Latest news with #NeilForsyth
Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
I swapped a freezing burger van for sunkissed beach on the trail of gold robbers, says director
Team uncovered a new angle in the case while filming GOLDEN SANDS I swapped a freezing burger van for sunkissed beach on the trail of gold robbers, says director Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) WRITER Neil Forsyth has revealed how he flipped his life around after swapping a burger van in Dundee for filming with an all-star cast in Tenerife. The Scot's second series of The Gold, with Hugh Bonneville portraying real-life detective Brian Boyce on the trail of the Brink's-Mat robbers, returns to BBC One tonight. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 2 The team headed for Tenerife for season two 2 Neil Forsyth and Hugh Bonneville attended a preview screening of the new series And this time it was filmed mostly on the sun-kissed Canary Isle - in stark contrast to Neil's first TV series in 2013, Bob Servant Independent, which saw Brian Cox star as a self-styled burger van mogul. Neil says: 'I remember filming a scene with Bob Servant where it was set on the beach and it was supposed to be a summer's day but it was actually p***ing down in Dundee. 'I felt so sorry for these poor extras pretending to build sandcastles as they could barely get their spades into the sand because it was so frozen. 'So, yeah, to go from there to filming on a Tenerife beach has been a bit of a journey.' The first series of The Gold in 2023 saw DCI Boyce pursue violent criminal Kenneth Noye (Jack Lowden) - the mastermind behind the biggest gold robbery of all-time, when a gang stole three tonnes of the precious metal from a security depot near Heathrow Airport in 1983. Meanwhile, the second instalment centres on real-life criminal John Palmer (Tom Cullen) - nicknamed Goldfinger - who was tried and acquitted of the Brink's-Mat robbery in 1987. And that sees Boyce follow the loot around the world, leading the cast to relocate to the Canaries. Neil explains: 'Tenerife is an interesting place. There's lots of nooks and crannies that look very different. So we managed to eke out five countries from one location. 'So we spent half the shoot out there as we had it doubling as the British Virgin Islands, mainland Spain, Burma, Costa Rica and Tenerife itself.' But while so much of the action from the first series was well documented through Old Bailey trials and police investigations, Neil and his team had to delve deep to find leads for the new series. Trailer for The Gold series inspired by the iconic true story of the Brink's-Mat robbery Neil explains: 'A lot of the criminals we feature in this series didn't actually get caught for their crimes. 'So there weren't any court proceedings to work off. We call one of the key criminals in this series Logan Campbell, who is played by Tom Hughes. 'But he was inspired by a guy we discovered who ended up going into American witness protection. Again none of this ever came out publicly.' And Neil, 47, even found out that the bounty may have been hidden in an abandoned tin mine. He says: 'We came across a tiny news clipping in the archives that one of the gang hid the gold down a Cornish tin mine. Cornish police even looked into it at the time. 'I am still in touch with Brian Boyce, the real-life cop Hugh Bonneville plays, and I mentioned the mine to him. 'He said he had never heard that theory before but then said one of the robbers had close links to that area so it was entirely possible. 'It was really quite exciting. It's almost like you're making breakthroughs in the case 40 years later.' The married dad-of-one was raised in Broughty Ferry, near Dundee, where he began his writing career in his early teens, contributing articles to the Dundee Utd fanzine. His big break came in 2010 with the publication of his first Bob Servant comedy novel featuring hilarious responses to real internet scamsters. Succession actor Brian Cox then agreed to provide the voice of Bob for radio, before it was made into a BBC series with Jonathan Watson starring as his long-suffering pal Frank. Neil then wrote three seasons of the award-winning Beeb crime drama Guilt before going onto the big-budget series The Gold. He says: 'I feel very fortunate as I am kind of going from a production to a production, which is an amazing thing. 'But you know I worked for a long time to get to this point and there were lots of years of failure and rejection and worries about money and everything else.' One of those failures was in 2003 when he blew his life savings buying tartan bunnets in bulk to sell at Edinburgh's Hogmanay street party - only for the celebrations to be cancelled at the last minute due to high winds. He recalls: 'I woke up on New Year's Day in 2004 with 5,000 tartan bunnets in the flat that had cost me £3,000, which was all the money I had at that time. 'What did I do with them? I sold them to a tourist shop on the Royal Mile for a third of what I paid for them a week before.' LEGENDS NEIL is currently working on his latest big-budget series - about a bunch of true-life British customs crime-busters. The Scot is the creator of Legends, which stars Steve Coogan and which will be screened on Netflix next year. And he hopes his story about customs employees sent undercover will be a winner with viewers after he had a clandestine meeting with one of the real-life officers. He says: 'It's a true story set in the 90s about these customs officers who are given minimal training but are then sent undercover into the international drugs world. 