One of the best shows you can watch right now isn't on one of our picks for the best streaming services you can subscribe to. That's because Paramount Plus let "The Gold" go over a year and a half ago — despite it scoring a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes — and at that point, the British crime drama disappeared from U.S. streaming services for good.
But now, there's good news! "The Gold" is back, and it's streaming for free on PBS Masterpiece. If you're totally unfamiliar with the show, it debuted in 2023 to rave reviews and is a dramatic retelling of the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery. It's loaded with incredible British actors, too, including Jack Lowden, who is currently starring in "Slow Horses" season 5.
If you want to watch "The Gold," there are a couple of ways to do it. The show is being released weekly on PBS linear as part of PBS Masterpiece at 10 p.m. ET every Sunday, starting with the first episode of season 1, which aired last Sunday (Oct. 5). An episode will air each week until the season 1 finale on Sunday, Nov. 9. Season 2, which already aired on BBC One in the U.K., is slated to air on PBS sometime in 2026.
So, if you want to watch live, you should use one of the best live TV streaming services to watch it as it airs on PBS. I'm using YouTube TV to record the episodes on my unlimited cloud DVR and then watching them later at my convenience. You can also use one of our top-rated antennas to receive PBS over the air for free, provided you're within range of a local PBS station.
However, if you don't mind waiting until after an episode airs, you can simply visit the PBS website and watch it for free. If you want to watch all six episodes of season 1 without waiting, you can make a one-time donation of $60 to PBS or a recurring monthly donation of $5. That gets you access to PBS's GBP Passport, a streaming service that grants you instant access to tons of British content on PBS. Up your donation to $10 a month, and PBS will even give you a free Roku Express streaming device.
Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2023, covering the latest in streaming shows and movies. He watches over 50 new shows a year, and loves a British drama.
'The Gold' might be the best show you can stream for free right now
As I already mentioned, "The Gold" tells the story of the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery at Heathrow Airport in London. It was the biggest robbery in history at the time, and £26 million was stolen in the form of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash.
It's the gold bullion in particular that this show focuses on, and Jack Lowden stars as Kenneth Noye, a fence who specializes in gold and has been tasked by the Brink's-Mat robbers with fencing the stolen gold to make it clean and get everyone rich. To do this, he solicits the help of solicitor (lawyer) Edwyn Cooper (Dominic Cooper), who will clean the gold through Swiss bank accounts at a rate of £1 million a week.
But the cops are already hot on the trail of the stolen gold, and they're led by DCS Brian Boyce (Hugh Bonneville). He's interested in the criminals that will ultimately process and procure the stolen gold as much as he's interested in the robbers, and he's not going to stop until he brings everyone down.
Having watched the first episode of "The Gold," I can confirm this show lives up to the critical hype. It's enthralling, and the quality of the actors who have been cast in this show is already paying dividends, particularly in the form of Lowden, Cooper and Bonneville. I had to stop myself from making the $60 donation to watch all six episodes right away. It's that good, and it might just be the best show you can stream for free right now.
So don't miss it now that it's on PBS. We've already seen "The Gold" disappear once. You'll regret it if you don't watch it before it disappears again.
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