you.
CAR DOOR OPENS, CLOSES
What you going to
do with that, then?
HE SLURPS
When Danny and I were inside
..they gave us metal cups.
Which meant we always knew when the
screws were turning over the cells,
because the boys would start
rattling the cups on the doors.
An early warning
system sort of thing.
I bet you two wish you'd had
someone to give you a little rattle
when I was driving
down the road.
What do you want, Charlie?
Let's go.
You used to tell a
good story in there.
Not much else to do
inside but tell stories.
Talked about growing
up down here.
About the old tin mines.
About how there's that many of
them, you had to watch yourself
on the moors to make sure
you didn't fall down one.
And how if you
did fall down one,
no-one would ever find you.
I need a mine like that.
GRUNTING
PANTING
MUSIC: Disorder
by Joy Division
It's getting faster
Moving faster now
It's getting out of hand
On the 10th floor down the
back stairs, it's a no-man's-land
Lights are flashing
Cars are crashing
Getting frequent now
I've got the spirit
Lose the feeling
Let it out somehow ♪
STRAINING
PANTING
You told stories too, Charlie,
when we were in there.
About all the jobs you'd done
..and everyone you
met doing them
..and how that was all
leading to one job.
A last job.
And I reckon you found it.
A lot of blokes in South
London become villains
to be big men in South London.
I became a villain to
get out of South London.
I became a villain
..so that one day I wouldn't
have to be a villain any more.
What happens now?
You go home and tell her
something that ain't this.
I spend a few years
getting a suntan.
Then I come back,
and I see how far
from South London
and how far from being a villain
what's down there can take me.
Look at that sun.
Ain't that beautiful?
Ain't that beautiful?
This is it, sir. It
always is with you two.
The car yard is owned by an
associate of Charlie Miller.
Is there a car yard
in South London
that isn't owned by an
associate of Charlie Miller?
It's a strong tip, sir. I
know we've said that before.
You've definitely
said that before.
Anything?
Not yet, sir.
Fill in the holes. Apologise.
I'm off to the Yard.
The Metropolitan Police
has many duties, Boyce.
Landscaping South London
car yards isn't one of them.
We have solid intelligence
that Charlie Miller was
on the Brink's-Mat job.
He disappeared on the
day of the robbery,
and we think he hid half the
Brink's-Mat gold before doing so.
You've been telling us about
Miller for a long time.
While digging holes
all over England.
The word is, Miller is out of
money, which means he'll be back,
which means that wherever it is,
half the Brink's-Mat gold
is about to resurface.
We've reached the limit of
the support we can give you.
Support? I'm working out of a
basement at Tottenham Court Road
police station with
two detectives.
Which means you can
wrap it up quietly.
The job is only half done, sir.
The Brink's-Mat inquiry has been
the longest and most expensive
in the Met's history.
It has to end some time, and
these things never end cleanly.
We have a number of
outstanding lines of inquiry.
Two weeks, Boyce.
Can you buy me some time, ma'am?
What do you think I've been doing?
MUSIC: Loaded by Primal Scream
No. We've had a new tip, sir.
I can see that from the coats
and the misplaced sense of hope.
This one's different. They're
always different, Jennings,
and then they're
always the same.
They've seen Charlie Miller.
And they're going
to see him again.
Good morning, Mr Palmer.
Sorry to keep you, Jerren.
Oh, no, Mr Palmer. You are
the boss. Never apologise.
How is the air, Mr Palmer?
Would you like some
water? I'm just fine, son.
Two futures. That's
what's in front of you.
There's the future
that we represent.
You know that one.
It's not great.
Or there's this one.
And that's a future, Danny.
That's life right there.
That's hope.
You can't be choosing
Charlie Miller over that.
We won't let you.
Say what you want
about Charlie Miller,
but he isn't in the business
of betraying people.
It doesn't matter
how we got here.
The important thing is that we're
here. We ain't going anywhere.
Thank you, sir.
So, Danny, why don't you
do yourself a favour?
Tell us about that.
Don't know what that is,
but if you're nicking people
for getting postcards,
then you'll have a busy summer.
You know, Danny, I
spent years making calls
to chief constables
asking for support.