'The false identities they came up with were called their legend. So that's why the show's called Legends. 'I met one of the main guys who'd done the undercover work. He wouldn't give us his real name and I went to meet him for a kind of clandestine lunch - it all came from there.' And Neil was delighted to work with his 'hero' Coogan, 59, filming up to 16 hours-a-day on a London council estate. He adds: 'I am the writer and also the showrunner so it's full on. 'But I'm certainly not moaning about it because it's taken me a long time to get here and now I get to work with heroes of mine like Steve Coogan, who is an absolute acting powerhouse.' However, Neil used that costly experience for a scene in Guilt when Jake McCall (Jamie Sives) buys two thousand Fez hats as part of a get-rich-quick scheme. He adds: 'The thing about being a writer is that everything goes into the work. So many things in my life - good and bad - ends up in there.' But now he's a top showrunner his biggest concern was trying to secure the services of The Gold's lead actor Bonneville. That was in-between the 61-year-old starring as Mr Brown in Paddington in Peru and returning to his role as aristo Robert Crawley in Downton Abbey: The Finale. Neil jokes: 'His schedule was a constant battle between his big stately home and that bloody bear, but somehow we managed to fit him in.' But the Dundee Utd die-hard insists he will never turn his back on his home city no matter where his soaring career takes him. He says: 'I did the half-time draw at Tannedice last year which was absolutely terrifying. I was more nervous doing that than speaking to some of the big Brink's-Mat robbers for sure.'
Irish Independent
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Today's top TV and streaming choices: The Gold, Where the Crawdads Sing and Ocean with David Attenborough
The Gold BBC One, 9pm Cast your mind back to February 2023 when, while we were still reeling from the final scenes of Happy Valley, the BBC launched a new — but very different — crime drama on an unsuspecting world. Entitled The Gold, it focused on the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery, when six career criminals made off with gold bullion, diamonds and cash now worth £111million from a London warehouse facility. The six-parter proved to be gripping stuff, but there was heaps more of the story to tell. Thankfully, the BBC's bosses knew they were on to a winner, so immediately commissioned a second series — which is about to begin. 'I am delighted that we have been given the opportunity to tell the rest of the Brink's-Mat story,' states the programme's writer and executive producer Neil Forsyth. 'It sees the consequences of the robbery and its aftermath grow only more surprising, dramatic and far-reaching, both in Britain and around the world.' Hugh Bonneville, Charlotte Spencer, Emun Elliott, Tom Cullen and Stefanie Martini return, as does Jack Lowden as Kenneth Noye, one of the criminals involved, although he doesn't appear until the third episode. The story picks up after the conviction of some of those involved in the handling of the stolen goods as well as the theft itself. However, the police are convinced there's more to the story, leading them to investigate international money laundering and organised crime. The Sunday Game Live RTÉ2, 1.30pm The McDonagh Cup final between Kildare and Laois takes place at Croke Park before there's a chance to see Kilkenny face Galway in the Leinster Hurling final. Highlights can be seen at 9.30pm. From that Small Island RTÉ One, 6.30pm ADVERTISEMENT Subtitled The Story of the Irish, this new four-part documentary series, narrated by Colin Farrell, offers insights into the history of the people who have populated the island of Ireland. The opener looks back at the first residents and features a reconstruction of one of our ancestors. Walking with Dinosaurs BBC One, 6.30pm Bertie Carvel takes viewers to Utah 130 million years ago, where a group of armoured dinosaurs are about to reach maturity — if a group of vicious utahraptors don't catch up with them first. Sloinne TG4, 8.30pm Siobhán de Paor investigates the origins of her surname, which translates as Power in English. Along the way she learns about sculptor Albert Power and Dr Sheila Power, who is believed to be the first Irishwoman to be awarded a doctorate in mathematical sciences. The Towering Inferno RTÉ One, 2.40pm All-star disaster epic in which a group of VIPs are trapped in the world's tallest building when it bursts into flames. The plot follows the efforts of its architect and a fire chief to rescue them. Paul Newman and Steve McQueen play the duo. Where the Crawdads Sing RTÉ One, 9.30pm A lawyer sets out to clear the name of a non-conformist young woman accused of murdering her boyfriend in America's Deep South during the late 1960s. Daisy Edgar-Jones and David Strathairn star in this taut drama. The Survivors Netflix, streaming now We're mostly used to two types of Australian viewing: soaps and super-dry (to the point of