01x01 - To Be King

[bunniefuu]

This programme contains some strong
language from the start and some
violent scenes

HE HUMS ALONG TO RADIO

Here you go, mate.

Here you go, Ralphie.

Don't want you complaining
about the milk. Yeah, yeah.

Here you are.

Get on the f*cking floor!

SHOUTING

Get down!

Face to the ground!

Get your hands where I can see them!

Face to the floor! Freddie Hook!

Church Street, Tooting.

Ralph Turner, Flat ,
Bromley High Street.

Gentlemen!

Come with me.

KEYPAD BEEPS

Keep moving, keep moving!
Don't get tricky.

Keypads.

I can't remember.

Come on, Ralphie.

I can't remember.

We only use it for the drills.
I can't remember.

We know every note in there.

We know the currency and we know
you are trained to delay us.

Delay you? I get two quid
an hour for this sh*t.

I'd carry the money
to your bloody van.

I just can't remember.

Argh!

Try.

It's all right, it's all right.

He'll be fine.
Just give him a minute.

Just relax, just relax!

He can't f*cking remember!

MUSIC ON RADIO: Age Of Consent
by New Order

Morning.

You won't like it.

Go on.

He's decided part of his legacy is

going to be a drop
in armed robberies.

And he's going to do that
in his last two weeks, is he?

No. We are.

He wants us to go through six
months' worth of armed robberies

and make them a little less...armed.

You know, maybe it's the name,
but I always thought

the Flying Squad would be
a little more exciting.

Well, that was your first mistake.

Now...

..lose the crossbow from that.

HE HUMS

Don't you be cutting them
in the kitchen, Ken!

I don't want no blood on my marble.

What? It keeps it honest.

Oh! You know you don't have to
go poaching no more, don't ya?

Yeah, but that's what makes it fun.

He's a duke that owns them woods.

That is how England works, love.

That lot have it and us lot nick it.

THEY CHUCKLE

PHONE RINGS

PHONE RINGS

Flying Squad?

Control. Can you stick a
detective on?

You're speaking to one.
Oh, sorry, love.

Armed robbery - Brink's-Mat
warehouse, Heathrow Trading Estate.

We're up.

Well, thank Christ for that!

PHONE RINGS

Yes? Is this Kenny?

Yeah.

We hear you can handle gold.

Yeah.

Well, that's lucky,
because we're outside your house.

What did they get?

Gold. This place had it
for the night

and then it was supposed
to fly to the Gulf today.

How much?
Well, that's the thing.

That lot say it was a boatload.

But it wasn't in a vault,
which doesn't make sense to me.

What are they saying
about the robbers?

They're saying six men.

Seven.

Hold them in the control room.

Away from their lockers.

Tooting r*fle Club?

A lot of faces down there,
I'd imagine.

Plenty.
Went to school with half of them.

Still friendly?

I know what you're looking for,

and you're right to look for it.

But...it isn't me.

You did your part with the code.

If your mate hadn't had
his little meltdown,

they'd have got in the vault.

And not getting in the vault
was the best thing

that ever happened to 'em.
How's that then?

The gold wasn't in the vault because
it was too much for the vault.

What do you mean, too much?

I've worked here a long time,

and I have never seen
a load like it.

And I'll tell you something else -
they didn't know it was here.

Now, I can't decide if that's
a lot of luck or no luck at all.

How's the eye?

It's not working too well.

Where were you when they left?

I was over there in the corner, like
a frightened rabbit, truth be told.

Whereabouts exactly?

Over here.

The thing is, mate, you'd have
seen the van leave from here.

No, I was more sort of over here.

He's still seeing him
from there, ain't he, Tone?

Clear as a bell, Nick.

No, I wasn't like this.

I was more like...sort of like this.

DOOR OPENS

He wants you back.

Back to the Yard.

This won't be Flying Squad.

Well, if this ain't
Flying Squad, I don't know what is.

Go through his statement again.

Every line.

You can come out now, mate.

We're not giving this up. It's ours.

Let's see about that.

We're wasting time,
and they won't be.

What were you expecting?

Potatoes.

Yeah, that would've been easier.

So our friend says you can shift it.

I can shift it.

Bollocks, he can.

They say you're a builder
who fences hooky watches.

No, they don't say that. I say that.