And by now, if this was Surrey
or Sussex or, God help us, Kent,
they wouldn't even take my call.
But down here, we have
the advantage of novelty,
which means I have just secured
enough support from Cornwall Police
to either seal off the moors
around the mines for 48 hours
..or to have a constable sit
outside your door for a year,
note every visitor, and follow you
and your wife and, soon enough,
your child, wherever you go
..while I put you in the
system as a cooperating witness
and distribute that information
to every nick in South London.
Charlie's been waiting
his whole life for this.
He ain't going to get stopped
by three cops from London
who haven't found a bar
of gold between them.
Right decision.
Good morning.
Hello.
May I offer you some
champagne and the opportunity
to change your life with a
time-share here in Tenerife?
Two glasses. Oh. Why not?
Well, this is more like it.
So there's a bus over there, and
only a ten-minute journey away,
there's lots more champagne.
Come on, love, let's
go have a look.
The thing about holidays
is that, half the time,
they're no fun at all.
All that money, all that graft
for a week in some shitty hotel
that ain't nothing
like the brochure.
And you're lying next to a
dirty pool and you think
.. "Is this it?"
You thought life was going OK.
Maybe you were wrong.
Maybe this IS all you're worth.
Well
..I've got good news.
That hotel and that holiday,
that life
..it's not you.
This is you.
This is what you've
been grafting for.
What you've been saving for.
This
..is what you're worth.
You buy a time-share, and one
week a year you come here,
and you live like a king.
This is paradise.
And when you speak to this lot,
you're going to be surprised
how cheap paradise comes.
Where's the gold, then, Palmer?
Look, I'm just here to talk
about time-shares, mate.
I'm not buying a
time-share from a crook.
I was found innocent
at the Old Bailey.
You don't get much more
innocent than that.
Please come with me, sir.
Yeah, I'm leaving anyway.
I wouldn't trust you
with my money, Palmer.
Well, I'll struggle by
without it, son. Yeah.
MURMURING
Yes.
I'm John Palmer.
Goldfinger. HE CHUCKLES
And no, before you ask,
I don't know where the other
half of the Brink's-Mat gold is.
But if you do find it,
you'll let me know. Yeah?
LAUGHTER
And more importantly,
there's 20 of you here,
and only 18 time-shares
left to sell.
So why don't you drink
the rest of my champagne?
And it's first come,
first served. Good luck.
Right. Who's first?
Sir, the first thing we
need from you is a deposit,
and that will secure
your property.
Mr Palmer.
Sales team take it from here, mate.
I'm not looking to buy a time-share.
I'm from the Sunday Times.
We've been calling your office.
So you put him up
to that, did you?
You're in our Rich List
on Sunday, Mr Palmer.
We can go with our figures
or we can go with yours.
Well, you'd best
come with me, then.
PHONE RINGS
Hello?
Buenos dias, Daniel.
Hello, Charlie.
I'm coming down to
see you tomorrow.
All right. Yeah. Fair enough.
Everything OK, Danny?
Yeah. Fine.
Just having a cup of tea.
Not like that muck
they gave us inside
..in those bloody tin mugs.
You're a good lad, Danny.
I'll see you tomorrow.
See you tomorrow, Charlie.
Here, look, the paperwork isn't
that difficult to understand.
Let's go.
That was a mistake.
What was? You don't want to be
talking to people like that, John.
Getting yourself in the papers.
Listen, Shirl, they were
going to write something.
I made sure they
wrote what I wanted.
I'm in charge of your books.
People start asking questions,
it's me that could
get it in the neck.
This is a legit business.
This is a successful business.
You've been a big part of that.
There's no questions
we can't answer. Good.
Then maybe you can help me
make sense of some of this.
I'm just a jeweller
from Solihull.
You lot shuffle the papers.
I'll keep the wheels greased.
That's the kind of
thing I'm talking about.
Look where you are, Shirl.
Hmm?
Got a good job for good dough
..out here in the sunshine.
It's a lot better than where
you could be, ain't it?
Yeah.
Yeah. OK, John.
All right, folks, I'm off.
Don't work too hard.
All right?
