The Gold: Who is Bristol gangster John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer & how to watch new BBC drama

A brand new drama on BBC One features a Bristol gangster who was involved in the ‘crime of the century’. The six-part series is inspired by a true story, about six men who stumbled upon gold bullion worth £26m.

Written by Neil Forsyth and directed by Aneil Karia and Lawrence Gough, it may look like The Gold blurs the lines between fact and fiction but it is very much rooted in reality. The cast includes Paddingtons Hugh Bonneville and leading actors Jack Lowden, Sean Harris and Tom Cullen, who all star as members of the gang.

John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer settled down in Bristol years after the Brink’s-Mat robbery but who is he, who plays him in the new BBC series and how can you watch the new BBC One drama.

What is the Brink’s-Mat robbery?

Known as the biggest theft in world history at the time, the robbery saw six men break into Brink’s-Mat security depot on November 16, 1983. The group - who were armed - planned on stealing £1 million worth of foreign currency but inadvertently stumbled upon gold bullion valued at £26 million.

The thieves escaped with the gold after coaxing the vault’s combination numbers from security staff who turned up for their Saturday shift at the warehouse. However, 15 minutes after the six men escaped, a member of staff who had been handcuffed to the table, escaped and managed to alert the police.

Who was John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer?

John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer, who is played by Tom Cullan in the BBC dramatisation, was a gangster and gold dealer. The former market trader married in Bristol in 1975, and settled at a mansion near Wick. He was in charge of running a gold and jewellery dealing company, known as Scadlynn Ltd, from Bedminster. Following the 1983 Brink’s-Mat robbery, police discovered the firm were smelting down the stolen £26 million gold bullion in order to sell-on without detection.

However, fortunately for Palmer, he was vacationing in Tenerife meaning his business associates Garth Chappell and Terence Patch took the fall and Chappell was jailed for 10 years. After a problem with his passport led Palmer to be deported back to the UK, he was finally put on trial for the 1983 heist but in an unexpected turn of events, the jury found him not guilty of stealing the gold.

In 2001, Palmer was sentenced to eight years in prison over a complex timeshare fraud case which helped him increase his fortune to around £300 million. In 2015 his chequered past finally caught up with him when he was murdered at his Essex home. A professional hitman broke into the mansion and shot the 65-year-old six times in the chest.

The Gold entire cast

• Brian Boyce – Hugh Bonneville
• Nikki Jennings – Charlotte Spencer
• Tony Brightwell – Emun Elliott
• Kenneth Noye – Jack Lowden
• Edwyn Cooper – Dominic Cooper
• John Palmer – Tom Cullen
• Marnie Palmer – Stefanie Martini
• Gordon Parry – Sean Harris
• Micky McAvoy – Adam Nagaitis
• Archie Osbourne – Daniel Ings
• Isabelle Cooper – Ruth Bradley
• Brenda Noye – Nichola Burley
• Sienna Rose – Ellora Torchia
• Assistant Commissioner Gordon Stewart – Peter Davison
• CS Cath McClean – Amanda Drew
• AI – Anil Desai
• DCI John Fordham – Hadley Fraser
• DI Neville Carter – Sean Gilder
• Jackie McAvoy – Lily Knight
• Garth Chappell – Robin Laing
• Jeannie Savage – Dorothy Atkinson
• Neil Murphy – Chris Coghill
• Matteo Constantino – Vernon Dobcheff
• Max Goodman – Paul Thornley
• Brian Reader – James Nelson Joyce
• Kathleen Meacock – Sophia La Porta
• Freemason Julian – Martin Carroll
• Santiago – Anton Antoniadis
• Senesie – Deenie Davies
• Billy Jennings – Danny Webb
• Brian Robinson – Frankie Wilson
• Harry Bowman – Silas Carson

How to watch The Gold 

The Gold is set to premiere on BBC One at 9pm on Sunday, February 12. After that, episodes will be shown weekly at the same time.

The hour-long episodes will appear on BBC iPlayer after airing on TV.