Cos who would bother watching
a builder who fences hooky watches?

If you can handle a job like this,
then I'd have heard of you.

You only hear about the people
who get caught.

This is crazy, Micky.

It's our score. We can
do it ourselves. How?

How would you do it?

Well, we're all villains.

We all know fences.

Oh, yeah?

Who do you know who
could handle that?

A bloke in Basildon - he's got a
pawn shop. He owes me a favour.

That's three ton of pure gold that
you've taken out of the market

and brought to
a lockup in South London.

And now you need to take it
out of a lockup in South London

and get it back into the market

without anyone noticing.

There's two people in England
who know how to do that.

And neither of us live in Basildon.

I'll be in touch.

CLASSICAL MUSIC ON RADIO

Caesar's wife.

Sorry, sir?

Caesar's wife must be
above suspicion.

You don't know your classics?

Not, like, off by heart.

Envy, temptation, greed.

Human nature is weak and that
is why the law must be strong.

And that is why those who propagate
the law must be strongest of all.

For a civilised society to operate,

Caesar's wife must
be above suspicion.

Oh, OK, right.

Yeah, I get it.

As a solicitor,
I've represented police officers

accused of corruption
and I'm yet to lose.

And that is because I don't
represent bent cops.

I represent those who have shown
weakness and are ready to repent.

I keep good men on the b*at.

Are you a good man?

Yes, I am, Mr Cooper.

You accepted a bribe.

I didn't take it.
So we're in the grey.

You accepted it but never took it.

They will try and argue
from the grey to the black.

I will argue from the grey
to the white and I will win.

And I will get you back on the b*at.

And when you are back on the b*at,
Constable, pounding the troubled

streets of this once great city,
you will think of Caesar's wife.

Yes, sir.

What's he up to, then?

It's the size of it, Nick.

It's too big a job,
so he's palming it off.

Why would he do that?

Because he wants to go out nice
and neat, waving his greatest hits.

He wants people talking about him
nicking the Krays,

not asking him where this gold is.

If he won't take it, then who will?

The Prime Minister wanted to
pass on her personal thanks.

There was no need to have
bothered her with it, sir.

Those prints helped catch the man
who tried to k*ll her.

She took an interest.

I played a small part, Ma'am.

You're not getting the head
of counter-terrorism, Boyce.

Can I ask why?

You've had many successes.

You've also caused several
international incidents.

It's difficult to have successes
in counter-terrorism without

causing international incidents.
As number two, you got away with it.

But the head of counter-terrorism
has to lead from the back.

Not much happens at the back, sir.

As you may have noticed.

We have a solution.

The Flying Squad. No,
thank you. Hear us out.

I did years in London, from
the b*at to criminal intelligence.

I've nicked every villain in this
city once and the good ones twice.

That's why you're here.

I don't want to be wondering
which of my team are masons,

which are on the take
and which are both.

Which means I don't want Flying
Squad and is why they won't want me.

They don't.

But they don't want
Brink's-Mat either.

Gordon Parry.

Ooh, rings a bell.

Fraudster, South London.
Never convicted.

Say what you like about
South London, it pays all our wages.

PHONE RINGS

Mr Parry. Mr Cooper.

How are you?

Busy.

I don't doubt it.
Don't doubt that for a second.

Look, I thought you'd like to know

that I found this
new investment opportunity.

It's bigger than the others.

Bigger than all the others
put together, to be fair.

What's Boyce doing here?

That's Boyce?
Mm-hm.

You two picked up Brink's-Mat?
Uh, yes, sir.

First thing tomorrow,
I'm taking it over.

A special task force.

External operation,
independent of the Flying Squad.

Gather the paperwork, don't make
copies and bring it over the river.

Over the river.

Over the river.

Why would you go
outside of South London?

Because it's too big
for South London.

Every copper in England's
looking for it.

I don't know what to do with it.

And he's the only one
mad enough to fence it.

I didn't know you were
doing it, Micky,

but this thing you've done,

it's a miracle.

And miracles don't happen too often,
so...

..when they do, you show
'em a little respect.

What you don't do with a miracle is
give it to a builder called Kenny.

HE SCOFFS

He's vouched for.

You're tired, Micky.

You need some sleep.

When you wake up, you're going to
see this for what this really is.

Escape.

Freedom.

