Forsyth has done a skilful job in streamlining a knotty, convoluted and sometimes laborious story and turning it into an exceptional piece of television.

While it may lack the narrative drive of series one, it will keep you watching through the strength of the writing and the top-notch performances from everyone involved.

What follows is a terrifically tense, and often very funny, cat-and-mouse chase – the kind that makes you want to reach for a calming cigarette yourself.

For the most part, it is focused and newly thrilling. And despite having no obvious ending to draw from in real life, The Gold manages to cobble one together, with gusto.

The wash of creative licence and composite characters dulls the edge of this second instalment of The Gold, which might have been better off just focusing on the rise and fall of Palmer and Noye, men whose stories have all the drama of a great crime saga, just without any of the convenient structural neatness.