The filming of each episode normally took ten working days, shooting about five minutes of edited screen time per day. Due to this the number of different filming locations had to be restricted to ten, i.e. one location per day. At the Euston Films production office in Colet Court, there was a standing set of the Flying Squad offices, which provided an alternative option should the weather restrict a day's filming. Two days would normally be spent filming on the set, equalling 10 mins of any episode being set in the offices. Shooting took place through the summer, so exterior night shooting was expensive and was limited to 3 minutes of external night material in any episode.
Each episode had an eight and a half week production schedule: two weeks pre-production (for casting, finding locations etc.), two weeks shooting, four weeks picture editing (the first two weeks of which overlapped with the shoot), two weeks sound editing, and two and a half days dubbing.
Most of the locations used for filming The Sweeney were around the west London area - in particular Chiswick, Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith (where the Flying Squad's offices were based - referred-to as 'The Factory' by the characters), Fulham, Earl's Court, Kensington & Chelsea and Notting Hill districts, close to the Euston Films HQ at Colet Court in Hammersmith. However, other notable locations in London, the South East of England and further afield were also used for filming the show's episodes and included:
- Chertsey/Penton Hook Lock, Surrey - "Thin Ice", "Bad Apple", "On The Run", "Feet Of Clay" & "Jack or Knave?"
- Battersea - "Jigsaw", "Stoppo Driver", "Faces", "Trap", "Trojan Bus", "Country Boy", "Visiting Fireman", "Tomorrow Man", "May" & "Victims"
- Bermondsey - "Regan"
- Black Park Country Park, Wexham, Buckinghamshire - "Regan", "Pay Off", "On The Run" & "Hearts & Minds"
- Dulwich - "Regan", "Ringer"
- Dulwich Hamlet F.C. "Ringer"
- Gozo/Maltese Archipelago - "Sweeney 2"
- Earlsfield - Garratt Lane and Garratt Snooker Club "Supersnout"
- Heathrow - "Golden Boy", "Stoppo Driver" & "Tomorrow Man"
- Kingston upon Thames - "Hit And Run" & "Trojan Bus"
- Maida Vale - "Night Out"
- Peckham - "Ringer"
- Potters Bar, Hertfordshire - "Big Spender"
- Putney/Putney Bridge "Contact Breaker", "Abduction" "Taste Of Fear" & "Sweeney 2"
- Queens Park Rangers F.C., Loftus Road - "I Want The Man"
- Raynes Park - "Big Spender", "Golden Fleece" & "Victims"
- Roehampton - "Queen's Pawn", "Golden Fleece" (Bank of England Sports Centre), "Victims" & "Sweeney 2" (Danebury Avenue/Alton Estate)
- Sandown Park Racecourse, Esher, Surrey - "Big Spender"
- Southall Gas Works - "Faces"
- Southwark - "Ringer"
- Staines, Middlesex - "The Placer"
- Twickenham - "The Placer", "Golden Fleece" (Twickenham Stadium) & "Bad Apple"
- Uxbridge - "Thou Shalt Not Kill" (Brunel University) & "Bad Apple"
- Wandsworth - "Queens Pawn", "Jigsaw", "Abduction", "Country Boy", "Tomorrow Man", "May", "Drag Act" & "Sweeney 2"
- Wimbledon - "Contact Breaker", "Stay Lucky Eh?" "May", "Lady Luck" & "Money Money Money"
- Wokingham, Berkshire - "Thin Ice"
A pilot episode, "Regan", was made as part of the Armchair Cinema series and shown in 1974. In all, four series were made with Series One being broadcast between January and March 1975 and Series Two following between September and December of the same year. Series Three was broadcast between September and December 1976, with the final series being shown two years later in 1978. Two 90-minute feature films, Sweeney! and Sweeney 2, were made in 1977 and 1978 respectively, between the third and fourth series.
The promotional episode shown to the press was "Thin Ice", which featured a relatively lightweight and somewhat humorous story, some comedy, and international locations.
Highlights[citation needed][by whom?]of the first series were "Ringer", where the team were attempting to prevent a criminal being sprung from prison, "Jackpot", "Stoppo Driver", and "Abduction" (in which Regan's daughter Susie was kidnapped), focussing on the strains which the job caused to family life. "Night Out" subtly illustrated the backgrounds and family lives of Regan and Carter; parallels are drawn between the unhappy situation of the main villain's family and Regan's own domestic situation.
