Welsh detectives George Powell and Layton Davis have discovered Viking treasures worth up to £12 million, but are now being targeted by the new BBC Cymru podcast.
The Idiot Gold tells the story of how treasure overcomes a criminal plan, tries to hide and sell it, lie about what they find, boast to their peers, and evoke doubts spreading across the British Museum.
The reservoir consists of gold jewelry, silver ingots and hundreds of Anglo-Saxon coins, believed to have been buried by the Viking Warriors of Herefordshire over a thousand years ago, and could be traced back to the fifth century.
The Herefordshire Museum Service called it one of the most important early medieval treasures ever discovered in Britain, and historians believe that excavations could rewrite the story of King Alfred's reign and the British itself.
The pair may have become extremely rich and celebrated as heroes in the museum of land, but their actions resulted in investigators picking up the clumsy clues left behind by detectives and ultimately arrested them.
The man was given a sentence, and although most of the treasure had not been recovered yet, he was given an order of confiscation, and was told to repay more than £500,000 each or return to prison.
Earlier this year, George failed to appear in court and has since issued a warrant for his arrest.
The Fool Gold, released today, is told by Welsh actress Amy Feephion Edwards. He is well aware of the world of metals detected in her role in the BBC detective. This series is produced by BBC Studios Audio.
“We're excited to announce that BBC Studios Audio's executive producer James Robinson said: “This is a real-life tragedy. I was fascinated by the story of a seemingly ordinary man being the most wanted by the lucky treasure hunter on the planet. I hope that listeners were just as fascinated by the story as we do.”
For the detectors responsible for 70% of archaeological discoveries, Fool's Gold addresses a wide range of questions about the history buried beneath our feet, who own it and profit from it.
The first two episodes of Fool's Gold are currently available in BBC Sound, with the remaining six episodes starting each week.