Getting out of London
and spending the rest of our lives

with the sun on our faces.

Cos if you do this
one right, Micky...

..you won't never
have to do another.

Now, you keep an eye on all of 'em.

You keep an eye on that builder.

He ain't a builder.

I don't know what he is.

But Kenny Noye ain't a builder.

I'll go down to the country
this morning,

get the house ready for my parents.

Oh, Christ! Now, now.

Come along, darling.

Ah, Maria,
can you get the children ready

and make sure that Charlotte
has her violin for later?

What is this farrago,
George? Come here.

Always look the part.

The world decides who you
are from what you show them.

Go on.

The Great Train Robbery.

The Krays, the Richardsons.

Every villain in London worth
knowing was brought down by

teams that set up here, locked
the door, didn't let anyone in.

This is where it happens.

The guard?

It's that or Flying Squad, mate.

Then it's the guard.

RADIO: And now back
to our top story.

We are receiving reports that
yesterday's armed robbery

by six men at the
Brink's-Mat storage depot

on the Heathrow Trading Estate was
far larger than initially thought.

In the last few hours,
it has been revealed by

the Metropolitan Police in a
press conference at Scotland Yard

that the robbers who struck
early yesterday morning

made off with over
three tonnes of gold bullion.

That would make the raid the
largest robbery in world history,

with an estimated value of...

million.

That's what they're
saying on the television.

It's .

Yeah. It was enough to
move the market.

So it's now.

I'm not a villain. Not like that.

Neither am I.

That's why we didn't nick it.

All we'd be doing
is turning it legit,

like we do with all the other stuff.

It's a long way from that.
million is a long way from that.

Look, we've done all right,
considering where we're from.

But I want to do all right
the way the other side

of this country does all right.

People that come from money -
they don't think much about

what's right or wrong when they
want to make more of it. No.

They use what they have.

And what we have and they don't

is that we know villains

and villains know us.

So let's use it.

Too pure, it's too pure.

No. Ah!

We'll disguise it.

SCOFFS

Three tonnes? That'll be like, uh...

That'll be like disguising
an elephant with a f*cking wig.

Yeah?

Then we'll start small.

See what your mate in Sheffield
makes of that.

That's very pretty.

Be a shame to make it ugly,
won't it?

People like us, John,
we can only have it if it's ugly.

Sir...

..where are you recruiting from?

From some places you know
and some that you don't.

Well, we've both done
surveillance training, sir.

No, thank you.

We were there, sir. You need
someone who had eyes on the scene.

Tell me something you saw
there that is not in here.

We've got our eye on a guard.
Going down Tooting

and sh**ting an air r*fle
doesn't make someone a villain.

Not that guard. Wright.

Wright? They nearly
took his eye out.

Exactly, sir.
He didn't have the codes.

He didn't resist.

There was no reason to hit him.

Unless they wanted us
to see him hit.

All right?
All right.

What are you doing home, then?
Picked up a few bits.

Oh, yeah? Trying to sneak
them past me, were you?

Well, there's not much
chance of that, is there?

Oh! Ooh!

These'll do.

Come on, love,
there's g of gold there.

So what am I worth,
then, in grammes of gold?

Go on, then! Go on!

I'll bring you out a sandwich.

That's all right -
I'll come in in a bit.

Careful out there, John!

Don't you go burning down the house.

You forget it was a working river.

It's the biggest undeveloped
area in Central London.

Hiding in plain sight.

I've got a contact...

..at the development agency.

We buy up all the wharfs.

We have them rezoned...

..and we build a new
London right here.

What do you need?

Proper money for proper
reward, Mr Cooper.

Let me see what I can do.

DOOR OPENS

Your suspect.

Eye was a nice touch.

You suffered for your art,
didn't you, Robert?

I'm from Rotherhithe.

You lot don't scare me.

And you won't verbal me into
admitting something I ain't done.

Whereabouts in Rotherhithe?

Silwood Estate.

Oh, lovely, you've
got gardens there.

They're paved.

Still gardens, mate -
kingdom of the blind and all that.

How'd they get ya?

What did they have?

I'd like a lawyer.

Do you associate with
any known criminals?

No. Married?

Yeah. To?

Carol.
Maiden name?

That's the kind of thing we check.

Robinson.

Are you a member of any other...?
Surely not.