The early episodes feature a great degree of hostility and mistrust between Regan and his superior, Haskins, who in one episode ("Ringer") attempts to separate Carter from Regan in order to help Carter's career.
The episode "Queen's Pawn" is a display of how Regan is willing to bend the rules in order to get a result, as he fabricates evidence, illegally opens private mail, and even arranges the kidnapping of one of the criminals in order to get the desired result.
- Series 1 Episodes
All episodes were broadcast on ITV, Thursdays 9.00pm [3]
- Ringer broadcast 02/01/1975
- Jackpot broadcast 09/01/1975
- Thin Ice broadcast 16/01/1975
- Queen's Pawn broadcast 23/01/1975
- Jigsaw broadcast 30/01/1975
- Night Out broadcast 06/02/1975
- The Placer broadcast 13/02/1975
- Cover Story broadcast 20/02/1975
- Golden Boy broadcast 27/02/1975
- Stoppo Driver broadcast 06/03/1975
- Big Spender broadcast 13/03/1975
- Contact Breaker broadcast 23/03/1975
- Abduction broadcast 27/03/1975
All Series 1 episodes were shot in 1974.
The episodes "Faces" and "Thou Shalt Not Kill" were among the highlights[citation needed][by whom?] of the second series. In the former an anarchist group (which appears to be German-based, with echoes of the then contemporary Baader-Meinhof gang) is staging a number of robberies in order to raise funds for its cause. However, the group has been infiltrated by British intelligence, leading to complicated inter-departmental politics between the police and the security services. "Thou Shalt Not Kill" features a tense hostage situation inside a bank, with Haskins faced with the dilemma of whether to risk the hostages' lives by shooting the criminals.
Other highlights included a pair of tongue-in-cheek episodes, "Golden Fleece" and "Trojan Bus", featuring two cocky but likeable Australian villains, played by British actors Patrick Mower and George Layton; and the episode "Hit And Run", in which Carter's wife Alison is murdered.
- Series 2 Episodes
All episodes were broadcast on ITV, Mondays 9.00pm
- Chalk And Cheese broadcast 01/09/1975
- Faces broadcast 08/09/1975
- Supersnout broadcast 15/09/1975
- Big Brother broadcast 22/09/1975
- Hit And Run broadcast 29/09/1975
- Trap broadcast 06/10/1975
- Golden Fleece broadcast 13/10/1975
- Poppy broadcast 20/10/1975
- Stay Lucky Eh? broadcast 27/10/1975
- Trojan Bus broadcast 03/11/1975
- I Want The Man broadcast 10/11/1975
- Country Boy broadcast 17/11/1975
- Thou Shalt Not Kill broadcast 24/11/1975
All Series 2 episodes were shot in 1975.
The episode "Taste Of Fear" introduced violent psychopathic criminal Tim Cook (George Sweeney), an army deserter whose experiences in Northern Ireland had left him embittered. Cook also appeared in the later episode "On The Run".
Other episodes explored different themes: "Tomorrow Man" focussed on the clash between traditional policing methods and newer more technological ways of solving crime, methods which, in the real world, have made crimes such as those depicted in The Sweeney - of villains in stocking masks carrying out wages snatches - seem anachronistic. "Bad Apple" dealt with police corruption, and here Regan, despite being seen to bend the rules in other episodes in order to achieve convictions (i.e. for legitimate motives), will not bend them for his own profit, and is shown to hold the deepest contempt for the corrupt officers.
- Series 3 Episodes
All episodes were broadcast on ITV, Mondays 9.00pm
- Selected Target broadcast 06/09/1976
- In From The Cold broadcast 13/09/1976
- Visiting Fireman broadcast 20/09/1976
- Tomorrow Man broadcast 27/09/1976
- Taste Of Fear broadcast 04/10/1976
- Bad Apple broadcast 11/10/1976
- May broadcast 25/10/1976
- Sweet Smell Of Succession broadcast 08/10/1976
- Down To You Brother broadcast 22/11/1976
- Payoff broadcast 29/11/1976
- Loving Arms broadcast 06/12/1976
- Lady Luck broadcast 13/12/1976
- On The Run broadcast 20/12/1976
The following episodes were shot in 1975: Tomorrow Man, Visiting Fireman, Taste Of Fear, Sweet Smell Of Succession, Loving Arms and Lady Luck. The following episodes were shot in 1976: Selected Target, In From The Cold, Taste Of Fear, Bad Apple, May, Down To You Brother, Payoff and On The Run.
