Heist (Irish TV series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Heist | |
 The art collection of Russborough House (pictured) has been the target of multiple gang raids since 1974. |
|
| Genre | Documentary film |
|---|---|
| Created by | RTÉ Archive Unit |
| Country of origin | Ireland |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 3 |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | RTÉ One |
| Original run | 15 July 2008 – 29 July 2008 |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Heist is a three-part Irish crime documentary series broadcast on RTÉ One. It examined three memorable and notorious large-scale crimes committed in the country and was broadcast on a sequence of Tuesday evenings in July 2008 at 21:35. The series is produced by RTÉ Archive Unit.[1]
The first programme focused on the Real IRA's (RIRA) attempted robbery of a Securicor vehicle in County Wicklow.[2] The second programme examined the 1995 Brinks Allied Heist in which an armed gang robbed £2.8 million from a Dublin depot in Ireland's most expensive cash raid.[3] The final programme detailed the history of Russborough House, the Irish estate owned by the now dead Sir Alfred Beit, and from which priceless works have been robbed on four separate occasions since 1974. That year, an IRA gang stole nineteen paintings with an estimated value of £8 million including a Vermeer, a Goya, two Thomas Gainsboroughs and three Peter Paul Rubenss. Beit and one of his staff members were struck by revolvers and then tied up in their library.[4] Then in May 1986, £30 million worth of paintings were stolen by the prominent Dublin criminal Martin Cahill. Most of these were recovered in the United Kingdom and Belgium following an international police operation.[5]
[edit] Reaction
John Boland of the Irish Independent gave a lukewarm response to what he viewed as RTÉ's "latest gimmick" in borrowing "one-word movie titles" for its documentaries. He thought its parodying of the David Mamet film of the same name was "somewhat spoiled" with its replacement of the actor Gene Hackman with RTÉ's Crime Correspondent, Paul Reynolds in the lead role and by the replacement of the sidekick Danny DeVito with RTÉ's Business Correspondent, David Davin Power.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ "RTÉ Reveals Summer Schedule". IFTN. 2008-06-09. http://www.iftn.ie/news/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4281265&tpl=archnews&force=1. Retrieved on 2009-01-23.
- ^ "About the show". RTÉ. Accessed 4 January 2009.
- ^ "The Brinks Allied Heist". RTÉ. Accessed 4 January 2009.
- ^ Russborough House has history of art thefts — RTÉ News, 26 June 2001.
- ^ "Russborough House on RTE's Heist' show Options ". Google. Accessed 4 January 2009.
- ^ "Heist? I've got one word for RTÉ's shock docs...". Irish Independent. 2008-07-19. http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/heist-ive-got-one-word-for-rtes-shock-docs-1435783.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-04.
