The Gold episode two review: BBC One, 9pm, Sunday, February 19

It begins with a upbeat montage of the characters trying to ‘fence’ the stolen Brink’s Mat metal by setting up a company and making deals, all set to a chipper ’80s pop song. Apologies for not knowing which one.

It’s a fun nod to those empowering, feel-good movies from the time period. And it slyly suggests that the criminals are just businessmen really, albeit of a not-particularly-legal kind.

The ensemble approach to storytelling continues here, but certain narrative threads start joining together, making the overall experience feel more streamlined.

Overlooked characters from episode one get more moments to shine. Emun Elliot is particularly good this episode as police officer Tony Brightwell, getting a light-hearted moment while discussing...his mortality of all things. He puts in a notably intimidating performance too while pressuring one suspect into revealing some key information.

Stefanie Martini gets to do more as Marnie Palmer as well. She’s understandably suspicious of, but loyal to, her husband who she clearly loves despite his flaws. Tom Cullen conveys John Palmer’s motivations without having to say anything in some beautifully understated acting where he just looks admiringly at his family. There’s also a great line after his wife remarks on all the stories behind the jewellery that John is melting down with the stolen bullion. “We’re making a new story, we’re making a new life for us,” says John, highlighting the immense, transformative power he thinks the gold has. Maybe it’s a little on-the-nose as a piece of dialogue but I still liked it.

Viewers who didn’t like the ‘class warrior’ speech by Kenny Noye (played by Jack Lowden) in the previous episode are not going to be won over by this episode. There’s quite a bit more of this kind of point-making about the gap between rich and poor, tradition and innovation, and men and women in the workplace. Sure, they’re important issues but the story keeps stopping dead in its tracks to talk about them.

But, that said, there are some very solid moments of drama in this episode. The characters mixed up in the gold scheme are all taking on some shifty and paranoid mannerisms as the weight of what they are doing starts to hit them. There’s also an edge-of-your seat car chase involving a level crossing that ramps up the tension right until potential disaster.

Finally, Daniel Ings almost steals the whole episode as the enthusiastic HM Customs and Excise worker Archie Osborne. He plays the kind of quiet, likeable nerd who is able to fit all the details together and develop his own theory of how thieves could hide such a large amount of gold. His fun explainer of the overcomplicated plan is an entertaining end to the episode.

The Gold airs every Sunday on BBC One but people who want to watch the whole series immediately can see it on the iPlayer now.

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