There was a two-year gap between the third and fourth series while the team made two feature films (Sweeney! and Sweeney 2) to cash-in on the show's popularity with audiences.
For the fourth series the title sequence was changed, and a number of other changes were also made, with Haskins absent from a number of episodes. The final series has been criticised as the weakest[citation needed][by whom?]. This falling off in quality led John Thaw and Dennis Waterman to the realisation that the show was in danger of running out of steam, and to take the decision to end it while it was still at the peak of its popularity[citation needed].
The opening episode of the series, "Messenger of the Gods", divides fans, with some seeing it as tongue in cheek and the show was beginning to run out of steam.
Other notable episodes include "Nightmare", which features a slightly experimental dream sequence as part of the plot. This is also the episode with the highest body count, and features another then-contemporary plot of two ex-IRA men committing a major crime in order to buy their way back into the organisation. "Bait" featured a performance by George Sewell, who had starred in The Sweeney's Euston Films forerunner series, Special Branch, as well as in the film Get Carter, which was a major influence on The Sweeney, and whose main character, Jack Carter, may have been the inspiration for the names of the two main Sweeney characters.
"Hearts And Minds", the last episode to be filmed, featured the popular comedians Morecambe and Wise, and was a quid pro quo for the appearance of Waterman and Thaw in a sketch in the 1976 Morecambe and Wise Christmas show on the BBC.
The final broadcast episode "Jack or Knave" (aired in late-December 1978) saw a slightly ambiguous ending, with the main character, Jack Regan, temporarily locked up after being implicated in a corruption scandal, of which he is finally exonerated. He then announces that he's had it with the Squad, and the series ends with him resigning in disgust.
The final scene left open the possibility of a further series in 1979, if the two stars could be talked into making it, but this was not to be. John Thaw told Ian Kennedy Martin he would not do another series because the money was not good enough.
- Series 4 Episodes
All episodes were broadcast on ITV, Thursdays 9.00pm
- Messenger Of The Gods broadcast 07/09/1978
- Hard Men broadcast 14/09/1978
- Drag Act broadcast 21/09/1978
- Trust Red broadcast 28/09/1978
- Nightmare broadcast 05/10/1978
- Money, Money, Money broadcast 12/10/1978
- Bait broadcast 19/10/1978
- The Bigger They Are broadcast 26/10/1978
- Feet Of Clay broadcast 02/11/1978
- One Of Your Own broadcast 09/11/1978
- Hearts And Minds broadcast 23/11/1978
- Latin Lady broadcast 30/11/1978
- Victims broadcast 14/12/1978
- Jack Or Knave broadcast 28/12/1978
The following episodes were shot in 1977: Messenger Of The Gods, Drag Act, Trust Red, Money Money Money, Feet Of Clay, One Of Your Own and Jack Or Knave. The following episodes were shot in 1978: Hard Men, Nightmare, Bait, The Bigger They Are, Hearts and Minds, Latin Lady and Victims.
Main articles:
Sweeney! and
Sweeney 2Like many successful British TV series of the time, such as Porridge and Rising Damp, cinema versions of The Sweeney were made, featuring the same actors and characters. The two films were far more raw than the TV series, featuring levels of violence, sex and nudity that would not have been possible on television at the time.
In Sweeney! (1977), Regan and Carter get involved in a plot based on the Profumo Affair. British actor Barry Foster guest-stars as an Americanised, and more deadly, version of Stephen Ward.[4] The film appears to be set in the then near-future, indicated by the line "He made the same speech in 1978", The film was mostly made in 1976, also noticed on the wall in the scene where the OPEC delegates meet, is a chart which says 1979, which would back this up.