Surely you're not married
to Brian Robinson's sister?

You ain't the only one
from Rotherhithe, Robert.

We didn't have a garden.

How did that work, then, Robert?

You got the job at Brink's-Mat, and
suddenly Robinson's your best pal.

A few nights at the pub,
a bit of warming up,

then the questions started.

I want a lawyer.

There is a clock, Robert,

and it's ticking.

And every time it ticks,
this thing you're in gets worse.

It's bad already.

But it gets worse.

You can stop the clock.
Stop the ticking.

Just tell us what you've done.

Tell us about you
and Brian Robinson.

I want a lawyer.

I didn't want this job, Robert.

But you don't turn down a promotion.

And apparently this is a promotion.

I didn't want this job
because of people like you.

I've seen you before...

.. times.

And it becomes slightly dispiriting
sitting in rooms like this

with people like you -
stupid people, Robert.

Stupid, greedy people
who get promised the world

and always end up the same.

Skint, scared and looking at me.

I've got nothing to
say about Robinson.

I don't care about Robinson.
He's mid-level.

He'd only be on the job
for getting you.

I want to know whose job it was.

I ain't telling you nothing.

Oh, no, you don't have to.

Just you sit there while I think.

Armed robbery, six men,

bit of planning, but not enough.

I want to say Jimmy Wood,
but that's the North London in me

and he wouldn't recruit
south of the river.

There's the Knight Brothers,
but they always work alone.

There's Frankie Maple,

but he's hiding out in Morocco
after the Bank of America job.

There's Billy Green,
but last I heard he'd seen the light

and was running a
tea shop in Whitstable.

Can you imagine, Robert?
This country used to win wars.

Now Billy Green's running
a tea shop in Whitstable!

But, look, let's not get fancy -

it's Rotherhithe,
it's armed robbery.

Why look past Micky McAvoy?

Yeah, it's McAvoy.
I didn't say anything.

We'll keep you here for
as long as you're useful.

Then it's the Scrubs,
where their mates are.

So you'd best just stay useful.

I want a lawyer.

And they'll offer to get you one,
the people that put you here,

but don't let them.

Pay for one yourself.

One you can trust.

Then you can start
getting out of this.

Don't name the suspects
on the search warrants,

and type them up yourself.

We're in?

No overtime, no drinking
at lunchtime and no Freemasonry.

Thank you, sir. Book him in.

Shame about the drinking.

Oh!

Never mind.

Ready?

You're leaning back!
Get over the front foot.

No, no, no!

The power comes from the back foot.

Look, here.

Like this.

Right, there.

Boom, boom!

Pivot from the rear, hm?

That's much better!

OK?

Right.

Oh, nearly!

I'll pivot you from the rear!

AL HUMS A JOLLY TUNE

Family's well?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, they're all good, thanks, Al.

Yeah. How are you?

You see it all, John.

You see it all.

Bit rough and ready.

Yeah, it's been bashed about a bit.

Chop what you need off the price.

With the Heathrow business,
there's room for chopping.

It's up % now.

Huh!

Wow, is it really?

It's good news for you.
Yeah.

Yeah, I suppose so. Yeah.
QUIETLY: Yeah.

Don't make a mess.

Where is he, Jackie? Where's Micky?

Say hello from me if you find him.

He forgets he's got a wife.

Such a beautiful house.

Thank you, Mary.

Anything for my girl.

Edwyn is having a driveway put in.
From the front, off the other road.

Really?

Nicer approach.

Over the lawn?

Well, there's plenty of it.

Oh, I wouldn't do that.

A nicer approach.

It's one of the things that
attracted me, the lawn.

You can't go...chopping it up.
We're hardly...

It's one of the reasons I bought it.

No. We shan't do that.

I'll get another bottle, shall I?

Uh, French this time, Edwyn, please.

I find your new world stuff
a little...

..gauche.

LINE RINGS

Yeah? There must be
something in the water in Sheffield.

He's blind as a bat.

And there was you
getting all worried.

Look, it's not hard to shift a bar,
Kenny.

But what you're talking about,
that is...

That's a different level.

You'd need a team to do it, you'll
need paperwork for every staging,

you need a lot of
people looking the other way.

Yeah, well, gold tends to make
people look anywhere you tell them
to, John.

And there's no point doing it

if you can't clean what comes
out the other side.