How are you? Wet.
How's the old man?
Dead. I'm sorry to
hear that, Charlie.
Well, he lived the
life, didn't he?
No-one can say he didn't
give it a right good go.
I need something that
can take a bit of a load.
That's an easy one.
Got all sorts here, pal.
Save them from scrap
and patch them up.
Don't recommend
MOTs, right enough.
But then, we don't sell them
to people that worry about
that kind of thing.
That's the one.
Really? Yes!
Hey! Que pasa?!
Hey!
Why are you
following me? Que?!
Don't give me that! Hey!
Ingles.
Hey, sorry, I don't understand!
You are following me.
No, no, senora, I am working.
OK? This is my route.
We've driven round half
the fucking island.
You must be the busiest
postie in the business.
Look, the letters,
the addresses.
Tell Mr Palmer why you
are following him. OK!
This is my route, OK?
Please, look, the letters, the
addresses. Come on! Please!
I don't want to see you again.
OK.
Now piss off. OK, OK, OK, OK.
What are you driving
around with a shooter for?
I see what you do.
How you make the island look
away to let you make your money.
And I see how easy
that money comes.
Oh, it comes easy,
does it? For now, yes,
because you are the
only cowboy in town.
But that money
will bring others.
When this island
becomes the Wild West
..I'm ready for when that
day comes, Mr Palmer.
You should be too.
I know a lot more about
money than you do, son.
How to earn it,
how to keep it
..and the kind of people
that try to take it from me.
There's nothing
I'm not ready for.
OK, Mr Palmer.
All units, all units.
Target vehicle is inbound.
Past point Bravo.
Stand by, stand by.
Vehicle approaching.
Vehicle is a brown van.
Should we stop him, sir?
Wait.
Sir?
Take him. Take him.
Take him.
SIRENS WAIL
Armed police! Armed police!
Out of the vehicle now!
OVERLAPPING SHOUTING
Hands in the air!
Searching!
What do you see?
Clear! Just boxes.
It's not him!
Salesman, sir. Tupperware,
if you're interested.
Send them packing,
return to position, sir?
No.
Surprised.
Sorry? You look
surprised by the van.
Miller told you he was coming,
and yet, when you saw a
van, you looked surprised.
Why?
We're going to the
mines. Which one?
It's been a long time, mate. I
don't remember which mine it was.
Sorry.
Then you'd best remember fast,
or they won't be
bringing you back here.
Let's go.
Welcome to England.
It looks cold.
HE CHUCKLES
It is cold.
But the beer's warm.
Where'd you get that
pilot from, then, eh?
Hit every bloody cloud up there.
I think that was just the
beer, JP. Yeah, well
..you tell him to keep
it fuelled and ready.
It always is. I'll be
checking the mileage,
so don't you lot be
flying off to the Bahamas.
I wish. See you on Sunday, John.
A ghost.
That's what I am in England.
No passport control, no nosy
bastard spotting me in an airport
and calling the press
or the Old Bill.
Because I beat them, you
see, the English police.
I beat the best they have.
And they won't forget that.
One day, they'll
come back for more.
And when they do, well
..let's see how they
get on finding a ghost.
THUMPING AND RATTLING
MAN STRAINS
THUMP
MAN STRAINS AND PANTS
CHATTER
SIREN WAILS
Where now?
Keep going.
Stop here.
All units, stop here.
MAN ON RADIO: Received.
Where?
I'll show you.
There's a better
way in. Let's go.
Proceed with caution.
Armed police! Armed
police! Armed police!
Clear! Clear.
Clear.
Clear.
Cheeky bastard!
He's taken off the
serial numbers, sir.
We couldn't prove it's Brinks-Mat.
But look how badly he's done it.
This half's going to
move cruder and quicker.
I don't get it. He had 1.5
tonnes of gold down there,
and we stopped every
vehicle going in and out.
No, we didn't.
SIREN WAILS
Oh, my girls! Daddy!
Oh, my girls! Come
here! I missed you.
Oh, I have missed you so
much. Let me look at you.
Oh, have you been
growing again? Yeah.
That's a good suntan for
someone too busy to come home.
