The Sweeney
The Sweeney
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The programme was made entirely on film by Thames Television's film division, Euston Films. It originally aired on ITV between 1975 and 1978, starring John Thaw as Detective Inspector Jack Regan, and Dennis Waterman as Detective Sergeant George Carter. Such was its popularity in the UK that it spawned two theatrically-released feature film spin-offs, Sweeney! and Sweeney 2.
The series was created by writer Ian Kennedy Martin (brother of the better-known Troy Kennedy Martin), who contributed several episodes and wrote the second film. It was born from a one-off drama, entitled Regan, which Ian Kennedy Martin wrote for Thames Television's Armchair Cinema series of one-offs in 1974.
From the very beginning, the show was seen as having series potential. After Regan scored highly in the ratings, work began on the development of the series proper. Ian Kennedy Martin's ideas for the series were for it to be partially studio-based, with more dialogue and less action; but producer Ted Childs disagreed with this, and Ian Kennedy Martin reluctantly parted company with the project. In the event it was shot almost entirely on location and entirely on film (which gave it a startling degree of realism), and had a heavy bias toward action sequences.
The writers were given strict guidelines to follow: "Each show will have an overall screen time (minus titles) of 48mins 40secs. Each film will open with a teaser of up to 3 minutes, which will be followed by the opening titles. The story will be played across three acts, each being no more than 19 minutes and no less than 8 minutes in length. Regan will appear in every episode, Carter in approximately 10 out of 13 episodes. In addition to these main characters, scripts should be based around three major speaking parts, with up to ten minor speaking parts."
The Sweeney was the first really modern police-based series on British television. Previously, most dramas featuring the police had shied away from showing 'coppers' as fallible human beings. The police in The Sweeney were a million miles away from those of the BBC's cosy world of Dixon of Dock Green, or even from the BBC's slightly more realistic Z Cars. They were brutal and violent in dealing with London's hardened criminals, and prone to cutting corners and bending laws. The series showed a somewhat more realistic side of the police which often had a disregard for authority, rules and the 'system', as long it got the job done. Until The Sweeney this had been a subject largely whitewashed by British television.
It was a fast-paced edge-of-your-seat action series, depicting the Squad's relentless battle against armed robbery; but it nevertheless included a substantial degree of humour.
For the time, it had a high degree of graphic on-screen violence and the episodes had a high number of on-screen deaths.
The main two characters were Detective Inspector Jack Regan and Detective Sergeant George Carter. Their superior officer was DCI Frank Haskins.
Detective Inspector John 'Jack' Regan (played by John Thaw) is the Flying Squad's chief thief-taker. He's a tough, no-nonsense copper who is often frustrated by Scotland Yard's red tape. Originally from Manchester (like John Thaw himself), he has been in London for several years, so his accent has modified somewhat, but traces of his Northern origins are still evident. He also refers to his Northern roots every now and again (his poor upbringing, his father's work on the Manchester Ship Canal) which brings mild ridicule from Londoner George Carter. A heavy drinker and smoker (comically, he is sometimes seen stealing other people's cigarettes), Regan also has some success with the ladies - although not as much as Carter. He can be seen as quick with his fists. He has an ex-wife, Kate, and a daughter, Susie; and in the last episode of the first series, Abduction, Susie is kidnapped.
Regan is a hard man, but he is human. He helps out an ex-informer whose son is kidnapped in Feet of Clay (Series 4); and his sympathetic pushing enables his boss Haskins to ask for help when his wife goes missing after a breakdown, in Victims (Series 4): it's Regan who finds her. Regan repeatedly bends the rules in order to achieve the desired result: for example, fabricating evidence and arranging for a criminal to be kidnapped in "Queen's Pawn", and illegally entering private properties and threatening to lie about being attacked by a prisoner in order to get information in "Regan". Despite this, he's unwilling to cheat for purely personal gain: he delivers a sharp put-down to a corrupt copper in "Bad Apple", and refuses to take a bribe in "Golden Fleece".
The series was created by writer Ian Kennedy Martin (brother of the better-known Troy Kennedy Martin), who contributed several episodes and wrote the second film. It was born from a one-off drama, entitled Regan, which Ian Kennedy Martin wrote for Thames Television's Armchair Cinema series of one-offs in 1974.
From the very beginning, the show was seen as having series potential. After Regan scored highly in the ratings, work began on the development of the series proper. Ian Kennedy Martin's ideas for the series were for it to be partially studio-based, with more dialogue and less action; but producer Ted Childs disagreed with this, and Ian Kennedy Martin reluctantly parted company with the project. In the event it was shot almost entirely on location and entirely on film (which gave it a startling degree of realism), and had a heavy bias toward action sequences.
The writers were given strict guidelines to follow: "Each show will have an overall screen time (minus titles) of 48mins 40secs. Each film will open with a teaser of up to 3 minutes, which will be followed by the opening titles. The story will be played across three acts, each being no more than 19 minutes and no less than 8 minutes in length. Regan will appear in every episode, Carter in approximately 10 out of 13 episodes. In addition to these main characters, scripts should be based around three major speaking parts, with up to ten minor speaking parts."
The Sweeney was the first really modern police-based series on British television. Previously, most dramas featuring the police had shied away from showing 'coppers' as fallible human beings. The police in The Sweeney were a million miles away from those of the BBC's cosy world of Dixon of Dock Green, or even from the BBC's slightly more realistic Z Cars. They were brutal and violent in dealing with London's hardened criminals, and prone to cutting corners and bending laws. The series showed a somewhat more realistic side of the police which often had a disregard for authority, rules and the 'system', as long it got the job done. Until The Sweeney this had been a subject largely whitewashed by British television.
It was a fast-paced edge-of-your-seat action series, depicting the Squad's relentless battle against armed robbery; but it nevertheless included a substantial degree of humour.
For the time, it had a high degree of graphic on-screen violence and the episodes had a high number of on-screen deaths.
The main two characters were Detective Inspector Jack Regan and Detective Sergeant George Carter. Their superior officer was DCI Frank Haskins.
Detective Inspector John 'Jack' Regan (played by John Thaw) is the Flying Squad's chief thief-taker. He's a tough, no-nonsense copper who is often frustrated by Scotland Yard's red tape. Originally from Manchester (like John Thaw himself), he has been in London for several years, so his accent has modified somewhat, but traces of his Northern origins are still evident. He also refers to his Northern roots every now and again (his poor upbringing, his father's work on the Manchester Ship Canal) which brings mild ridicule from Londoner George Carter. A heavy drinker and smoker (comically, he is sometimes seen stealing other people's cigarettes), Regan also has some success with the ladies - although not as much as Carter. He can be seen as quick with his fists. He has an ex-wife, Kate, and a daughter, Susie; and in the last episode of the first series, Abduction, Susie is kidnapped.
Regan is a hard man, but he is human. He helps out an ex-informer whose son is kidnapped in Feet of Clay (Series 4); and his sympathetic pushing enables his boss Haskins to ask for help when his wife goes missing after a breakdown, in Victims (Series 4): it's Regan who finds her. Regan repeatedly bends the rules in order to achieve the desired result: for example, fabricating evidence and arranging for a criminal to be kidnapped in "Queen's Pawn", and illegally entering private properties and threatening to lie about being attacked by a prisoner in order to get information in "Regan". Despite this, he's unwilling to cheat for purely personal gain: he delivers a sharp put-down to a corrupt copper in "Bad Apple", and refuses to take a bribe in "Golden Fleece".
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