In Sweeney 2 (1978), Jack & George eventually find themselves going to the island of Malta in order to track down a group of particularly violent armed robbers who have been committing bank and payroll robberies all over London and kill anybody that gets in their way, even members of their own gang, Jack & George were assigned the case by their recently convicted Chief Inspector as his last order, as he is about to be charged with corruption.[5]
A remake was announced in 2008 to be produced by DNA Films and directed by Nick Love. Love was also to write the feature length episode alongside Ian Kennedy Martin, the original creator. Filming was originally planned for 2009 with Ray Winstone's name confirmed for the role of Jack Regan, and Ewan McGregor and Daniel Craig being sourced as keen possibilities for the lead role of George Carter.[6] Orlando Bloom and Tom Hardy were other names linked to the remake. It was not revealed whether the film would have been set in the 1970s or in the present day.[7] However, Fox Searchlight withdrew support a few weeks before filming was due to start and the project looked to be on hold, until July 2010, when the budget on the project was confirmed at US$16-million.[6] In April 2011, the participation of Winstone was confirmed for the role of Jack Regan, with Ben Drew, alias rapper Plan B, taking the role of George Carter,[8] and Allen Leech is also starring in the film.[9]. The remake's present-day setting was confirmed when the BBC's Top Gear filmed a car chase for the production in Series 18, Episode 3. The cast also includes Steven Mackintosh, Damian Lewis and Hayley Atwell.
A total of nine books were written and released in 1977 published by Futura Publications Ltd.[10]
- The Sweeney[11]
- Regan and the Manhattan File
- Regan and the Deal Of The Century
- Regan and the Lebanese Shipment
- Regan and the Human Pipeline[11]
- Regan and the Bent Stripper
- Regan and the Snout Who Cried Wolf
- Regan and the Venetian Virgin
- Regan and the High Rollers
The first three books were authored by Ian Kennedy Martin, the rest by Joe Balham. The plots of the books are not taken from any of the television episodes; overall, the tone of the books differ somewhat from the television series in that Regan is usually depicted as working alone, and his relationship with Carter is distinctly unfriendly.[11]
- The repeat of the episode "Selected Target" on 21 December 1978[12] had the highest viewing figure of the series with 19.05 million people watching. This coincided with a 24-hour strike at the BBC.[13]
- Dennis Waterman was cast after his performance in the Special Branch episode 'Stand and Deliver'. In the same episode Stephanie Turner (who played his wife in The Sweeney) played his sister. She went on to have her own police series, Juliet Bravo.
- In the orange-tinted photographs that are shown in the closing credits for Series 1–3, an enlarged set of fingerprints is displayed on a board behind Detective Chief Inspector Haskins. These belong to actress and model Pamela Green, whose boyfriend Doug Webb took the stills photographs used in the titles and credits.[14]
- A red Fiat 850 Coupé makes a cameo appearance [15] in a lot of the episodes: typically it's parked at the side of the road as the action takes place around it. One theory is that the car belonged to a crewmember who tried to include it as an in-joke in as many episodes as possible.
- Regan and Carter appear briefly as part of a stakeout operation in one of the novelizations of the TV series "The Professionals".
- Scotland Yard's real Flying Squad lost an important surveillance technique when The Sweeney exposed their use of the roadside tents erected by telephone engineers, who would place them over open manholes in the street to protect them from the weather. These tents are frequently shown in the series as hideaways for keeping a covert eye on suspects.
- A two-part 1998 instalment of Diagnosis: Murder, "Obsession", features lead villains named Carter Sweeney and Regan Sweeney.
- The creators of the hit show Life on Mars have often stated that The Sweeney was a big influence on the show.
In the early 1980s the British comic Jackpot featured a strip called "The Teeny Sweeney" which was originally drawn by J Edward Oliver. A trio of schoolboys played at being plain-clothes policemen, with two of them looking like little versions of Regan and Carter. They even had "Flying Squad" written on the side of their cartie. Their attempts at being helpful however almost always ended in disaster.
The 1993 Comic Strip film Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown features a character introduced as "Shouting George from The Weeny" (played by Jim Broadbent). Despite the character's name, he is in fact a direct yet affectionate parody of Jack Regan.
A TV ad for the Nissan Almera car in the late 1990s had two characters similar to Carter and Regan racing through London to deal with a "bank job". A suspicious group of men have entered a bank dressed as painters. As 'Carter' races the car through the streets, 'Regan' keeps bellowing at him and others to "Shut it!"
At one stage 'Regan' shouts "Mark it!", which is slang for following a suspect, but in this case means "market" as 'Carter' drives erratically through a market place. 'Carter' tells 'Regan' to stop shouting — to which 'Regan' barks the reply "I can't!".
When they burst into the bank it turns out that the men are genuine painters and that 'Regan', their guv (or boss), is there to tell them that they have the wrong sort of white paint(!) 'Carter' says, "Think we'd better go back to the yard, guv, and get some more." "Shut up!" [16]
One of the painters talks in a squeaky-like voice and is called "Squealer", which is slang for informant.