HE CHUCKLES Suits me,
though, don't it? Mm.
Mm. Mm!
Ooh! Come on! Come on,
Daddy! Hold on, hold on.
We're going inside, are we? Come
with us! All right. Come on, then.
Have you bought us any
presents? You never know.
Good day, Mrs
Palmer. Oh, hello.
CHATTER
Oh, I lose again.
You're terrible at this!
Are you trying your hardest?
So you need a
minder now, do you?
He's just keeping an eye on me.
Well, it's not
like I can, is it?
We can have that argument when
I'm there, not when I'm here.
I risk a lot to come home. Mm.
You risk more when you leave.
It's not forever.
You used to say it's not for long,
now you say it's not forever.
Look, I can't make a
quid in England now
without the coppers
asking how I've made it.
I need to make enough
money over there
so when I come back, I never
have to make money again.
Making money is what gets
you up in the morning, John.
I can't imagine you
ever not needing that.
Well, come on, love.
Eh? I'm here.
I reckon HE
CLEARS HIS THROA
..we can find a better way to
spend our time than arguing.
So your minder will let you
out of sight for that, will he?
Yeah, a few minutes,
maybe. A few minutes?!
Yeah, well, it's been a while!
It don't really seem worth it.
Daddy, come and play!
Mm-mm-mm!
Daddy!
Erm, that
..ain't over. I hope not.
What are you playing?
Hmm.
CHATTER
Ah!
That was quick.
I've got a job for you.
SEAGULLS CRY
Ah.
MUSIC BLARES AND MAN COUGHS
COUGHING CONTINUES
BABY CRIES
I would like to access
the executive lounge.
And before you start,
I would remind you that I am
a loyal and frequent customer.
You can't get into
the executive lounge
with an economy
ticket, Douglas
..as discussed. I have over 1,000
points in your loyalty scheme,
which surely buys me entry into
1,000 points gets you a mug.
There is a man in there
wearing fucking shorts!
Would you like
the mug? HE SCOFFS
You're a poxy bloody airline
in a poxy bloody airport
on a poxy bloody island!
Safe flight, Douglas. HE SIGHS
There are many ways a
police career can end,
and this is one of them.
It can end with honour, respect,
and a carriage clock.
Or it can end like this.
While the panel had no
option but to clear you,
it noted a startling
list of transgressions -
deviations from accepted
practice, lack of communication,
and a reputation for
So I'm cleared, then.
Resign today and I'll let
you keep your pension.
You've run out of departments
that will take you, Lundy,
which is quite the achievement.
The Lone Ranger.
Did you ever watch
it, sir, as a kid?
Saturday afternoons? I played
lacrosse on Saturday afternoons.
Well, my old man worked
Saturdays down the mine,
and he'd come home
covered in soot.
He'd sit on a newspaper so
as not to dirty the armchair.
He'd stick his feet in
a bucket of hot water,
and me and him, we'd
watch The Lone Ranger.
He worked alone, the Lone
Ranger, in that mask of his,
and no-one ever knew his name,
and every week he got
told a villain to catch,
and so he followed the clues,
and he spoke to who
he needed to speak to,
and by hook or by crook,
he found that villain
and he brought him in.
And then the credits rolled
and it was chips for tea.
Well, Lundy, that's a touching tale
from the provinces, but shall we?
That's what this
job is about for me.
It's not this place.
I hate this place.
You know, I come here
Every time I come here,
you give me a commendation
or you give me a warning,
and I'm not interested in either.
I'm interested in catching villains.
And when it comes to that,
I am the best you've got
and you know it. So why don't
you give me a villain to catch,
I can go back out there, I can
pretend to be the Lone Ranger,
and you can go back to your office
and pretend to be a policeman?
KNOCK, DOOR OPENS
Sir, Downing Street.
Resign, or I'll have
you doing school visits
for the rest of your career.
I thought the Lone
Ranger had a sidekick.
Tonto, wasn't it? Yeah.
That was his weakness.
I learnt from that.
SHE SIGHS Give me a job, ma'am.
HE SIGHS
This is a mistake.
I thought you'd be impressed,
me being in there with that lot.
