Hot Money

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Hot Money is a British television crime drama film that first aired on ITV on 12 December 2001. Written by Neil McKay and directed by Terry Winsor, it was inspired by real-life Loughton incinerator thefts. Caroline Quentin plays Bridget Watmore, a cleaner at the Bank of England who teams up with two colleagues to steal cash that is about to be incinerated.

The story follows Bridget and her co-workers Liz Hoodless and Jackie Haggar as they execute a clever scheme involving two padlocks on each cage holding the money. Bridget secretly takes the locks, disguises a painted padlock, and together they withdraw thousands of pounds from the incineration cages, hiding the cash in their underwear before escaping.

The film also stars Melanie Hill as Liz Hoodless and Georgia Mackenzie as Jackie Haggar, with Shaun Curry as Mr. Glover. It was one of ITV’s two projects featuring Quentin in 2001, and filming began in February 2001, with a 90-minute runtime.

Hot Money drew about 9.62 million viewers on its debut and had a 44% audience share in its prime time slot, though critics gave mixed reviews. The story was later adapted into a US film in 2008 called Mad Money, starring Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes, Queen Latifah, and Ted Danson (Lindsay Lohan was originally cast as Jackie).