"The Sweeney" (1975) TV series 1975-1978

Creator:

Ian Kennedy Martin

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

2 January 1975 (UK)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama

Plot:

British police series which revolutionised the genre on UK television in the mid 1970s. Jack Regan (see...

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

John Thaw	...	Det. Insp. Jack Regan (53 episodes, 1975-1978)
Dennis Waterman	...	Det. Sgt. George Carter (53 episodes, 1975-1978)
Tony Allen	...	Bill the Driver (39 episodes, 1975-1978)
Garfield Morgan	...	Det. Chief Insp. Frank Haskins (37 episodes, 1975-1978)

Runtime:

60 min (53 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Battersea, London, England, UK

Company:

Euston Films

Trivia:

In several episodes, an ambulance featured in the plot. It was always the same vehicle, carrying the fictitious registration number SJA 374R, SJA 374S ("The Sweeney: Loving Arms (#3.11)" (1976)) or SJA 374T ("The Sweeney: Bait (#4.7)" (1978)), with the suffix letter changing according to the year of filming because it denotes the year of registration. SJA stands for St John Ambulance, who owned the vehicle, and 374 is 374 Division, based at Kingston Upon Thames.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Comic Strip Presents...: Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown (#7.1)" (1993)

Kipper ties and expendable Cortinas

When it first hit the screens in the mid 70s, "The Sweeney" was the first in a line of gritty, violent British cop shows which also included such series as "The Professionals" and "Dempsey and Makepeace". "The Sweeney" was a radical departure from the comparative coziness and tranquility of long-established shows like "Z Cars" and "Dixon of Dock Green" and portrayed a London full of violent villains brandishing sawn-off shotguns, pick axe handles, sideburns and flared trousers being pursued and often violently brought to justice by John Thaw's no-nonsense Detective Inspector Jack Regan and his sidekick Detective Sergeant George Carter, played by Dennis Waterman. Punch-ups, gunfights and car wrecks abounded, Thaw and Waterman frequently getting blood and grime on their enormous, tasteless ties and winged shirt collars as they strove to uphold law and order on the funky streets of Seventies London. Sometimes they'd introduce themselves to their quarry with lines like "we're The Sweeney, son - and we haven't had our dinner yet" before piling in, fists flying, to make the arrest. Violent, politically incorrect and still great entertainment, even after all these years.