I know who you are. I
know what you've achieved.
I don't need to read
it in some newspaper.
I don't know why you want
anyone else to read it either.
Because it's an opportunity.
That bit you read - "business
interests in Spain."
That's what they put
my dough down to.
No mention of anything else.
It shows that I'm legit,
and the more legit I look,
the further away I get
from that bloody gold.
No, I don't think this gets
you away from the gold, John.
I think it just reminds
people about it.
While I accept that Cornwall
didn't go exactly to plan,
if the gold is on the move,
then that is a good thing.
You're not here to
discuss the gold boys.
Have you seen the Times? I've
been a little busy, ma'am.
The Times Rich List, which
is Christmas bloody day
for this country's
establishment, and there he is.
150 million, all
built on Brink's-Mat.
And look who he shares
his position with.
John Palmer next to the Queen.
I realise this is not ideal
This is a national embarrassment.
Our phones are ringing.
If the Home Secretary wants to
discuss it, I'm very happy to
It's gone higher than
the Home Secretary.
I'm being sent across the park.
And you're going with her. Now.
I assume you won't be
joining us, sir. Christ, no.
Commissioners that go to
Downing Street don't come back.
If they need a head on a
spike, give them Boyce.
It'll come to you dirtier
than that. I'd hope so.
Who's smelting it for
you, Charlie? Gypsies.
Clever. Can you handle it?
For the right price.
Take what you need
to do it quick.
I'll be in touch.
DOOR CLOSES
What are you up to, then?
I've just gone through
Miller's criminal associates.
We spent a year doing that,
mate. Look where it got us.
Whatever he's doing right now,
whoever he's doing it with,
is in here. Yeah, but
there's 200 blokes in there
that will help him shift
the gold, and three of us.
We've got to do something, Nic.
You're right. The
answer's in there.
But we're asking
the wrong question.
IN THE DISTANCE: This is
exactly the kind of situation
we need to avoid.
Yes, Prime Minister.
The people of Britain are
worried about doing their bit.
This is the last thing we should
be reading about in the newspaper.
Of course.
How might something like
this not happen again?
Well, clearly this Stiffer
money-laundering laws,
a new extradition treaty with the
Spanish, and adequate resources.
Then we'll put legislation
in front of Parliament
and speak to the Spanish.
That would be helpful.
And in return, you will ensure
the next time that John
Palmer is in the newspapers,
he'll be appearing
at the Old Bailey.
With the right resources,
that will be achieved.
Good.
How are you, Douglas?
Wilting. Whisky?
And what might pass for
whisky in a place like this?
Oh, only the good
stuff for you, love.
If only.
Right, then, Douglas, take a seat.
I'll go and get me bits and bobs.
Well, if this is
your good stuff,
you must be selling the
punters bloody petrol.
I'm a friend of a friend.
Of course you are.
This is South London.
Everyone's a friend of a friend.
I heard you can clean money. Did you
now? You're good at it, apparently.
Oh, am I?
Am I good at cleaning money?
HE LAUGHS
First-class degree from
Cambridge. Top of my year.
One of the finest legal
minds of my generation.
All to sit in this shithole
drinking God knows what
and being told by yet another
Cockney knuckle-dragger
that I'm good at cleaning money.
I'd have been better off
driving a fucking bus.
I've got a proposal. Oh!
Oh, he has a proposal!
Let me guess - you
turned over a post office
with a banana stuck
down your jumper,
and now you need
to hide ten grand.
Well, that should shake up the
world of international finance.
Coming to South
London once a month
to help places like this
dodge a few quid in tax
doesn't sound like
international finance to me.
This is a temporary service while
I await the return of my licence.
It was two months of bird
you did, weren't it? Sorry?
For the cocaine.
That was an escalating
sequence of misunderstandings.
And I ain't looking for
someone with a licence.
Well, I ain't looking
for someone like you.
Because I am sick of people like
you with your brown envelopes
and your dirty fivers and your,
"So how does it all
work, then, Mr Baxter?"
So with some, but
not much, respect,
why don't you take your little
bag of swag and fuck right off?
Because if you want this to
get physical, I would warn you,
I am a Cambridge
boxing half-blue.