cringe) comedy. This is different. The drama follows Kieran Elliott's life after two people drown in his hometown of Evelyn Bay, Australia. To top it off, a young girl also went missing. Returning with his family 15 years later, the simmering guilt resurfaces, especially when the body of a young woman is found on the beach… K.O. Netflix, streaming now No one does visceral city grit like the French. Bastien has lived as a recluse since accidentally killing his opponent Enzo in an MMA fight three years ago. Now, Enzo's widow tracks him down as, essentially, he owes her one. Her request? Find her missing teenage son. Tyler Perry's Straw Netflix, streaming now Between this and last month's release of She the People, Mr Tyler Perry is getting himself around. This offering, however, is far more stark than May's fare. Here, one mum's day unfurls as it goes from tricky to catastrophic. Pushed to the precipice by a world that seems indifferent to her plight (until they can livestream it), she soon gets attention when she unwittingly holds up a bank. The Orkney Assassin Prime Video, streaming now The Orkney Isles lie 130 miles north of Aberdeen. It's a peaceful place with a strong sense of community. In June 1994, however, Bangladeshi waiter Shamsuddin Mahmood was working at the lone curry house when a masked man fatally shot him. This documentary revisits one of Scotland's most extraordinary murder cases, examining racism, loyalty, and the impact of trauma decades later.
Tom's Guide
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
How to watch 'The Gold' season 2 online from anywhere – stream the Hugh Bonneville crime drama
The first season of "The Gold" (8.7 million viewers for the debut episode) was almost as spectacular success as the real-life 1983 Brink's-Mat heist that inspired it and the public fascination with the crime shows little sign of abating. "The Gold" season 2 is based around what happened to the half of the haul that was never found... Here's how to watch "The Gold" season 2 online from anywhere with a VPN — and potentially for free! "The Gold" season 2 premieres on Sunday, June 8 on BBC One at 9 p.m. BST (4 p.m. ET/ 1 p.m. PT). All six episodes will be available to stream on iPlayer the same day.• WATCH FREE — BBC iPlayer (U.K.)• Watch anywhere — try NordVPN 100% risk free The truth is that nobody knows – well a few people know but they're either dead or not saying and so the underworld has several of its own theories, some informed and some pure speculation. For Neil Forsyth (creator, writer and executive producer of "The Gold") this provides a perfect chance for speculation and dramatisation. "The second and final part of 'The Gold'," he has said, "Sees the story of the Brink's-Mat robbery, and everything that stemmed from it, become even more expansive, surprising and international." Unsurprisingly, an all-star cast (see below) have signed up to deliver this hugely anticipated sequel. Read on to find out how to watch "The Gold" season 2 online, on TV and from anywhere including the U.S., Canada and Australia. "The Gold" season 2 premieres on BBC One on Sunday, June 8 at 9 p.m. BST (4 p.m. ET/ 1 p.m. PT). All six episodes will be available to stream for FREE on BBC iPlayer the same day. You don't have to miss it if you a Brit exiled abroad because you can unblock BBC iPlayer with a VPN. We'll show you how to do that below... Thanks to the wonders of a VPN (Virtual Private Network), "The Gold" season 2 should be available to Brits no matter where they are. The software allows your devices to appear to be back in your home country regardless of where in the world you find yourself. Our favorite is NordVPN. There's a good reason you've heard of NordVPN. We specialize in testing and reviewing VPN services and NordVPN is the one we rate best. It's outstanding at unblocking streaming services, it's fast and it has top-level security features too. With over 5,000 servers, across 60 countries, and at a great price too, it's easy to recommend. Get 70% off with this NordVPN deal Using a VPN is incredibly simple. 1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is our favorite. 2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you're away from the U.K. and want to view a U.K. service, you'd select U.K. from the list. 3. Sit back and watch the show. Head to BBC iPlayer to watch "The Gold" season 2 episodes online and on-demand. Yes. There is no release date for "The Gold" season 2 in the U.S. as yet but both seasons are imminent on PBS Masterpiece via PBS Passport. However, if you are a Brit in the States for work or on vacation you can catch the show for FREE much earlier by using a VPN such as NordVPN, choosing U.K. from the list and selecting BBC iPlayer. As with the U.S., there is no release date for "The Gold" season 2 in Canada as yet but, it will join season 1 on CBC/ CBC Gem very soon. You will hear about it here first. However, if you are a Brit in the Great White North for work or on vacation you can catch the show on your own domestic streaming platform by using a VPN such as NordVPN. Yes. "The Gold" season 2 will drop in Australia on Monday, June 9 and join season 1 on Stan. However, if you are a Brit working or on vacation Down Under and you want to catch the show much earlier and for FREE you can do so on BBC iPlayer by