Marcel Theroux is reuniting with the producers behind his ITV show The Playboy Bunny Murders for a Crime+Investigation UK doc about the 1990 robbery of the Bank of England.
Heist: Robbing the Bank of England marks the second time Theroux has fronted a doc for C+I’s EMEA team, coming after last year’s The Eunuch Maker. The documentarian has written the two-part doc, which will look into the theft of £292M ($395M) in bonds 35 years ago.
The story will span several continents over three decades, with production securing access to the protagonists in the story from both sides of the Atlantic.
Ian Lamarra’s Soho Studios Entertainment and Jon Farrar’s Homecoming Studios are co-producing, with content financing group Krempelwood and Paul Heaney’s distributor, Bossanova, also attached. Exec producers are Lamarra, Farrar, Dan Korn and Diana Carter at C+I parent Hearst Networks, Krempelwood’s Blair Krempel and Mark Wood and, for international versions, Heaney. Series director Sam Miller is co-exec producer.
Korn and Carter, Hearst’s Commissioning Editor and Head of Talent, commissioned the two-parter ahead of a planned to fall launch.
“It seems inconceivable that the crucible of this country’s financial institutions, The Bank of England, could get robbed, but in 1990, it did, and for nearly £300M,” said Korn, Vice President, Programming at Hearst. “In partnership with Soho Studios, Homecoming Studios and Krempelwood, Crime+Investigation will lift the lid on the most audacious robbery in British history, to try and answer the question everyone wants to know: where did all the money go?”
For Homecoming, the series is its first since former Nerd TV, Barcroft Studios and Future Studios exec Farrar quietly launched the Leeds-based production house. He left his role as Future Studios’ creative chief last year and will look to produce long- and short-form content – similar to the companies he has worked for in the past.
Farrar and former Alaska TV boss Lamarra made The Playboy Bunny Murders together when the former was at Future, and we featured it as a MIPCOM Hot One back in 2023.
“This is the unbelievable true story of the biggest heist you’ve never heard of,” said Farrar. “This commission embodies my vision for Homecoming – combining forensic and cinematic storytelling with the very best on and off-screen talent. After years of development, we were able to secure unprecedented access to both law enforcement and criminals at the heart of this mystery. I am beyond thrilled that this marks Homecoming’s first commission.”
Lamarra founded Soho Studios two years ago alongside Paul Sandler and Francis Ridley, and has since gained investment from Pantheon Media Group, which is part of WME’s unscripted arm. Recent commissions have included Special Forces: Most Daring Missions, which Tom Hardy narrated for Paramount+ and Travels with Agatha Christie with Sir David Suchet for More4 and Britbox.
“As the appeal of true crime grows beyond gruesome killing into true con and true caper, this forensic first-hand account of one of the world’s biggest heists, that took place in the UK, is breathtaking viewing,” said Lamarra. “Marcel Theroux once again proves he’s one of TV’s foremost and fearless storytellers.”
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