King of Thieves Trivia Quiz

Answer: True crime

Films (and books) in the true crime genre do just what it says on the tin: they focus on a real crime that has been committed. Sometimes true crime is factual and journalistic, but sometimes it is more speculative. "King of Thieves" was largely faithful to the known facts surrounding the safe deposit burglary it was based on.

Answer: Jim Broadbent and Ray Winstone

Michael Caine led the team of elderly crooks, which was mostly made of men in their 60s and 70s. Jim Broadbent was cast against type, playing experienced vault robber, Terry Perkins. The other three central characters, Carl Wood, Danny Jones and John Kenny Collins, were played by Paul Whitehouse, Ray Winstone and Tom Courtenay. One member of the team - Basil - was considerably younger than the others.

He was played by Charlie Cox.

Answer: Easter weekend

Easter weekend is unusual in England. Good Friday and Easter Monday are both bank holidays when many businesses are closed. In 2015, the 3rd April was Good Friday, 5th April was Easter Sunday and 6th April was Easter Monday. The weekend was unique because many businesses were closed for four days. The lengthy closures enabled the robbers to break into the vault unnoticed.

Answer: Hatton Garden

Hatton Garden was a street in London known as the centre of the UK's diamond trade. In 2015, at the time of the robbery, there were many jewellery shops on the street, as well as the safe deposit facility that the group led by Brian Reader broke into.

As mentioned in "King of Thieves", the street was lined with CCTV cameras. The footage led to the thieves' downfall as their car number plates and faces were caught on camera.

Answer: Basil

Basil had been (wrongly) trusted with a key to the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company after the original owner of the key passed away. He met with Brian to suggest using the key to break into the building. Basil was also the one who knew how to disable the alarm systems and delete the internal CCTV footage.

He was wary of being caught on camera and wore a wig and a hat during the robbery.

Answer: They drilled a hole in the wall.

First, Basil unlocked the entrance to the building using the key that had come into his possession. Then, after tampering with the lift during office hours, two of the men abseiled down the lift shaft on to the vault floor. They opened the door for the others and together they created a hole in the wall in order to access the safe deposit boxes.

The gang used a diamond-tipped drill to make a hole big enough for two of them to fit through.

Answer: Brian and Carl

The men knew that the hole they were planning to drill would not open directly into the room. One of the deposit box cabinets would be blocking their way. The group tried to ram the cabinet out of the way, but on their first attempt, the tools that they were using were incorrectly placed and broke.

The men left the building with a plan to return the next night. Brian gave up on the job after an argument with Kenny. Later on, when Terry, Carl, and Danny arrived at the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company, Basil wasn't there to unlock the door. Carl got cold feet and left.

Answer: Billy "The Fish" Lincoln, played by Michael Gambon

Brian had already sorted out a fence to sell on the goods the team had planned to steal. He was not impressed when the bumbling fool known as Billy "The Fish" Lincoln turned up at Kenny's house. Kenny had gone behind the others' backs and arranged for him to hold the stolen property until the heat had died down. Billy the Fish had a different role in the real robbery: he was the getaway driver.

The man got his nickname from his connection to Billingsgate Fish Market.

Answer: £200 million

The safe deposit boxes that were broken into belonged to a range of different people and companies. Much of what was stolen had still not been recovered three years later when "King of Thieves" was released. As a result, it was difficult to put a price on the stolen goods, which included bank notes, gold, and diamonds.

Some reports put the figure at around £14 million worth of valuables, but some reported a figure closer to £200 million. The gang got the valuables out of the facility in holdalls and wheelie bins.

Answer: Basil

In "King of Thieves", Basil was the youngest member of the group but his IT skills made him vital to their success. When Brian dropped out, Basil agreed to split his own share 50/50 with him. In return, Brian told Basil the numbers of some of the most profitable boxes in the vault. Despite Basil's key role in the job, Terry and Danny cheated him out of his share of the profits. The young man was allowed to take whatever cash he could carry in his hands, which was a fraction of what his fair share should have been.

It wasn't a problem, however, as Basil had kept a selection of the best diamonds on his person - a fact he didn't share with Brian. While the older men were being followed by police and were being arrested, Basil was seen arriving at an airport with diamonds in his pocket. In real life, the man known as Basil had still not been found by police when the film was released in 2018.