The Gold's Brink's-Mat police woman Nicki Jennings analysed
The Gold's Brink's-Mat police woman Nicki Jennings analysed
BBC crime drama The Gold is returning to screens
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from The Gold season 1
Season two of The Gold returns to the BBC today (June 8) and charts the continued police efforts to recover the stolen gold bullion, cash and diamonds worth £26 million from the Brink's-Mat robbery of 1983, reports the Express.
The new series features many of the same characters from the first outing as well as some new faces.
Coming back for a second time to the BBC drama The Gold is police detective Nicki Jennings (portrayed by Charlotte Spencer), who is tasked with recovering the stolen loot from the Brink's-Mat robbery, leaving viewers intrigued about her fate.
Nicki is a determined officer, having to strive harder than her male colleagues. She plays a pivotal role in the Brink's-Mat taskforce, battling against sexism to establish her worth.
In the first series, Nicki also contends with the bias of her father Billy Jennings (Danny Webb), a notorious gangster.
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Nicki chose a path starkly different from her father's and had to demonstrate she wasn't cut from the same cloth
Interestingly, Nicki shared a similar background with the criminals she was pursuing, giving her insight into their mindset.
Despite this, she's ambitious and even persuaded her superiors to investigate the alleged mine in Sierra Leone, where John Palmer (Tom Cullen) claimed to source his gold product.
Addressing her character's journey in The Gold series two, actress Spencer said: "Jennings in this series has got into her groove a bit more, she's more comfortable with herself now and understands the job and what's she'd doing."
Audiences will see the dynamic changing within the taskforce to find the gold, with Nicki displeased and suspicious of the newcomer.
Spencer explained: "I compare Jennings to a rottweiler, for some reason I always compare my characters with animals, but she's very loyal and feels she knows right from wrong."
The actress noted: "She just wants to catch the bad guys and to bring people to justice. I don't think she'll stop until it happens."
She also reflected about working on the final outing of the drama: "The Gold is one of those special jobs that only comes around once in a while where you truly love the people you work with, and who become good friends.
"I've loved coming back to reprise this role. Jennings is a great character and I get to work with people I adore on and off screen."
Many audience members are curious to know more about the character of Nicki and whether she was a real-life figure.
Tony Brightwell and Nicki Jennings return for The Gold series 2
(Image: BBC )
What happened to Nicki Jennings?
Sadly, she doesn't exist and was created for the purposes of the series.
The show's creator Neil Forsyth said: 'Jennings is a composite character based on interviews I did with a number of female former detectives who worked on the case.
'The one area of the Met Police where there were a significant number of female detectives at the time was in surveillance, as they were seen as less likely to catch criminals' attention.
'The women I spoke to were very helpful in talking about their experiences and I put a lot of that into the Jennings character.'
Nicki Jennings was on the Brink's-Mat taskforce
(Image: BBC )
But Nicki isn't the only composite character to be included in The Gold, lawyer Edwyn Cooper (Dominic Cooper), who helped to launder the money made from the stolen gold was another fictitious figure.
Edwyn was also based on several real-life people rather than just one person from the case.
Forsyth went on to say about his research: "I spoke to a large number of people who were involved in the story in different ways.
"By and large, they were very open and happy to talk about their experiences."
Hugh Bonneville as Brian Boyce in The Gold series 2
(Image: BBC )
One real-life figure key to the drama is senior police officer Brian Boyce (Hugh Bonneville), who led the Brink's-Mat investigation.
Forsyth said: "By far, the most important person that we tracked down and spoke to was Brian Boyce."
The writer said it was "very helpful" to get Boyce's insight into the case and the police investigation, and it made a huge difference.
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The Gold seasons 1 & 2 are available to watch on the BBC iPlayer now
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