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.
8 Reviews
Slow But Not Bad
jimpayne196728 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I had almost forgotten this programme existed having not seen it in 50 years until it turned up on Talking Pictures TV recently. All those years ago I did not see the last few episodes but did recall that Sally Thomsett was in it and that in one episode a woman revealed her bare chest. I had thought it was filmed in colour like many of the ITV serials of the late sixties. Miss Thomsett turned up in only two episodes and the show was in fact filmed in the black and white I had seen it in originally but the actress did take her top off.
Telling the story of the investigation of a daring , meticilously planned gold robbery most episodes begin with a reshowing of the robbery which means the viewer never forgets what the thing is about. In some of the early episodes the robbery is slightly re-edited to highlight which member of the gang the episode will highlight. This made me think of the 1956 heist film The Killing.
Some of the episodes are better than others - I especially liked the second episode the aforementioned Railway Child was in and also the one with George Cole as a character who comes across as a melancholy Flash Harry. None of the episodes is bad but as I watched it I felt the serial's biggest problem is that there are too many episodes- the show drags at times.
The show suffers from comparison with newer shows in that it looks cheap and seems oddly short of extras. Peter Vaughan plays , I gathered, a very busy policeman. No wonder he is busy as aside from his sidekick, a Detective Sergeant played by Artro Morris, who bites the dust in the last episode he seems to be the only officer in the building he works in.
I had problems with the idea that the criminal mastermind would turn out to be such an unmenacing, almost camp, figure as played by Victor Bartman - a rival figure played by Peter Cellier comes across as being much more credible. The final twist as to who was really behind the robbery is hardly a surprise. The show could do with a few more shocks a long its way.
Most of the acting is though very good. Few of the featured actors has a face or name I have forgotten and the performances of Joss Ackland Alfred Lynch, Patrick Allen, Coral Atkins and Peter Bowles are especially excellent. I am less sure of Vaughan as Chief Superintendent Craddock - maybe I have just got too used to him playing menacing bad guys to see him as an incorruptible cop but I think that maybe he just improved as an actor. And he is not bad in the role.
I liked thia serial and few programmes have such a gloomy finale- nobody emerges as a winner. But it could have done with a wee bit more life in it. 7.4 in my book.
Telling the story of the investigation of a daring , meticilously planned gold robbery most episodes begin with a reshowing of the robbery which means the viewer never forgets what the thing is about. In some of the early episodes the robbery is slightly re-edited to highlight which member of the gang the episode will highlight. This made me think of the 1956 heist film The Killing.
Some of the episodes are better than others - I especially liked the second episode the aforementioned Railway Child was in and also the one with George Cole as a character who comes across as a melancholy Flash Harry. None of the episodes is bad but as I watched it I felt the serial's biggest problem is that there are too many episodes- the show drags at times.
The show suffers from comparison with newer shows in that it looks cheap and seems oddly short of extras. Peter Vaughan plays , I gathered, a very busy policeman. No wonder he is busy as aside from his sidekick, a Detective Sergeant played by Artro Morris, who bites the dust in the last episode he seems to be the only officer in the building he works in.
I had problems with the idea that the criminal mastermind would turn out to be such an unmenacing, almost camp, figure as played by Victor Bartman - a rival figure played by Peter Cellier comes across as being much more credible. The final twist as to who was really behind the robbery is hardly a surprise. The show could do with a few more shocks a long its way.
Most of the acting is though very good. Few of the featured actors has a face or name I have forgotten and the performances of Joss Ackland Alfred Lynch, Patrick Allen, Coral Atkins and Peter Bowles are especially excellent. I am less sure of Vaughan as Chief Superintendent Craddock - maybe I have just got too used to him playing menacing bad guys to see him as an incorruptible cop but I think that maybe he just improved as an actor. And he is not bad in the role.
I liked thia serial and few programmes have such a gloomy finale- nobody emerges as a winner. But it could have done with a wee bit more life in it. 7.4 in my book.
A classic which builds up the tension
edward_woodcraft9 May 2004
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?
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?
Gripping, intelligent, crime drama
wilvram2 March 2015
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.
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.
Fine police drama.
alexanderdavies-993827 July 2017
"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.
Pure gold in the vaults
ade_barrett16 July 2012
"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 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?
Needs a DVD release
jonathan-gayner16 August 2008
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.
Gritty police drama
Bernard-1628 August 1999
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.
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