An Ipswich-raised Oscar-winning director has revealed his latest project – a series about a multi-million pound heist.

Aneil Karia, who was born in Suffolk and went to Ipswich School, recently won an Academy Award for best live action short film for The Long Goodbye, which he co-wrote and directed.

After the win, Karia has been named as the director of a new six-part BBC series about the infamous Brink's-Mat robbery called The Gold.

The new BBC show will follow the decades-long chain of events that followed what has been described as "the crime of the century" which started in November 1983.

Six armed men broke into the Brink’s-Mat security depot near London’s Heathrow Airport and inadvertently stumbled across gold bullion worth £26million.

The disposal of the bullion was among the largest international money laundering operations of the time and left a string of killings in its wake.

The cast includes Hugh Bonneville, Jack Lowden and Dominic Cooper and the series is a co-production between Tannadice Pictures, a joint venture set up by Guilt writer Neil Forsyth and Objective Fiction, and VIS, Paramount’s international studio division.

BBC commissioning editor Tommy Bulfin said: “The fact that we have assembled such a talented and exciting ensemble cast is testament to Neil’s incisive interrogation of one of the most infamous robberies in British history and the remarkable events which came in its wake.

“And to have the brilliant Aneil Karia join fresh from his Oscar win is the icing on the cake. The BBC One audience are in for a real treat when this hits the screen.”

Ben Farrell, executive producer, added: “Tannadice Pictures are excited to be working on their debut drama with such an incredible ensemble cast alongside the BBC and Paramount+ to tell, for the first time, the full, immersive, thrilling story of the Brink’s-Mat gold crime.”

Kate Laffey, co-managing director of VIS, said, “The Gold is a captivating story of one of the most remarkable events in British Criminal history, and we look forward to bringing this story to life for Paramount+ and BBC audiences around the world.”