Cliff Notes – I had to snort pure glucose: Inside BBC’s outstanding 80s crime drama
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Season 2 Overview: The second series of The Gold continues the story of the Brink’s-Mat heist, focusing on the late 1980s and the laundering of stolen gold across various locations, including Tenerife and the Isle of Man.
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Character Development: DCI Brian Boyce, portrayed by Hugh Bonneville, remains a central figure as he pursues criminals like Charlie Miller and John Palmer, who are entangled in the consequences of their ill-gotten gains.
- Actor Insights: Tom Cullen, who plays John Palmer, shares the challenges of portraying addiction, revealing that using pure glucose as a prop for cocaine had a significant impact on his performance.
‘I had to snort pure glucose’: Inside BBC’s outstanding 80s crime drama
Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville returns for The Gold season 2 (Picture: BBC/Tannadice Pictures)
It’s a first-world problem but, while I’m at a chilly, damp Twickenham Studios on Valentine’s Day, I can’t help wishing the team from The Gold had invited me on set a couple of weeks later.
When the Bafta-nominated first series finished, several of the criminals who had stolen and laundered the bullion from the 1983 Brink’s-Mat heist – at the time, the biggest robbery in British history – were behind bars, yet DCI Brian Boyce and his compact task force were realising that half the gold remained unaccounted for.
The second series rejoins the money-laundering trail in the late 1980s as it splits between the UK and the Isle of Man and the sunnier climes of Tenerife (which also doubles as South America and the British Virgin Islands).
‘We’ll be filming in Tenerife for eight weeks,’ grins Hugh Bonneville, who returns as the dogged, incorruptible Boyce.
‘It’s a much bigger canvas this time – we shot in some buildings in London that clearly were built on Brink’s-Mat money for season one, but this time you see the money leaking out into Tenerife and the tax havens.
‘You begin to realise it funded drug imports and the beginnings of the ecstasy boom in the UK. The ripple effect of this one event in November 1983 is remarkable.’
I watch on as Boyce subjects a quivering suspect to a fearsome grilling – with retirement drawing near, the copper clearly intends to leave on a high, and Hugh clearly relished the opportunity to talk to Boyce himself, now in his mid-80s but still a formidable figure.
‘Brian took me and [series creator] Neil Forsyth out to lunch as we were starting season one, so I reciprocated after it had been on. He likes to talk about the old days and took me through his entire career: he was on the squad that knocked down the door to get Ronnie and Reggie Kray!
‘He was very courteous and thanked us for respecting the way they went about their work, which was very heartening. You get the sense he was a good leader who absolutely relied on teamwork.’
Boyce and his team – returning coppers Nicki Jennings (Charlotte Spencer), Tony Brightwell (Emun Elliott) plus maverick newcomer Tony Lundy (Stephen Campbell Moore) – have two main quarries. One is Charlie Miller (Sam Spruell), a minor villain briefly glimpsed in series one waiting it out in Spain for the dust to settle. Now, though, he’s back to claim his stash from its Cornish hiding place.
Tom Cullen revealed how snorting pure glucose to pretend his character was taking cocaine ‘f**ked him’ (Picture: BBC/Tannadice Pictures/Cristina Ríos Bordón)
The Gold received critical acclaim when the first season aired two years ago (Picture: BBC/Tannadice Pictures)
‘It’s a cat-and-mouse chase around the world as Charlie tries to use his ill-gotten gains to go legit, to be taken seriously and become a financial player,’ says Sam.
‘He has a strategy and he’s very determined – no matter what goes wrong, he will make the best of it. He just keeps going despite the knockbacks, and as an actor I could relate to that, even admire him for it.’
Miller, Sam concedes, doesn’t quite have the capacity to realise his aspirations, and brings in Joshua Maguire’s crooked lawyer Douglas Baxter to assist him. ‘Baxter is the brains and has that class confidence and access Charlie lacks,’ says Sam. ‘They spend a lot of time being cross with each other, a bit like Laurel and Hardy.’
Boyce’s other prime target is the returning west-country gold smelter John Palmer (Tom Cullen) who, in contrast to Miller, works alone and is sitting pretty as the self-styled ‘King of Tenerife’.
‘Since he successfully defended himself in court [in season one], Palmer has a sense of freedom,’ explains Tom.
‘He’s fitter, happier and wearing nicer suits. He can grow into his wealth now and enjoy it, having been driven all his life to better himself after growing up in immense poverty. Not a nice person, but fascinating to play.’
The series returns tonight on BBC One (PictureDes Willie/Cristina Ríos Bordón)
Palmer’s improved physical condition, though, is undermined by a deteriorating psychological one.
‘Palmer has this innate confidence,’ explains Tom. ‘He’s always assessing every option, like a chess player. But other factions are moving in on his empire so he’s cutting deals and making alliances along with having to juggle his wife, children and mistresses, which comes with its stresses for him.
‘I don’t know how he had the energy for it all! The gold is infecting him as greed and power become complete obsessions.’
The problems only mount as Palmer starts to sink into cocaine addiction – an experience, laughs Tom, almost as trying for the actor as it was for the character.
‘The fake coke is pure glucose, and it absolutely f**ked me. We did one scene, the last of the day at about 8pm, where I had to snort this humongous line in Palmer’s private plane, which is just ridiculous – everything in it is gold. I think I fell asleep about 1am.’
He wags a finger at me – a final warning in a cautionary tale for the ages. ‘Don’t do glucose, kids!’
The Gold season 2 begins at 9pm on June 8 on BBC One.