The Sweeney (1975)
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. The programme's title derives from Sweeney Todd, which is Cockney rhyming slang for "Flying Squad". The programme was shot entirely on 16mm film by Thames Television's film division, Euston Films. It originally aired on ITV between 2 January 1975 and 28 December 1978 in the 9-10pm weekday slot with repeated showings at the same time until the early 1980s. It starred John Thaw as Detective Inspector Jack Regan, and Dennis Waterman as his partner 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 aired during a dark period for the real-life Flying Squad. In the late 1970s, the Flying Squad was publicly censured for being involved in bribery, police corruption and excessively close links with the criminal fraternity. Unlike the unwavering high standards seen in the fictional Sweeney, the actual commander of the Flying Squad, Detective Chief Superintendent Kenneth Drury was convicted of five counts of corruption and jailed for eight years on 7 July 1977. An internal investigation, called Operation Countryman, was then launched to stamp out more corruption. A further 12 officers were convicted and many others resigned.
- Views: 1
- Release Date: 1975-01-02
- Language: English
- Runtime: 60
Tim Wylton
Frank Middlemass
Benjamin Whitrow
Ernie Wise
Martin Wyldeck
Nicholas Smith
James Cosmo
Alfred Marks
John Barrard
Geoffrey Whitehead
Patricia Franklin
Hywel Bennett
James Aubrey
John Judd
Jonathan Blake
June Brown
James Marcus
Robert Swann
Joe Gladwin
Lynda Bellingham
Garfield Morgan
Peter Halliday
Derrick O'Connor
Kate Fahy
Stanley Meadows
Kenny Lynch
Colin McCormack
Tony Selby
Julian Glover
Del Henney
John Hurt
Peter Howell
Brian Capron
Madhav Sharma
T. P. McKenna
Sue Lloyd
Sheila Gish
Michael Coles
Lesley Dunlop
Colin Jeavons
Godfrey James
Ian Hendry
Vernon Dobtcheff
Leslie Schofield
Roger Hammond
Michael Robbins
Patricia Maynard
Alan Tilvern
Roger Brierley
Gary Waldhorn
Christopher Ellison
Mona Hammond
Steven Pacey
James Bree
Ronald Lacey
Jeremy Sinden
George Cole
Dennis Waterman
Robert Gillespie
John Challis
Patsy Smart
Derek Deadman
Norman Jones
Carl Duering
J.G. Devlin
Brian Hall
Bernard Kay
Shane Briant
Bernard Spear
Ivor Roberts
Helli Louise
Gretchen Franklin
Peter Brayham
Dudley Sutton
Simon Callow
Roger Hume
Nicola Pagett
Carol MacReady
Sydney Tafler
Derek Francis
Eric Morecambe
John Sharp
John Woodnutt
Derek Martin
Timothy Carlton
Barry Stanton
John D. Collins
Arnold Diamond
Peter Glaze
Kenneth Colley
William Morgan Sheppard
Warren Clarke
Ronald Fraser
Chris Webb
Henry Woolf
Michael Elphick
Roy Kinnear
Tony Aitken
Lesley-Anne Down
Anthony O'Donnell
Peter Vaughan
Patrick Mower
Anna Wing
Edward de Souza
Keith Buckley
Alex Norton
Ralph Nossek
David Sterne
Maureen Lipman
Nick Brimble
Brian Blessed
John Thaw