using a VPN such as NordVPN. There are currently no plans to air "The Gold" season 2 in New Zealand but if you are a Brit currently there for work or vacation you can catch the show by using a VPN such as NordVPN. Season 02 Episode 01 – The police chase the other half of the stolen Brink's-Mat gold when it resurfaces. In Tenerife, John Palmer's successful timeshare business starts to attract unwanted attention. S02 E02 – The proceeds from the stolen Brink's-Mat gold are laundered through growing international criminal networks. The police pick up the trail as their investigation spreads overseas. S2 E03 – As pressure builds on the criminals laundering the proceeds of the stolen Brink's-Mat gold, the police carry out surveillance on their targets and pursue suspects around the world. S2 E04 – The British police join forces with the DEA to take down the international money laundering operation. In Tenerife, John Palmer has an unwelcome visitor as the pressure builds. S2 E05 – Old and new Brink's-Mat criminals are in hiding around the world. As the police and criminal rivals close in on all fronts, the chase begins. Boyce meets an old foe. S2 E6 – Brian Boyce retires, but the work continues. In Britain and America, the Brink's-Mat criminals face their day in court. In Spain, a dangerous manhunt is launched. "The Gold" season 2 was filmed in various locations including the Isle of Man, the Caribbean, Spain, and Tenerife. The value of the Brink's-Mat bullion heist featured in "The Gold" is approximately £100 million in today's money. Lots – including "The Settlers", "Strike: Ink Black Heart", "Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special", "Call The Midwife", "Doctor Who: Joy to the World", "Strictly Come Dancing", "Outnumbered" and plenty more. We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
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Scotsman
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Emun Elliott shines in The Gold as the BBC heist drama goes global
Edinburgh actor Emun Elliott stars in Neil Forsyth's hit BBC drama, The Gold, now returning for a second season | Leigh Lothian The Edinburgh actor explains why forty years after the biggest bullion heist in history the Brinks-Mat story still fires the imagination Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Edinburgh actor Emun Elliott stars in Neil Forsyth's hit BBC drama, The Gold, now returning for a second season | Leigh Lothian 'If you've bought any gold after 1983 there's a really good chance that somewhere in it is a piece of the stolen Brink's-Mat bullion,' says Emun Elliott who is back as detective Tony Brightwell in season two of Neil Forsyth's hit BBC TV drama The Gold. 'It's a story that spans years and changed the world as we know it. I think that's why people are so intrigued by it,' says the Scottish actor. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Elliott is back as detective Tony Brightwell in the second season of the dramatisation of the real life 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery, the biggest ever gold heist in history, when six robbers broke into a warehouse near Heathrow and stole £26 million's worth of gold bars, sparking the longest and at that time most expensive investigation in the history of the Metropolitan police. Emun Elliott stars as real life detective Tony Brightwell, on the trail of the gold and criminals involved in the 1983 Brinks-Mat robbery. | Leigh Lothian Season Two picks up the story after the conviction of some of those involved and the police's realisation that they've only been chasing half of the gold. Brightwell teams up once more with Nicki Jennings [Charlotte Spencer] and their boss, DCI Brian Boyce [Hugh Bonneville] to continue hunting the three tonne haul of gold on its journey through international money laundering and organised crime. 'The story goes on,' says Elliott. 'It becomes international and we learn how that gold and the money from it found its way into so many criminal enterprises across the globe. We see how it changed people, how that level of wealth and power changed the criminals involved and the pursuit of it changed the authorities and security systems.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Based on a true story, the crime has always captured the public imagination for its audacity. 'Neil [Forsyth] has obviously taken creative licence but it's based on fact and it's a truly fascinating story that bleeds into every element of society. 'Older people remember but the younger generation don't, and on the surface the robbery itself is staggeringly impressive and shocking. These six South Londoners in a van pretty much managed to get away with it - until they got caught.' 'A classic tale of cops and robbers just works, but it's very much not black and white. There are points where you want the bad guys to get away with it and others where you want the authorities to catch up with them. Also, the way it was shot has an almost documentary feel that brings reality to an over the top story. It's fascinating. Historically the Brink's-Mat robbery changed the world: criminality changed, security systems, legislation, the criminal underworld had to adapt and find new ways of operating and new technology became available for the police on their trail.