The Gold season 2 episode 1 recap: the hunt for the stolen money continues

The Gold season 2 marks the return of the thrilling BBC drama inspired by the real life events and theories surrounding the infamous 1983 Brink’s-Mat robbery.

The police continue their hunt for the £26 million of stolen gold – the largest robbery in world history at the time.

After realising that they were only chasing half, they focus on following the money which takes them on an international investigation into money laundering and organised crime. Starring Hugh Bonneville, Charlotte Spencer, Emun Elliott, Tom Cullen, Jack Lowden and more.

Here's a recap of everything that happened in The Gold episode 1.

The episode opens on the description of the infamous 1983 Brink-Mat’s robbery from season 1 and how, by the end, the police realized they had only ever been on the trail for half of the stolen gold. Season 2 marks the story of the other half.

It cuts to a house in Cornwall on the 26th November 1983. The news is covering the story of the Brink's-Mat robbery. Danny and his wife are sitting on the sofa. She changes the channel. As they sleep in bed that night, a car parks up outside. Danny wakes up and heads downstairs, grabbing a knife from the kitchen drawer. He goes outside and Charlie greets him.

Danny, his wife and Charlie sit around the kitchen table having a hot drink. Charlie says that when him and Danny were inside, they got metal cups and they’d rattle them on the doors as a warning when the guards were checking the cells. Charlie bets they would have liked a warning that he was coming, to which Danny asks Charlie what he wants. He replies: “Let’s go”.

As they’re driving away from Danny’s house, Charlie describes how Danny used to tell stories of Cornwall and about avoiding all the mines to make sure he didn’t fall down one. And, if he had ever fallen, no one would find him. Charlie says he wants a mine like that. To this, Danny looks in the back of the car, loaded with gold bullions. They move all the gold into a hidden mine shaft.

Afterwards, Danny tells Charlie he used to tell stories, too, about all his jobs that were leading to his last job. Charlie says a lot of men in South London become villains to be big men in the area, but he became a villain to get out of there. He says that one day, he doesn't want to be a villain anymore. Danny asks him what he's got planned next and Charlie say Danny can go home and never tell his wife and Charlie is going to go abroad for a few years and then come back when the attention has died down.

It cuts to a few years later. Boyce arrives at a used car yard. He meets Jennings who is convinced his time they'll find something, telling Boyce that the car yard is owned by an associate of Charlie Miller. She says it’s a strong tip as they approach men digging holes. When asked if they’ve found anything, they haven't. Boyce tells them, disappointedly, to fill in the holes and apologise.

At Scotland Yard, Commissioner Stewart and Assistant Commissioner McLean are angry with Boyce about the car yard, but he says they had solid intelligence that Charlie Miller was involved in the Brink’s-Mat robbery and that he disappeared that day, hiding half the gold before he went. He says they’ve heard word that Charlie is coming back to get it. McLean says they’ve run out of finance and support after becoming the longest and most expensive case in the Met’s history. Stewart gives him two weeks to get it done.

It cuts to Tenerife. John Palmer is swimming in the pool at his luxury villa. Back at the police station, Brightwell tells Boyce they’ve had a new tip. This time, they say that Charlie Miller has been seen and Jennings says the person who saw him is going to see him again. Meanwhile, in Tenerife, Jerren, John's driver, picks him up in a car and they drive off.

After receiving the tip, Brightwell and Jennings meet with Danny. His wife is pregnant and the officers give Danny two options; to help them and stay with his wife and kid, or choose Charlie Miller. Brightwell hands over a postcard addressed to him from Cost Blanca, Spain saying: “See you soon”. Danny says he doesn’t know what it is. Boyce comes in and reveals he’s gained permission to either seal off the moors around the mines for 48 hours, or to have a constable sit outside Danny’s door for a year, noting visitors and following his family wherever they go. He’ll be put in the system as a corroborating witness and they'll tell everyone in South London. Danny says Charlie isn’t going to be caught.

In Tenerife, a woman and man are handing out champagne and leaflets offering older tourists the opportunity to invest in a timeshare at the El Dorado holiday village. Meanwhile, John arrives at El Dorado as a minibus of tourists turns up to take a look around. Inside, John pitches the group on the timeshare, telling them thy can live in paradise. One man asks John where the gold is and says he won't be buying a timeshare from a crook. John says he was found innocent and Jerren escorts the man out. He jokes with the people left behind, telling them there are 20 people there and only 18 spots left. Afterwards, a man in the crowd follows John as he leaves.