That's not money you can just
hide under your bed.

Yeah, that's true.

And those people you talked about,

the ones that come from something.

The ones that run this bloody
country. What about 'em?

We're going to need one of them.

Well, that was fun.

Your father gave us this life,

all my salary does is maintain it.
I'm a bloody caretaker.

Not many caretakers live like this.

No, we're going to sell this house,
pay back your father,

buy somewhere bigger, and if I want
to build a bloody roundabout

in my garden then I shall do so.

Oh, really? And how might we do
that?

With my little hobby.

Tennis is a hobby, Edwyn.

Flipping property like a barrow boy
is something else entirely.

I don't know why you bother.
You've made it.

Took you three wives to get here,
but you made it all the same.

Call my property interests
what you will, but...

..I have quite the opportunity.

I just require a little seed money,

and I thought perhaps...

..we could take it out
of the trust fund.

Will that stop
you from throttling him?

For now.

Very well.

As long as it's not more than
,.

Sorry?

He has to countersign any
withdrawal above that.

And I'm not sure that's
a conversation you would savour.

No, I shouldn't think it would be.

I'm sure, though, if you told him
about the investment...

I mean, he'd be all over it, of
course. Too much time on his hands.

No, no, forget it.

I'll seek an alternative solution.

Really? What alternative
solution might you have?

Let's not rule out the throttling.

Mwah.

How do you shift three
tonnes of gold?

Hmm.

Slowly.

What happens if they manage it?

Then it's gone.

And we're back to rewriting reports.

Exactly.

All Boyce wants is to grab the
robbers and roll 'em for the gold.

Well, what's wrong with that?

Well, if they didn't know
the gold was there,

they won't have known what
to do with it.

Other people will.

And then some other people will know
what to do with the money.

What happens when million
quid of bent money gets going?

Think of what that could turn into.

This ain't just about
six blokes in a van.

HE CHUCKLES
Listen to yourself.

Gold trade and money laundering.

This is South London, mate,
everything's about six blokes in a
van...

CAR DOOR OPENS
Jesus... Let's go.

Uh, where have you been, sir?

I have been touring the celebrated
hostelries of Rotherhithe.

Doing what? Listening.

And?

Early start tomorrow.

ENGINE STARTS

FAINT RADIO CHATTER

Police.

BANG ON DOOR

Run, Micky.

Got him...

POLICE!

Whoa! Ah!

THEY PANT

Who's that, then?

John Fordham.

He'll be heading up surveillance.

Your fitness is unacceptable,
Brightwell.

What? I was just
waiting on my second wind, sir.

Yeah. Join me at lunchtime tomorrow.
That'd be lovely, sir.

Yeah, we'll run four miles a day to
start then build it up from there.

For f*ck's sake.

SHE CHUCKLES

I'm afraid I've come up empty.

Oh, well, not to worry.

I reckon I might have found us
another option.

Well, go on.

Well, I thought we might discuss it
over a spot of lunch.

Lunch?

Yeah, I mean, that's what people
like you like to do, isn't it?
Lunch?

But not with people like you.

Funny.

Yeah, very funny, Mr Cooper.

Come to my club.

That would be nice.

And wear a jacket.

I'll do me best.

This one.

Well, that's you dead then, Robert.

That's enough.

This one.

Argh!

IDENTITY PARADE CLAMOURS

Mr Wright requires police
protection, a new identity

and plastic surgery.
What do you want, a pair of tits?

You heard what he said!

Grow a beard if you can and you'll
get a flat in Margate
till the trial.

Margate?!

What's wrong with Margate?

I thought this was a private
meeting...

..and that's not what
I meant by a jacket.

This is Kenneth Noye, Mr Cooper.

We have a mutual friend.

Mutual friends from South London
tend to elicit conversations

best suited to my office.

Well, this felt more
appropriate, Mr Cooper.

I was taught to be cautious.

Now, I represent
a group of businessmen...

..who have a lot of money that needs
to be made respectable,

and Gordon and I's mutual friend
suggested that that might be

something that you...could handle.

There's one very large amount
of money that I know of.

That we all know of, that we
couldn't fail to know of.

That'll be looking for somewhere to
go.

You've been misinformed, Mr Noye.

I'm a solicitor.

Nothing more.