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Although Tony Brightwell was a real person who was part of the Flying Squad working on the investigation, Neil Forsyth decided to make him Scottish, meaning that Edinburgh based Elliott could use his own accent. Emun Elliott plays real life detective Tony Brightwell, one of the Brink's-Mat Task Force of the Metropolitan police in series two of The Gold on BBC. | BBC 'He passed away years ago and there's one little talking head clip of him. He's very much English, but Neil wanted a Scottish voice as part of the story so we decided to go our own way and that allowed me to bring a lot of myself to the character. I also had to make sure that he was different to Kenny from Guilt,' says Elliott, who was delighted to be working with Forsyth again. Because the ramifications of the heist are international Elliott gets to follow the trails from rainy London to sunnier shores. 'I remember furiously flicking through the script, hoping Tony gets a little piece of the sunshine these criminals seem to be enjoying. Later in season two Jennings and Brightwell are sent to the Caribbean, which we filmed in Tenerife, and that was joyful to play some scenes in the sun and not have to wear that hideous anorak that Brightwell cuts about in for the first four episodes.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It's true Brightwell doesn't have the sartorial confidence and panache of Kenny in the BAFTA winning Guilt, also written by Neil Forsyth. 'Brightwell is written as this everyman, a guy who's never had a huge amount of ambition, happy to plod along doing his job, good at what he does, has a wife and kids and a mortgage. I'd never played a character like that, so it became a study of what is an everyman and how do you make that interesting? How did he go about it? 'I thought what is it about me that makes me not an everyman, and tried to lose those characteristics. How do you make someone who doesn't have really strong characteristics interesting, make someone safe and relaxed and trustworthy and comfortable? It's the exploration of someone on the back foot, and for me the best thing was just to relax. A lot of time on set I'm focusing on what am I trying to do in this scene or putting onto this character but with Tony it was more about how horizontally can I play this guy and how do I make that interesting? It was a different process that became really enjoyable. The more I relaxed and allowed things to happen, the freer the process became.' Emun Elliott | Leigh Lothian Elliott was also pleased to revisit Brightwell's easy working relationship with his side-kick detective Nicki Jennings, played by Charlotte Spencer, as the returning cast which includes Tom Cullen, Stefanie Martini and Sam Spruell is supplemented by a host of new characters. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Our relationship is very like that in real life,' he says. 'We found this immediate platonic chemistry that leads into that relationship on screen. I think it's important for the show because a lot of the story is quite heavy, high stakes and serious and it's nice to have a dynamic that roots the show in realism and allows for humour and banter.' Emun Elliott and Charlotte Spencer as dtectives Tony Brightwell and Nicki Jennings in The Gold, season two on BBC. | BBC The most agitated the dogged and determined Brightwell gets is over his breakfast at the B&B he and Jennings stay in on the Isle of Man as they followed the trail of laundered money, when it doesn't follow his tattie scone and black pudding expectations. A creature of habit, like everyone in the early 1990s, a time of faxes, phone booths and fags, he smokes at every possible opportunity. Was that onerous for Elliott? 'Well I'm from a long line of smokers… But unfortunately you're not allowed to smoke real cigarettes on set any more so those cigarettes are herbal and if you think the smell of a real cigarette is bad, these herbal things… Shooting a scene in a tiny office for eight hours and every time that camera rolls I light one of those, I don't think the cast and crew appreciate that. I don't know how many I got through. I should look at the consequences health-wise because they've surely taken a couple of months off my already shortened life.' Emun Elliott | Leigh Lothian Another thing the fictional Brightwell has is a moustache, a familiar facial addition for Elliott. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'What happens is I have a moustache for a job then shave it off then go for a hair and makeup check for the next one and they say 'let's try something different, let's try a moustache'. He laughs. 'I think people just like seeing me with a moustache. I don't always have one. It seems to mysteriously make its way onto my upper lip so deep down there's clearly a deep affinity I have with it. But it's started to go white and grey and that's really concerning because it's losing its definition and becoming something else entirely. As regards my career, the minute it goes completely grey, I'm either going to be doing all sorts of different work or none at all - I really think all my magic lies somewhere within that moustache.' Now 41, Elliott was raised in Edinburgh by his social worker mother and Iranian/Persian university lecturer father. Has Elliott ever visited Iran? 