So if you wish to take
this to the cobbles,
I'll take it to the
cobbles right now.
When I was a boy, we came
here to play football.
The Queen's house at
one end of the park,
the Prime Minister's house at
the other, and a bunch of kids
from Maple Street playing
football in the middle.
Well, that's how
London was back then.
It protected the powerful,
but it didn't forget
to serve the people.
What's your point, Boyce?
If you can find the money
for me to bring down Palmer
and save Her Majesty
from being embarrassed,
then you can find the money
for me to chase the other half
of the Brink's-Mat gold
and whatever it turns into.
This country's heading
into a recession, Boyce.
We can't be seen to spend
money on wild goose chases.
I'll get results, ma'am,
with some extra manpower.
Well, on that front,
you're in luck.
Thank you for having me in your
beautiful home, Mrs Palmer.
I hope that one day I can
build a life like this.
I'm sure you'll do just fine.
Thank you, Mrs Palmer.
I love you too. I'll
see you soon. Bye.
Now, you need anything,
you let me know, yeah?
All I want is what we had.
HE SIGHS
I can't give us that.
But I can give us
something better.
It doesn't have to be better.
That life was enough for me.
And if it had been enough for
you, then we wouldn't be here.
Come here.
I'll see you soon.
You want to keep
an eye on that one.
I like him. He's ambitious.
Yeah, that's why you need
to keep an eye on him.
Bye, girls. Bye,
Daddy. Bye, Daddy.
CAR DOOR CLOSES
It can't be a
coincidence. No chance.
I have some news.
Mm. So do we.
We can't chase the
gold again, sir.
We don't have the time, and
it's probably gone already.
This time, it's only about the
money, right from the start.
So we thought about
the money, and Miller,
and how he'll need help with
it. Help that's in here.
And we noticed something, sir.
KNOCK ON DOOR This is my news.
What? Lundy?
He's bent, isn't he?
Charming.
Cleared by a panel, love.
Its DI Jennings, and cleared
by a panel don't mean much.
You looking for
Charlie, are you?
Yeah, of course you are. Cos he
was on the Brinks job, wasn't he?
Took half the gold and then
he shoved it down a hole.
Didn't think to mention that?
Well, the Met Police suspended me,
DI Jennings. They decided
they weren't interested in me
or what I heard. Where
do you want me, Boyce?
Sir. Right. Yeah. Where
do you want me, sir?
No overtime, no drinking at
lunchtime, and no Freemasonry.
If I charged my overtime,
I'd bankrupt the Yard,
I run at lunchtimes,
and I'm a Catholic,
so I think the Masons would be less
keen on me than they are on you.
We have two targets - Charlie
Miller and John Palmer.
It's a bit bare up there,
isn't it? Not for long.
If we've learnt one thing
in the last few years,
it is to respect what the gold
and the money that comes
from it does to people.
Not to them, but to
the people around them,
those drawn in by greed
or ambition or fear.
Those with choices to make.
To stay loyal or to rebel.
To stay clean
..or to get dirty.
Those people will
make those choices,
and they will make mistakes,
and we must be
there when they do.
Because right now, in the
people around Palmer and Miller
are those who will protect them
and those who will destroy them,
and we need to work out which
ones are which before they do.
We need to work out what danger
they're in before they do.
I don't know where this ends,
but I know that it's begun.
FLAMES WHOOSH
HE CHUCKLES
Mm. CHARLIE: That's the lot.
Shame. I was enjoying
the air miles.
So?
So? Where have you put it?
That is stage two.
I have been somewhat
preoccupied with stage one.
But it's tucked away
somewhere? Invested?
It's somewhere, yes.
I gave you my money
because I believed you
knew what to do with it
and I believed you knew what
would happen if you lost
a single note of
that £10 million.
And you were right
on both counts.
Then tell me very clearly
where every penny of
my dough is right now.
MUSIC: She Bangs The
Drums by The Stone Roses
I can feel the
Earth begin to move
I hear my needle
hit the groove
And spiral through another day
I hear my song begin to say
Kiss me where
the sun don't shine
The past was yours
but the future's mine
You're all out of time ♪