Mr Cooper, I understand that you
are an important man in your world,

but...I represent important
men in another world.

Men who are from the streets.

And when they make a
generous offer - % -

for just a little bit of guidance...

..it's not an offer that you
take lightly.

I'm afraid you've
fallen for an illusion.

It is an illusion I created
as a child

when I entered a world far from my
own,

and one I have finessed ever since.

You see, when you talk so menacingly
of those streets from whence you
came,

the problem you have is

I'm from those f*cking streets.

So let us talk with the shared
honesty of hoi polloi, shall we?

This is Brink's-Mat.

And because it's Brink's-Mat,
and all that comes with it...

..I shall take % to clean it
through Swiss bank accounts...

..set up dummy companies here to
receive the remainder.

With a fair wind...

..I can handle a million a week.

Tell Gordon
when you're ready to start, OK?

OK, Mr Cooper.

You're Boyce, ain't ya?
That's right.

You think because you turned some
IRA you can turn me.

No, because those people have a
cause.

I don't agree with what they do
with it, but they have a cause.

Nicking money and trying not to get
caught doing it is not a cause.

I can't turn you because there's
nothing to turn you from.

All I can do is send you to prison,

and all you can do is decide how
long you want to be in there.

You won't get nothing from me.

I need four more names
and I need the gold.

And if it's gone,
we want to know where.

We'll have those names and all.

I know you.

You're Billy Jennings' girl.

Who's fencing it for you, Micky?

And where's the money going after?

Billy Jennings' girl,
a bloody copper.

It's DI Jennings. Well, he must be
disappointed in you.

I don't give a f*ck. Ooh.

years, Micky, with the g*ns.

You know that.

Four names...

..and the gold.

I'll never give you any names.

And I'll never give you anything
that's not mine to give.

And what's gone is gone.

OK.

Low security.

Not that low.

But not the Scrubs.

But not the Scrubs.

I'll have a think, Mr Boyce.

Time isn't something we have...

..but neither do you.

Your power is on the street, and the
longer you're off the street,

the less power you have.

If you want that gold to
help you, Micky,

you need us to get there first.

We want to chase the money, sir.

It's proceeds of crime,
no matter how clean they get it.

And it's only going to get bigger.

Crime is crime and I don't think
we should only ever nick people

that talk like me.
I just don't think that's right.

I agree.

I'm not interested in gold,
that's cops and robbers.

But money like that will end
up a long way from South London,

in surprising places with
surprising people.

And we don't get many
chances to nick those people,

because there are systems in this
country that stop us doing so.

I'm interested in nicking
those people

and I'm interested in b*ating
those systems.

So if we could chase the money then
I'd be right there beside you,

but if we've got the gold,

then there's nothing to chase.

Jennings.

I nicked him once, your father.

It's not a problem, sir.

They look for weak links.

When you nicked him, did he talk?

He's not a weak link.

Neither am I.

SIREN WAILS

PHONE LINE RINGS

Yeah?

It's Micky.

I hear you've gone on holiday.

It's over.

I've given up what's mine.

I do a lot of reading, Micky.

About England...

..about the way it was.

And the funny thing is, right,
this country,

it wasn't always like this.

There wasn't always
kings and queens.

Because sometimes,
for whatever reason,

one of our lot got on top
for a while...

..and found themselves in charge.

But it never lasted long.

Because, you see,
when they got there, they'd panic.

They'd think, "Hold on...

"..this ain't me,
this ain't natural...

SHUTTERS OPEN

"..I ain't no king."

And they took off the crown,

and they gave it back.

Well, that ain't me, Micky.

I hope you haven't taken it, Kenny.

I really hope you haven't done that.

I haven't taken it, Micky.

It weren't mine to take.

But gold like that...

..you can't control it.

No-one can.

And if YOU can't handle it,

then it will find its way to
someone who can.

And I can handle it, Micky.

I'm ready.

I can be a king.

MUSIC: Never Stop (Discotheque)
by Echo & The Bunnymen

♪ Good God, you said

♪ Is that the only thing you care
about

♪ Splitting up the money
and share it out

♪ The cake's being eaten straight
through the mouth

♪ Poison

♪ Poised to come back in season

♪ For all the ones who lack reason

♪ Measure by measure, drop by drop

♪ And pound for pound,
we're taking stock... ♪