'I've been there twice. Once when I was eight and once when I was 19. So it's been a long time. But all of my extended family is there. My mum's side in the UK is small whereas in Iran my dad has five brothers who all have wives and huge families so it was amazing to go and meet people and recognise similarities and explore this culture. In the media the story we're told of Iran is often very political and focuses on the regime which is brutal, so to go and see another side, see what families are like behind closed doors, how warm and welcoming and rich that culture is, was a real eye-opener and made me for the first time in my life, when I was 19, to be really proud to be Persian. It was important for me to explore that for myself, because the narrative we're told over here focuses on the bad really.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad After school Elliott went to study English and French at Aberdeen University but left in first year to study drama at the RSAMD, where he was awarded a gold medal then embarked on a career that has seen him work with some of the biggest names in the industry. After landing the role as Private Fraser in The National Theatre of Scotland's Black Watch (2006-8) he appeared alongside Sean Bean and Eddie Redmayne in the 2010 horror film Black Death which led to Ridley Scott casting him as a space pilot in the 2012 sci-fi epic Prometheus and a role in the 2015 Star Wars blockbuster The Force Awakens, with TV credits including Game of Thrones, and more recently TV hit such as Neil Forsyth's Guilt, The Rig, Sexy Beast and now The Gold. Was it a hard decision to leave university and try acting? 'It was a difficult decision. I realised I wanted to be an actor years before that but never thought of it as a serious option for me.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Elliott's love of acting began back in primary school where he played the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland. 'The caterpillar, my first ever acting job. That still sets the bar,' he jokes. 'I think I was five, but I still remember the song and the dance. I had even invented this little walk.' In Lewis Carroll's book the caterpillar offers Alice advice on changing size and poses the existential question 'Who are you?", as befits an insect that will one day transform into a butterfly and fly away. Did Elliott's caterpillar have a moustache? 'Not quite. I hadn't quite developed,' he says. Playing the caterpillar was transformative and planted the idea that acting was something Elliott enjoyed. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It came easily, it was where I thrived. It wasn't on the curriculum so I got to grips with it after school, national youth theatres and whatnot, but I really developed a love for being on stage and part of an ensemble. And I was told I was good at it, but when I left school I thought I better get a degree, something academic, but after a few months I thought this isn't making me happy. It just wasn't thrilling me. 'My parents had always encouraged me to do something that makes me happy so it took me a couple of months to pluck up courage to say I don't want to do this, I want to have a shot at pursuing my dream. Thank god I did and got to drama school and that so far it's working out. 'But I think no good thing has ever happened to me without a massive risk preceding it. Dropping out of university and applying for drama school was a huge risk. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't got in, but it's led to some of the best things I've ever done.' Emun Elliott | Leigh Lothian What would he say is the best thing he's ever done? 'The best thing is just having a career. I know how difficult it is, even for successful actors, the long periods of unemployment initially, the financial strain, that constant rejection, it's a lot for anyone, but especially a young person to take, and many people fall by the wayside. A lot of brilliant actors don't get the opportunities they deserve and a lot of terrible actors do, so the fact there's no real meritocracy can be really difficult. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'My greatest achievement is no particular job but managing to have a semblance of a career. That's enough for me.' As for the future, are there any roles Elliott hasn't played but would like to? 'I don't really have a plan or my mind set on particular roles. I want to play characters at the centre of the story. I've had the opportunity in the past but a lot of my work has been supportive, which I love but moving into the third decade of my career, I'm drawn towards characters who have enough screen time to allow them to breathe. It really gives the actor the opportunity to show what they can do. 'I want to keep playing characters that have more and more depth. I want them to be constantly surprising. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'But I like all of it. More recently playing characters that are closer to myself allows you to explore every element of your own character. I also like jobs like Sexy Beast, playing someone as far away from me as possible.' In the crime drama TV series released last year, a prequel of the 2000 film Sexy Beast starring Ray Winston and Ben Kingsley, Elliott took over Kingsley's role of Don Logan, and owned the terrifyingly hair-trigger tempered, violent sidekick of James McArdle's Gal Dove. 