The man introduces himself to John as a reporter from The Sunday Times. He says they’re putting John in their 'rich list' and either they can use their figures, or John can tell them what to put. To this, John invites him into his office. Back in Cornwall, the officers are still waiting for Danny to talk. The phone starts ringing, so Boyce answers the other phone and listens in. It’s Charlie. He says he’s coming to see him the next day and asks Danny if everything is okay. To this, Danny says he’s having a cup of tea and mentions the tin mugs from prison. Charlie picks up on his warning and calls him a good lad and says he’ll see him tomorrow.

In John's office, he goes into his safe and takes out a huge wad of cash, puts it into an envelope and then into his bag. The tourists are getting back on the minibus and in the back, the man who questioned John is sitting there beaten and bruised. As John leaves his office, Shirley tells him it was a mistake to talk to the papers. She says she doesn’t want them looking at the accounts, to which he argues they’re running a legitimate and successful business. She wants him to be more involved and he says he’s not doing the papers. When she questions it, he says she’s in a better place than she could be.

Charlie meets with an old friend in a car yard. He’s looking for a car to carry a heavy load and he spots one he wants. Meanwhile, John heads to the local police station and hands over the money in the envelope. He then heads to another location with another envelope. And then at the local bank. All the while being followed by a yellow postal van.

Eventually, they lead the yellow van down an alleyway, get out and pull the driver out of the car. When John accuses the man of following him, he says he’s just working and they’re on the same route. As he denies it, Jerren pulls out a gun and tells him to tell John what he’s really doing. He insists it’s just his route and John says he doesn’t want to see him again and lets the man go. As the man reverses, he gives John a stern look before driving away.

John asks Jerren why he’s carrying a gun and he says that with John making so much money, others will follow, and then they’ll need protection. Something, he says, which John should be ready for, too. To this, John says there’s nothing he’s not ready for when it comes to money.

Back in Cornwall, the police are posted up around Danny’s home, waiting for Charlie. A brown van approaches. While Jennings says they should stop him, Boyce tells her to wait. As he drives closer, Boyce instructs the officers to take him. Inside, though, there’s just a man with boxes of Tupperware. Boyce then asks Danny why he looked surprised when a vehicle turned up, despite being told by Charlie that he was coming. Danny doesn’t answer, so Boyce says they’re going to the mines. He says he can’t remember which one it was. Danny’s wife walks in and tells him to remember fast, or he won’t be coming home.

Jerren and John are on a private jet, arriving in England. The flight attendant says she’ll see him on Sunday. As they alight the plane, John says to Jerren that he’s a ghost in England because he comes in privately. He says he beat the police, but they’ll come back for more. Something that will be hard for them now he’s a ghost.

Meanwhile, Charlie is moving the gold on his own down the mine. The police have a roadblock nearby, stopping cars as they pass to check them over, but an ambulance with its sirens blares past just as Boyce, Danny and the officers are approaching. Danny instructs them to stop as they get closer. They go on foot and Danny leads them to the mine, but the door is already open. The officers head down, but there’s nothing there apart from a discarded torch pointing at one gold bullion.

As they hold it outside the mine, Brightwell says Charlie has peeled off the serial number so it can’t be identified, but he’s done it badly. Boyce then realises that it was Charlie driving the ambulance that they didn’t stop. Elsewhere, John arrives home to his wife, Marnie, and his two daughters. Marnie greets him with a kiss, but she’s surprised to see Jerren. John tells her that he keeps an eye on him.

As Marnie and John share a drink, he tells her he’s risked a lot to come and visit. He says he needs to make enough money so that when he comes home, he doesn’t have to make any more. She thinks he won't ever stop. In Cornwall, Charlie arrives back at the car yard with the ambulance. His friend meets him and Charlie tells him he’s got a job for him.

It cuts to Douglas Baxter and Lundy, both in separate locations, but both getting ready to head out. At Douglas Airport on the Isle of Man, Douglas waits to board a flight. He wants to access the executive lounge, but he’s told he can’t with an economy ticket. He’s subsequently rude to the woman at the executive lounge desk and heads back to his seat.

