I was born any a couple of months after the great train robbery, back in 1963. And I have always been fascinated by it. My dream would be to go on the actual place where it occurred, the Bridego Bridge. I possess nearly every document about it, footage archive and fiction material. The most memorable, of course, remains Peter Yates's ROBBERY, back in 1967, and the other movie starring the actor starring Derrick - sorry I don't remember his name. Some viewers said on IMDb that this feature was not flawless, concerning details specified to UK, for instances trains and cars from this very era. Well, I have never lived in UK, so...But concerning this film, the only thing that annoyed me was the BOAC company heist, at the beginning. These guys are supposed to be professional robbers with a criminal record as thick as a phone book, and they pull the heist without any gloves !!!! Because finger prints, see? Rubbish. For the rest, it is a terrific piece of work, and the character description is absolutely outstanding. I loved the very ending when Bruce Reynolds tells the hard boiled inspector from SY, who chased them in such a raging way all over the years, that he did not do this for money but for "camaraderie" as he actually said, using a french word meaning companionship, brotherhood among friends. An outstanding face to face between those two adversaries. An authentic masterpiece. But it could have shown the several escapes from jail of some of the great train robbers.

I live in Copenhagen and as quiet a few of you have been writing is about the weather. I'm sure it's pretty the same temperature/Fahrenheit here in Copenhagen as in Great Britain. And for the love of money i don't get why you can't see pass that..?It's not a documentary! For me the "sun was shinning" all the time.Cos the actors were doing such a pretty god job and for me it could have been snowing all day if you get my drift.. And for the ten lines, witch is a stupid idea.. I hope we will see more to English series like this, cos they usually are pretty backdrop'ish with a studio audio line that follows. So hurray for that old chap.

Broadcast in two parts - "The Robber's Tale" and "The Copper's Tale" - THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY retells the famous events of August 1963 when over £2m. was stolen from a mail train traveling from Glasgow to London. The events have been extensively retold elsewhere, notably in Peter Yates' fictionalized version ROBBERY (1967) with Stanley Baker, or BUSTER (1988) a comedy-drama with Phil Collins as robber Buster Edwards. "The Robber's Tale" (dir. Julian Jarrold) focuses specifically on Bruce Reynolds (Luke Evans) as the brains behind the whole operation; the more celebrated crook Ronald Biggs (Jack Gordon) - who passed away the night the program received its first broadcast - receives scant attention. "The Copper's Tale" looks at the painstaking ways in which Tommy Butler (Jim Broadbent) went about investigating the case and bringing the criminals to justice. Stylistically speaking the production is very much in keeping with current British television costume dramas, with low-key, almost washed-out lighting, lots of period detail (for example, the obligatory London bus from the mid-Sixties) passing across the back of the frame, or a couple of young mothers pushing their prams round the park) and plenty of focus on character through shot/reverse shot sequences. The style is diffuse, with the emphasis placed on ambiance as much as plot. "The Robber's Tale" actually proves something of a disappointment; not a lot happens in terms of action, while some of the (predominantly youthful) cast simply do not seem convincing as mid- Sixties London hoodlums. Perhaps they might have done more research into the behavior, mannerisms and (most significantly) the argot of that period. "The Copper's Tale" is a lot better, not least because of the interplay - or should that be rivalry - between Butler and his immediate subordinate Frank Williams (Robert Glenister). Although ostensibly on the same side, they seem unable to form a united front, at least professionally. Butler might be a good cop, but he certainly lacks any management abilities.

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