'To continue to mix it up and surprise audiences and see how much I can get away with in terms of making people believe I'm someone else. That's the thrill,' he says. Aside from being in front of the camera, Elliott admits he has a hankering to write, and a story he'd like to tell. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'If I were to write, I would write the story of how my dad met my mother, because it was in 1979 just after the Iranian revolution. My dad had just landed on the shores of Edinburgh and they met on Princes Street. My mum was 16 and my dad was 21 so they were kids. My dad was working in shipping - import and export - for the Iranian shipping service, and as a 16 year old she jumped on his ship and they travelled the world together for months. That's the story I'd love to tell someday.' So what did his dad say to his mum on Princes Street? 'Well there are two different…' says Elliott, and then, like the caterpillar, disappears. Our Zoom time is up and I'm left like Alice, wondering. But being a story teller and a trooper, he sends an email taking up the tale: 'When it comes to writing - someday I'd love to tell the story of how my parents met. My dad was an officer on an Iranian shipping line in the late 70s/early 80s. They had stopped off for a few days in Edinburgh. He met my mum on Princes Street. She was 16, my dad was 20. They fell in love and embarked on this magnificent adventure around the world together, crossing continents and oceans. Both from very different cultures and backgrounds but together on this voyage of love, hardship and discovery. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'They both have different versions of the story so I'd want to somehow tell my Mum's version of the story side by side with my dad's - mainly for comic effect but also to show how two different people can have two very different versions of the same tale. It will be a story of falling in love cross culturally at a very political time in both British and Iranian history, set all over the earth and seas! First step is to sit down with each of my parents individually and document their version of events. Watch this space!'
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
New trailer and further pictures for second series of hit BBC drama The Gold
The BBC has announced that the critically-acclaimed factual drama The Gold will return for its second series on Sunday 8 June. All episodes will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer from 6am, ahead of the series starting on BBC One at 9pm that night. The Gold is inspired by the true story and theories of the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery, which saw the theft of £26 million worth of gold bullion, and the decades-long chain of events that followed. The six-part series is from award-winning writer Neil Forsyth (Guilt, Eric, Ernie & Me) and is produced by Tannadice Pictures, in association with All3Media International, for the BBC. The first series of The Gold aired in February 2023 with 8.7 million viewers for episode one. Following multiple court cases and convictions of some of those involved in the theft and handling of the Brink's-Mat gold, the police realised that they had only ever been on the trail of half of the Brink's-Mat gold. Series two is inspired by some of the theories around what happened to the other half. As the police investigation continues, it becomes a tense, high-stakes journey into international money laundering and organised crime. The Brink's-Mat Task Force embark on a series of dramatic manhunts as they desperately try to solve the longest and most expensive investigation in the history of the Metropolitan Police. The brand-new trailer, released today, gives a first glimpse into series two and how the investigation unravels on an international scale. The trailer also shows BAFTA-nominated actor Jack Lowden (Slow Horses) reprise his role as Kenneth Noye. He will feature from episode three onwards. Returning cast include: Hugh Bonneville (Brian Boyce), Charlotte Spencer (Nicki Jennings), Emun Elliott (Tony Brightwell), Tom Cullen (John Palmer), Stefanie Martini (Marnie Palmer) and Sam Spruell (Charlie Miller) as the investigation around what happened to the gold continues to unfold. Additional returning cast includes Peter Davison (Assistant Commissioner Gordon Stewart), Amanda Drew(CS Cath McClean), Silas Carson (Harry Bowman) and James Nelson-Joyce (Brian Reader). New cast include: Tom Hughes (The English, Victoria), Stephen Campbell Moore (Masters of the Air, Criminal Record), Joshua McGuire (Cheaters, Blitz), Tamsin Topolski (The Madness, Slow Horses), Joshua Samuels (Saltburn, Sexy Beast), Rochelle Neil (Three Little Birds, The Nevers), Antonia Desplat (Shantaram, Modi), Lorna Brown (The Witcher, Vampire Academy), Thomas Coombes (Baby Reindeer, Boiling Point), Sean Teale (Doctor Odyssey, Rosaline) and Olivia Grant (Stardust, All the Money in the World). International distribution is being handled by All3Media International. The Gold is back on BBC iPlayer and BBC One on Sunday 8th June at 9pm The first series of The Gold is available to watch on BBC iPlayer now More: First look at The Gold series two EJ
