This City Is Ours star James Nelson-Joyce is back in new BBC crime drama

Ever since BBC One’s Liverpool crime saga This City Is Ours hit our screens and became a massive must-watch for millions, actor James Nelson-Joyce has been the man of the moment.

James Nelson-Joyce, 36-year-old from Orrell Park has been labelled TV’s hottest rising star and even had his name thrown into the mix as a potential new James Bond.

Viewers reaction to his role as crime boss Michael Kavanagh saw bookies cut the odds on him stepping into Daniel Craig’s shoes down to just 6/1 and James even jokingly said it would be a privilege to become the first “double-O Scouse”.

It’s since been revealed that This City Is Ours, which was filmed here and supported by Liverpool Film Office, will be coming back for a much-anticipated second series.

But fans of actor James won’t have to wait that long to see him on screen again because he’s returning for season two of another hugely popular crime drama this weekend.

He is one of several key characters back for the next installment of fact-based The Gold which lands on BBC One from Sunday (June 8).

It’s inspired by the true story and theories surrounding the Brink’s-Mat robbery, which saw the theft of £26 million worth of gold bullion and sparked a decades-long chain of events.

James, whose other TV credits include Time and The Responder, plays career criminal Brian Reader who was a part of the gang involved in the notorious heist back in 1983.

In the first six-part series, first shown in early 2023, the ‘80s setting meant he looked almost unrecognisable from his most recent roles. But now the timeline has moved on and the trailer for series two shows him looking far more familiar.

It picks up the police investigation into the robbery, following multiple court cases and convictions of some of those involved in the theft and handling of the Brink’s-Mat gold.

The police – led by DCI Brian Boyce (Hugh Bonneville) – realise that they’ve only ever been on the trail of half of the stolen gold and set out to discover what happened to the other half.

As the investigation into international money laundering and organised crime continues, the stakes keep getting higher.

These latest hour-long episodes show the Brink’s-Mat Task Force embarking 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.

Alongside James as Brian Reader, Slow Horses actor Jack Lowden will also be back as Kenneth Noye, featuring from episode three onwards.

In real life, Brian Reader was a legendary name in criminal circles, known as “the last of the gentleman thieves” by some police and called Guv’nor by his gang mates.

g after the heist had taken place. 

He ended up being sentenced to nine years in jail for conspiracy to handle stolen bullion.

After his release, despite a name change and a fresh life start, he couldn’t resist the lure of one more big job. He went on to mastermind a group of six men who stole £13m worth of jewellery by getting into the lift shaft of the Hatton Garden Safety Deposit Company and drilling through a wall to where the boxes were kept.

The Gold is on BBC One from Sunday June 8, 9pm. 

Find out more about The Gold here.

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