Recently released in a great-looking Blu-ray box set from Old Gold Media, this 13-episode, 5-disc collection of the first series of legendary British TV cop show The Sweeney is an essential purchase for all fans of fast-moving police thrillers from an era long gone and much missed. The series has been expertly remastered and frankly has never looked better than it does here.
For those unfamiliar with the show, the Sweeney (Sweeney Todd) is Cockney rhyming slang for the Flying Squad. This forceful London-based anti-crime unit uses all means necessary to bring down vicious gangsters who have escaped investigation and arrest by more sedate policing methods. The series focuses mainly on Detective Inspector Jack Regan (John Thaw) and Detective Sergeant George Carter (Dennis Waterman), who leave no stone unturned when it comes to tackling the most dangerous criminals head-on.
Thaw is superb as Regan, a no-nonsense old school copper, not afraid to bump heads with those in authority who find his methods too bombastic for their tastes. Waterman’s even better as Carter; indeed this was the show that established his on-screen persona for the rest of his long career – a hard punching, beer-guzzling, quick-witted cop with a taste for the ladies and a fondness for a pint or several at the end of the working day.
The show was filmed on a variety of colourful (and largely long-gone) London locations and featured a plethora of tyre-screeching car chases, bruising punch-ups and shoot-outs which thrilled TV audiences of the time and left them begging for more. The dialogue too is a joy – colourful, bawdy and witty and a fine example of how people actually expressed themselves in streets and workplaces back in the days before shows like this became frowned upon, making TV more anodyne and inoffensive to viewers of a meeker disposition.
This box set is enhanced by some excellent bonus material, including an archive interview with Sweeney creator Ian Kennedy Martin, and a particularly interesting feature on the restoration process, which is detailed and informative. Some episodes have commentaries and introductions from some of the guest artists who appeared in this seminal police show, which is a delight to watch and can’t be recommended enough. The original TV movie, Regan, is also included on Disc One, a film that really sets the tone for things to come. If you haven’t encountered this show before, then settle down and remember one thing… they’re the Sweeney and they haven’t had their dinner!
THE SWEENEY – SERIES ONE 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION is available now on Blu-ray from Old Gold Media. You can enter our competition to win a copy now.
