The Hatton Garden safe-deposit burglary of 2015 inspired a number of screen adaptations – Hatton Garden: The Heist, The Hatton Garden Job and ITV's Hatton Garden – but King of Thieves is the movie you should probably check out first.
And you're in luck, because it's on BBC iPlayer now, having made its channel debut on Thursday night.
The film, released in 2018, stars a roster of British acting legends led by Sir Michael Caine, alongside Jim Broadbent, Sir Tom Courtenay, Sir Michael Gambon and Ray Winstone, as well as support from Charlie Cox and Paul Whitehouse.
"An old-school film about an old-school crime that brings together an impressive array of British legends," said Empire's review at the time.
"It's a marvel to watch Caine, Courtenay, Broadbent and Gambon go at each other with an aplomb that dazzles," wrote the Observer in its review, with good reason.
Related: Best streaming services
What to Read Next
The story is a gift to actors of advancing years – because the real burglary was conducted not by rowdy young Guy Ritchie lads but by six men in their 70s.
Led by career criminal Brian Reader (who was also involved in the Brink's-Mat robbery that inspired period crime drama The Gold), the men broke into the safe-deposit bunker under London's jewellery district, drilled through a concrete wall and emptied the safe deposit boxes of an estimated £14 million in cash and jewellery. Only a third was ever recovered.
Related: Michael Caine's British true crime thriller has just been added to Prime Video
While the story is probably familiar by now – especially if you've seen one of the other screen versions or followed the case at the time – the selling point for King of Thieves is the cast.
And if you're a UK licence payer, then you can catch it now at no extra cost.
King of Thieves is on BBC iPlayer now.
Digital Spy's new print issue is here! Buy Oasis - Live in '25 in newsagents or online, now priced at just £8.99.
Editor, Digital Spy Chris has over 25 years' experience as a writer and editor, having worked as a journalist covering TV and movies since the '90s. Starting out as a TV listings editor at the Press Association, he was quickly hired by the nascent Heat magazine, where he rose to become Senior Editor, interviewing the likes of Simon Cowell, Boris Johnson and Paris Hilton. Over the years he has written about entertainment with clarity and wit for Heat, Elle, Q, The Telegraph and of course Digital Spy, and has served many times as a judge in the Royal Television Society awards. He has written and recorded a novelty single with Lord Lloyd-Webber, written scripts for the National TV Awards, made Noel Edmonds cry, accidentally punched an Inbetweener and stolen a small piece of rubble from the Battle of Hogwarts movie set. (They can't have it back.) LinkedIn
