BBC The Gold Filming Locations: True Heist in Twickenham and Dorset

Article by Jane

March 2nd, 2023

The Gold was filmed at Dorchester Prison, York House in Twickenham, Whittaker House and Heron Square in Richmond, West Street in Dorking and near Sevenoaks in Kent.

Based on the true crime story of the 1983 Brink’s-Mat robbery, The Gold follows a gang who hold up a secure warehouse for foreign currency. Instead they find three tonnes of gold bullion worth £26 million outside the vault. But that’s just the beginning.

Moving so much gold isn’t an easy task, and they need to call on all their connections as the Flying Squad close in.

Kenneth Noye (Jack Lowden) is enlisted by the Brinks-Mat crime gang to move the gold. Edwyn Cooper (Dominic Cooper), DC Nicki Jennings (Charlotte Spencer) and DI Tony Brightwell (Emun Elliott), DCI Brian Boyce (Hugh Bonneville), Assistant Commissioner Gordon Stewart (Peter Davidson)

The characters Nicki Jennings and Edwyn Cooper were created for the BBC series, but are inspired by real figures from the case. The Radio Times points to similarities between Edwyn Cooper and solicitor Michael Relton.

Where Was The Gold Filmed?

The Gold was filmed near Sevenoaks in Kent, Heron Square and Whittaker House in Richmond, West Street in Dorking, York House in Twickenham and Dorchester Prison.

Kenneth Noye’s House

Kenneth’s house in The Gold is a private home in Kingsdowne in the Sevenoaks area of Kent.

In the BBC true heist drama, the gang from south London seek out Noye who’s based out of town, to fence the stolen gold.

London Square

Several of the central London shots in The Gold were filmed around Richmond, including Heron Square. A few roads in the area appear in the background, particularly in the Flying Squad and
If you’ve seen any family movies recently you might recognise Heron Square. This filming location was used as Basil-Jones Publishing in Peter Rabbit 2.

St Helier, Jersey

The St Helier scenes in The Gold were filmed around Church Street in Twickenham, which was quickly spotted by local press. The Channel Islands scenes show Kenneth attempting to launder the gold.

Guyerzeller Bank, Zurich

Whittaker House Whittaker House, Richmond by Eirian Evans, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
The Swiss bank location in The Gold is Whittaker House in Richmond. In the BBC series The Gold, Edwyn Cooper is shown visiting a Swiss bank as the gang try to get the gold out of south London. In reality, it’s a business address just around the corner from Heron Square.

Potts Fine Art

The Gold’s Potts Fine Art location is on West Street in Dorking. The setting is a convincing one, because a fine art shop would fit in perfectly at this filming location. West Street is the Surrey town’s oldest street and is known for its many antique shops.

The Mansion

York House York House. The wub, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
The Gold’s mansion location is York House in Twickenham. It was once an aristocratic mansion but is now used as the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Town Hall.

York House appeared in the original Alfie film starring Michael Caine, and it’s also been seen in Downton Abbey. The 17th Century mansion appears as the restaurant where Anna and Bates have difficulty with their table reservation – until Cora kindly lends her assistance.

The Bank

BBC series The Gold’s bank scene was filmed at the former Santander bank on Church Street in Twickenham. Locals spotted filming in progress.

Look out for it later on in the series.

HM Prison

Dorchester Prison Dorchester Prison. Nigel Mykura / Dorchester Prison
The Gold’s prison filming location is Dorchester Prison. The BBC drama’s jail scenes were filmed in 2022, as reported by Dorset Live. The production brought a few improvements to the location as they spruced it up for the shoot, with a representative saying: “It’s great to see as once again they… have spent money on improving the prison with painting and flooring.”

Dorchester Prison closed about a decade ago, and now hosts tours and film crews. It’s recently featured in Enola Holmes 2 on Netflix, where it was styled as a Victorian-era jail.