Commissioner Stewart and McLean meet with Lundy to dismiss him after a panel looked into his many malpractices and suspicions of corruption. Lundy is happy to hear that he’s been found to be cleared though, but Stewart says he has to resign today if he wants to keep his pension. Lundy calls himself a lone ranger and tells them that he just wants to catch villains, so maybe they could just give him a villain to chase down. Stewart reiterates that he wants him to resign or he’ll send him on school visits for the rest of his career. As he leaves, he asks McLean for a job.

At John's home in England, Marnie is reading The Sunday Times Rich List. She’s confused why John would want his name in there. He says he did it to look legit. Marnie says it doesn’t get him away from the gold, it just reminds people. Back at the Met, Boyce meets with Stewart and McLean. He tells them his task force now know the gold is on the move. But, they say they’re not there to talk about the gold, they want to talk about the rich list. John Palmer is listed next to the Queen as having £150 million and Stewart calls it a national embarrassment. McLean says she’s being sent to Downing Street and Boyce is going with her.

Meanwhile, Charlie is in a jewellers and shows the man a bullion. He asks who’s smelting it for him and Charlie says gypsies. The jeweller says he’ll render it for the right price. Charlie says he needs it done quickly and leaves. Back at the office, Brightwell is looking for Charlie Miller’s criminal associates. Jennings says they’ve been trying that and there are 200 names to go through and only three of them to do it. He says the answer is in there, but Jennings says they’re asking the wrong question.

At Downing Street, McLean and Boyce sit down with the Prime Minister. Boyce says he wants stiffer money laundering laws, a new extradition treaty with Spain and adequate resources. The PM agrees and says he’ll put legislation through, but in return John must only appears in the papers again when it has to do with the Old Bailey. Boyce says he can do it with the right resources.

Douglas Baxter arrives at a pub. A woman serves him a drink and she says she’ll go and get her things. He sits down at an empty table, but instead of the woman coming back, Charlie Miller sits down. He says he’s a friend of a friend and tells him he heard Douglas can clean money. Douglas isn’t amused and says that cockneys ask him all the time to clean money for them.

Charlie says he has a proposal and Douglas says he’s probably only talking about 10 grand. Charlie tells Douglas he knows that he lost his licence and did two months in prison for cocaine. Douglas says that it was all a misunderstanding and Charlie says he’s looking for someone who doesn’t have a licence. Douglas then says he’s sick of people coming to him with little money and rudely tells him to leave. Or, he says, if Charlie wants to fight, they can take it outside. Charlie sits forwards and chuckles.

Boyce and McLean talk after their meeting with the PM. He reminisces about London and says they used to protect the powerful, but serve the people. He says if McLean can give him the money to bring down Kohn, then she can get the money to chase the other half of the gold from the Brink’s-Mat robbery. McLean says they can’t spend money on wild goose chases. But, Boyce promises to get results with some extra manpower.

At the Palmers', Jerren says goodbye to Marnie. As she then says goodbye to John, she tells him she just wanted what they already had and that was enough. He says he wants to give her something better. She’s upset, but he kisses her and leaves. Before he goes, she tells him to keep an eye on Jerren.

Boyce gets back to the station and Brightwell and Jennings tell him they’ve come up with a new plan. They say they need to chase the money, not the gold. Before they can continue, Lundy walks in. They’re not impressed, calling him bent. Boyce says the Met weren’t interested in Lundy, but now he’s been put in their team.

Boyce tells them all that they’re looking at Charlie Miller and John Palmer. They need to look at the people around these men drawn in by all the money. Those with fear and choices and greed. Looking at them instead to see whether they’ll stay clean or get dirty. And then because those people will make choices and make mistakes, they can be ready to pick up on it. He says they need to work out what danger Charlie and John are in, before they figure it out for themselves.

Meanwhile, the gypsies are smelting the gold. Finally, the jeweller receives his first batch of gold, turning it into money that is then given to Douglas for the process to begin. Douglas looks at an expensive watch in the jewellers, drinks champagne in a fancy bar as more and more gold gets smelted. Until they've smelted it all. As Douglas picks up the money from the jeweller, he buys himself a Rolex.

Charlie calls Douglas from Spain to ask where the money is and he says he’s put it somewhere. Charlie tells Douglas that he should know that if any note of the £10 million goes missing, something bad will happen to him. Charlie asks Douglas again where all the money is, but before Charlie can answer, it pans to all the money piled up in his office.

All episodes of The Gold, seasons 1 and 2, are available on BBC iPlayer.