This isn't the one with Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland, and the inimitable Leslie-Anne Down. It's the story of a gang of thieves who robbed a train in the early 1960s and made of with about 2.3 million pounds, worth about 11 million in today's money. It was made for television by the Brits, who do this sort of thing very well, while nobody in the US bothers to try -- with the possible exception of HBO.I won't go into detail about the plot. When it comes to stopping a train, moving it again, uncoupling cars, and changing green lights to amber, the dozen or so gang members are a lot of nudniks. During a practice run, and having read a child's book on driving a train, they manage to start the locomotive and actually get it moving forward. But they don't know how to slow it down, let alone stop it, and they bail out while the mammoth diesel sails off into the night.It gets more serious and far more tense later, when they execute the elaborate plan. Luke Evans, sporting a tremendous development of latissimus dorsi, struts around giving orders. It's a risky business, of course, but one million pounds is a lot of money. A few bungles here and there, and the Bobbies are closing in on them. They separate and begin to hightail it out of London. End of Part One. Part Two gives us the police side of things.If you like the musical score, buy two Miles Davis albums -- "Kind of Blue" and "Porgy and Bess."

In 1963, 75 km (46 miles) north of London, about 17 blokes pinched a train with a coach containing millions of pounds of cash being transported via Her Majesty's Royal Mail. It was the biggest heist in British history in which the perpetrators lifted about £2.6 million (about £50 million in today's money or $80 million). Because of the amount of money which was taken from the British government instead of a private party, an all-out investigation ensued. Eventually, about 2/3rds of the members were arrested and sent to prison. Since the heist many films and references to the heist have appeared in popular culture, including a line in the Beatles' film "Help" in which Lennon asks a Scotland Yard detective how the heist investigation is coming.The current film, a made-for-television miniseries in 2013, is probably the best screen adaption of the heist, presenting the events in two parts. The first is from the point-of-view of the criminals, called "A Robber's Tale", and the second from the view of the investigators called "A Copper's Tale". Both segments are equally compelling with outstanding actors showing us how the crime is viewed from different sides of the railroad tracks, so to speak. Two sets of casts are used for each segment, until the very end of the second segment in which characters from both segments begin interacting.Bruce Reynolds (Luke Evans) is the mastermind and leader of the heist. Their first large job, an airport heist in 1962, yields not nearly as much in cash as they had hoped, around £65,000 (about £1.25 million or $2 million today, which seems like a lot of money!). They were hoping for a bigger payoff. Through a tip, they discover a train bound for London from Glasgow, Scotland, contains a coach designated as Her Majesty's Royal Mail. In addition to the typical mail, the car also contains sacks of cash, pound notes probably being taken out of circulation. Reynolds resolves to pilfer the sacks of cash and puts together a team to engage the heist, including someone who claims he can stop trains. They find an old abandoned farm as a temporary hideout. As events play out, the teams hits unexpected twists in their plan, including the amount of money which turns out, like the airport heist, not to be what was expected...The second part then chronicles the investigation and eventual arrests of members of the heist gang. Tommy Butler (Jim Broadbent) leads the Scotland Yard investigation. Butler is not only shrewd but uncompromising. He decides the best means for a successful apprehension of the criminals is to keep information close to his chest as his second-in-command Frank Williams (Robert Glenister) points out. He also forces his team to work long hours with little rest. Then the upper echelons of Scotland Yard, probably due to pressure from members of Parliament, decide to release the names and photos of the known perpetrators to the public, much to the objections of Butler and Williams. The releasing of information, as Butler and Williams predicts, leads to disastrous results, further compromising the investigation.A very enjoyable and well-acted series. Evans makes a good Reynolds, who is not exactly a ruthless criminal but definitely uses rationalization to justify the heist. Broadbent makes a fine Butler, whose aloofness may compromise the success of the investigation. He's tempered by Robert Glenister as Frank Williams who seems the primary voice of reason during the investigation. If you like heist films, this is a real one, and it demonstrates these crimes as not nearly as easy to pull off as you would imagine if you've seen "Ocean's 11".

I have to agree with the review by Alan Baker as to the factual errors in the episode entitled "A Coppers Tale". I am a nephew of the late Chief Supt Tommy Butler, and although only a young boy at the time of the robbery, I remember distinctly that the car he used during that investigation was a Wolsey that he used to drive himself, I lived en route from Central London to Buckinghamshire (just off of the old A40) and Uncle Tom used to call in for a cup of tea frequently on his way back to London, and i never once saw him being driven by another police officer and definitely not in a Jaguar. Another factual error was that his home as shown in the film looked like a nice suburban semi detached private house, when in reality he lived with my grandmother in a rather shabby terraced council house in Barnes.

I had high hopes for this and having watched the first episode I was not let down. The acting was of a high standard, including Martin Compston's London accent! Small points I felt needed more explaining, including who the characters were. Unless you have some knowledge of the crime then you may have been puzzled by who all the protagonists were.A scene showing the train leaving Glasgow Central Station clearly displayed a sign saying "Glasgow" when in fact it should have been Glasgow Central as there is also Glasgow Queen Street station. In the same scene, two policemen were wearing helmets. To the best of my knowledge no Scottish Policemen wore helmets in 1963, including British Transport Police (correct me if I'm wrong), also the FFR Land Rovers looked from a later era.Overall though it was an entertaining programme and I'm looking forward to part two.Having now watched part two it was of an equally high standard. I did notice though that the weather seemed to be more in line with August (the first programme had no leaves on the trees etc).I did feel however that more time could have been taken to explain where Reynolds and Edwards were when they were on the run as the programme implied they were in the UK when in fact they spent time in Mexico.Another slight glitch was when Roy James made his "escape", he landed on hard packed earth where in fact he had a specially prepared "landing strip" made of dug up earth to lessen the impact of his fall.Apart from that, this was a most enjoyable two parter and hopefully we'll see more of the same