(This ad was the follow-up to a hugely popular one spoofing The Professionals a year or so previously.)
The complete series of The Sweeney was released by Network on 16 discs in 2005. The pilot episode "Regan" was also released on DVD in November 2005. Both films, Sweeney! and Sweeney 2 have also been released on DVD.
The 2007 18 Disc Network release contains all four series, the pilot and both of the spin-off films. Along with all this, the boxset contains exclusive extras.
Below is a list of all the extras of the boxset:
Regan:
- Introduction by Ian Kennedy-Martin
Commentary with Dennis Waterman, producer Ted Childs and director Tom Clegg
Series One:
- Interview with creator Ian Kennedy-Martin
Commentaries with Dennis Waterman, Garfield Morgan, producer Ted Childs, writers Trevor Preston and Troy Kennedy-Martin, directors Tom Clegg and David Wickes and editor Chris Burt
- 'Thick as Thieves' episode and 'Special Branch' episode
Episode introductions by guest stars Warren Mitchell, Wanda Ventham, Prunella Gee, John Forgeham, Billy Murray, Tony Selby and Dudley Sutton
Series Two:
- Interview with stunt arranger Peter Brayham
- 'Wild Boys' featurette
- 'The Sweeney' annual PDF
- Interview with writer Roger Marshall
- 'Golden Fleece' episode script PDF
Episode introductions by guest stars Bill Maynard, Gwen Taylor, James Booth, Ken Hutchison and Lynda Bellingham
- 'Sweeney' film trailer with introduction by Lynda Bellingham
- 'Sweeney' film promotional gallery
Series Three:
- 'Redcap' episode
- 'Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show' 1976 sketch
- 'Strange Report' episode
- Episode introductions by guest stars Geraldine James, Steven Pacey, George Sweeney, Nadim Sawalha, Tina Heath and John Lyons
- 'ITV - This Is Your Life' clip from 1976 Thames trailer
- 'Evening News Film Awards' clip
- 'The Sweeney' 1977 Annual PDF
Series Four:
- 'The Electric Theatre Show' interviews with John Thaw, Dennis Waterman and Ted Childs
- 'This Is Your Life - John Thaw' extract
- 'This Is Your Life - Dennis Waterman' extract
- Series 4 textless titles with dual sound
- Episode introductions by guest stars James Warrior, George Sewell, Jenny Runacre, Nick Stringer, Gary Morecambe and Peter Wight
- 'Sweeney 2' film trailer with introduction by Ken Hutchison and James Warrior
- 'Sweeney 2' promotional gallery PDF
- Out-takes
- 'The Sweeney' 1978 Annual PDF
- Stills gallery Extract from 'Behind the Sunshine' PDF, recounting the making of 'Hearts and Minds'
'Sweeney!' and 'Sweeney 2':
- Commentary on Sweeney! with Ted Childs, Ranald Graham and David Wickes
- Commentary on Sweeney 2 with Ted Childs and Tom Clegg
- Textless material
- These extras are exclusive to the boxset.
All four series one are now available as Region 1 (North America) DVDs.
A soundtrack album Shut it! The Music of The Sweeney was released in 2001 and features much of the incidental music used in the programme as well as many classic pieces of dialogue.
- Manuel Alvarado and John Stewart, Made for Television: Euston Films Limited. London: Methuen/BFI, 1985. ISBN 0-423-01310-6
- Robert Fairclough and Mike Kenwood, Sweeney! The Official Companion. London: Reynolds & Hearn Ltd., 2002. ISBN 1-903111-43-9 (review)
- Dennis Waterman, Reminder. Hutchinson, 2000. ISBN 0-09-180108-7
- Martin Day and Keith Topping, Shut It! Virgin Books, 1999. ISBN 0-7535-0355-7
- Mike Kenwood and George Williams, Fags, Blags, Slags & Jags: the Sweeney. The Unofficial Companion to the TV Series, 1998. No ISBN.
- Troy Kennedy Martin, "Four of a Kind", in: H.R.F. Keating, ed., Crime Writers. London: BBC, 1978. ISBN 0-563-16287-2
- Andrew Pixley, "The Sweeney: Compulsive Viewing", in: Prime Time Magazine, issue 13. London: WTVA ("Wider Television Access"), circa 1984. ISSN 0266-0083
