Sanditon's Charlotte Spencer on real life connection to new show with Downton Abbey star
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Sanditon star Charlotte Spencer has opened up about her real-life connection to the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery, as depicted in her new show The Gold.
The BBC drama tells the incredible true story of how six armed men burst into the Brink's-Mat security facility and discovered £26 million (about £100 million today) worth of gold.
The six-part series stars Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville as Brian Boyce, the detective chief inspector on the case, while Jack Lowden, Adam Nagaitis, Tom Cullen and Dominic Cooper portray the men involved in the crime.
Related: The Gold true story – where are Micky McAvoy and the other Brink's-Mat robbers now?
While Spencer's character Nikki Jennings is fictional, the actress does have a personal link to one of the real-life officers who worked on the case – Neil Murphy, who's played by Chris Coghill on the show.
"My dad actually, when I was reading the script, said he knew one of the policemen involved in this," she revealed during a recent appearance on The One Show.
"He knew Murphy from years ago," she continued. "They don’t speak now, but it felt very personal, and I really wanted the part."
Related: Line of Duty and Downton Abbey stars announced for ITV's returning DNA Journey
Spencer also revealed how her character, a police detective who works in the flying squad, is a mixture of "quite a few women" who worked on the case.
"There were actually more women on the flying squad than people realise because they were more undetected," she said. "So people didn't expect them as much."
The actress explained how Nikki is "the best of the best" and being a women doesn't "hold her back," adding: "She's more worried about her background than being a woman, actually.
The Gold is on Sundays at 9pm on BBC One. All episodes are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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