Masterpiece Grabs 'The Gold,' Both Seasons to Air on PBS

For the second time in 2024, there is good news on the streaming wars front, as those succeeding services start pulling away from those that will not. As I recently noted in our Gangs of London Season 3 post, this is a frustrating time for TV fans when series that should, by rights, be massive hits wind up lost in the dusty corner of a streaming service no one subscribes to. But one series has managed to escape the confines of its collapsing platform, as The Gold gets scooped up from Paramount+ and moves house to the place it should have been the whole time: PBS.

For those of you who are longtime readers, you'll remember The Gold, the BBC series about the infamous Brinks Mat robbery in which £26million in gold bars was accidentally found and stolen by some small-time robbers thinking they'd be legends. Instead, they were like the dog that caught the car; after all, what does one do with giant gold bars? Though their lives weren't improved, the intermediaries who could move the product managed not only to launder all of it but also gentrify parts of London that are still some of the most expensive parts of the city to live in today.

Season 1 was a massive hit on the BBC, but Paramount+ (which co-produced Season 1) failed to market the series. It went nowhere in the U.S. When the BBC announced it would renew the series for a second season, Paramount exited it, leaving space for a network that would know what to do with such a series to step in. Enter PBS and Masterpiece, which have secured the rights to Season 1 and will debut Season 2 in the U.S. when it crosses the pond.

Here's the official synopsis for Season 1.

They were looking for £1 million. They found £26 million. Inspired by the biggest gold heist in Britain's history, The Gold tells the story of the 1983 Brink’s Mat robbery that kicked off decades of investigation, corruption, arrests, and murder as the police tried to identify the criminals and recover the gold.

And here it the synopsis for the upcoming second season:

Following the conviction of some of those involved in the theft and handling of the Brink’s-Mat gold, the police realised that those criminals only ever had half of it. Series two explores what happened to the other half, and the criminal fortune it created. As the police investigation continues, it becomes a tense, high-stakes journey into international money laundering and organised crime, while the police embark on dramatic manhunts as they desperately try to solve the longest and most expensive investigation in the history of the Metropolitan Police.

The series' first season boasts an all-star cast led by Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), Charlotte Spencer (Sanditon), and Emun Elliott (Guilt). Co-stars include Dominic Cooper (My Lady Jane), Jack Lowden (Slow Horses), Tom Cullen (Becoming Elizabeth), Sean Harris (The Green Knight), Ellora Torchia (Indian Summers), Stefanie Martini (Prime Suspect 1973), Daniel Ings (I Hate Suzie), Adam Nagaitis (The Responder) and Peter Davison (Doctor Who). 

Series creator Neil Forsyth (Guilt) wrote all episodes of Seasons 1 and 2 (12 in all). Directing duties were split between Aneil Karia (Top Boy) and Lawrence Gough (Endeavour) in Season 1; all six installments of Season 2 were helmed by director Patrick Harkins (Tin Star).

The Gold Season 1 is expected to air on most PBS stations in 2025. Season 2 is expected to arrive on the BBC in early 2025 and will follow on PBS sometime in the 2025-2026 TV season.