The Sweeney
1 9 7 5 - 1 9 7 8 (UK)
53 x 50 minute episodes
2 x 90 minute movies
"Get yer trousers on - you're nicked!"
 The Sweeney was the top-rated British police series of the
1970s, bringing a new level of toughness and action to the genre,
and displaying police officers bending the rules to beat crime.
The series was created by Ian Kennedy-Martin, made by Euston
Films, and went out mid-week on ITV.
Think big clumpy shoes pressing down on the accelerator pedal
of a brown Ford Grenada and you're halfway to remembering The
Sweeney. Like a nastier, alcoholic version of The Bill,
the hard-faced coppers from the Flying Squad collared villains in
a time of power cuts and phones that rang with a bell.
Debuting on Thursday January 2nd, 1975, The Sweeney,
focused on the exploits of Jack Regan, a hard-working,
hard-drinking and impatient Detective Inspector attached to the
Flying Squad, the Metropolitan police's elite armed-robbery unit
(and the arm of the force that was supposed not to beat about the
bush in catching criminals).
 The character of Regan was perfectly portrayed by John Thaw, a
young actor with a lived-in face, already known from Redcap. In
the first series each episode was completed in only ten days and
on a budget of around £40,000. Today it would cost at least ten
times that much.
The program, which derived its title from "Sweeney
Todd" the Cockney rhyming slang for "Flying Squad"
- was a spin-off from the successful 1974 TV film, Regan,
that had first introduced the protagonist, and also established
his professional relationships with his cockney assistant,
Detective Sergeant George Carter (Dennis Waterman) and his
"governor", Detective Chief Inspector Haskins (Garfield
Morgan).
Each episode in the series adopted the same basic narrative
format - a three-act structure (with acts separated by adverts)
preceded by a prologue that triggered the crime narrative.
The
first two acts were devoted to obtaining intelligence about a
forthcoming robbery, often through tip-offs from informers or
surveillance, and the third, was devoted to the capture of the
robbery gang, characteristically involving adrenalin-pumping
action with car-chases, screaming tires, spectacular smashes and
hand to hand fighting.
The narrative was often further complicated through the
addition of an anti-authority thread as Regan challenged Haskins'
"rule-book" approach and/or through the introduction of
casual sex relationships, as one of the detectives became involved
with an available woman.
The program's realism was considerable, and few other crime
series have achieved so authentic an impression of the policing of
London's underworld. The series relied on detailed inside
knowledge of the actual circumstances in which the Flying Squad
operated and of the sometimes rather dubious means used to secure
prosecutions.
 Regan and Carter are shown inhabiting the same sleazy world as
the criminals, mixing with low-life to obtain their leads, and
adopting the same vernacular.
Both law-enforcers and law-breakers
indulge in womanising and heavy drinking, and use physical
violence to achieve their objectives.
The extent to which Regan is prepared to bend and break the
rules to nick villains was well established in the pilot film when
he threatens a suspect with a longer sentence if he does not
co-operate: "My sergeant is going to hit me, but I am going
to say it's you".
Unsurprisingly the series provoked fierce controversy, chiefly
because of its potential to influence the public image of the
police at a time of considerable social upheaval.
However, the
dark moral world that the series represented was difficult to
fault on purely realist grounds as, at the time of transmission, a
prominent officer in the Squad was under investigation and was
eventually imprisoned for corruption.
Harry South's memorable theme tune can still trigger Pavlovian
anticipation of impending violence.
"We're the Sweeney son . . . and we haven't had any
dinner!"
EPISODES
Ringer | Jackpot | Thin Ice | Queen's pawn | Jigsaw | Night Out |
The Placer | Cover Story | Golden Boy | Stoppo Driver | Big
Spender | Contact Breaker | Abduction | Chalk and Cheese | Faces |
Supersnout | Big Brother | Hit and Run | Trap | Golden Fleece |
Poppy | Stay Lucky, Eh? | Thou Shalt Not Kill | I Want the Man |
Country Boy | Trojan Bus | Selected Target | In From the Cold | Visiting
Fireman | Tomorrow Man | Taste of Fear | Bad Apple | May | Sweet
Smell of Succession | Down to You, Brother | Pay Off | Loving Arms
| Lady Luck | On The Run | Messenger of the Gods | Hard Men | Drag
Act | Trust Red | Nightmare | Money, Money, Money | Bait | The
Bigger They Ate | Feet of Clay | One of Your Own | Hearts and
Minds | Lady Luck | Victims | Jack or Knave
|
