Customer Reviews

The Sweeney Series One

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you don't know your Mockney slang (Cockney rhyming slang), you might have some difficulty following one of the grittiest cop shows on either side of the Atlantic. Long before NYPD Blue was catching the attention of our FCC censors, The Sweeney (Scotland Yard's Flying Squad of plain clothes detectives) was thrust upon UK viewers in the mid 70's, with some harsh language, occasional topless girls, and the over the top, violent antics of the fiercest cops in England.

John Thaw, as Detective Inspector Jack Regan, perfectly fills what is possibly his best known role, apart from Inspector Morse. Dennis Waterman, as Regan's partner, Sergeant George Carter, is equally talented in fisticuffs, which would come in handy in Waterman's next series, Minder, where he played bodyguard for hire, Terry McCann.

Regan often twisted the rules of the law to apprehend his criminals, usually convincing the apprehensive Carter to help. Regan was often in trouble with his superiors, and was under constant scrutiny from internal affairs. The show lasted 4 seasons, and ended with Regan actually getting ... well, I won't give it away!

Apart from the double disc set of the 2 late 70's Sweeney big screen films, which has been available on Amazon for years now, the 4 seasons of this hugely popular British show have not been available in the US until now! It's about time!

American viewers will know John Thaw from 'Morse' but for many British viewers he will always be 'Jack Reagan' of Scotland Yard's Flying Squad.

The Sweeney was complusive viewing in the nineteen seventies. The Sweeney is cockney slang for the Flying Squad a group of elite dectectives who battle organised crime, armeed robbery and other crimes carried out by professional criminals.

THe success of the show is due to the partership of John Thaw as Inspecter Jack Reagan and his sidekick Sargent George Carter played by Denis Waterman. Reagan and Carter spend as much of their time drinking, smoking and chasing women as they do catching criminals, this is the seventies after all. Morse may use his brains to catch the criminal, Reagan is more likely to use his fists.

Unlike other British dectective shows the Sweeney does not involve complex murder cases set amougst the middle classes. The bad guys in the Sweeney are working class armed robbers, professional burglars and safe crackers. Reagan and Carter while being totaly honest (the real Flying Squad was famous for it's corruption) behave just like the villians they chase.

Because guns have always been less common in Britain than in the US, even amougst criminals, the Sweeney contains some great fight scenes as the police battle it out with criminals armed with pickaxe handles, chains etc. The show also has some great comic one liners making it one of the most funny drama series ever.

The Sweeney is a must for all lovers of cop shows.

A few of the slang terms used in the show are,

Bird - Woman
Blag - Robbery
Blagger - Robber
Blower - Telephone
Bottle - Nerve or courage as in 'lost his bottle'
Brahams - Drunk
Bubble - A Greek
Drum - House or flat
Face - Known criminal
Germans - Hands
Have it away - To escape, in particular to escape with stolen goods,
also to have sex
Manor - An area of London, a police district.
Monkey - £500
Nick - Police station
Nicked - Arrested, as in your nicked.
Pony - £25
Score - £20
Skip - Police Sargent
Slagg - Orginaly a women who slept arround, now a general term of abuse.
Smudge - Photograph
Tealeaf - Thief
Tom - Jewelry or a prostitute.
Ton - one hundred especially £100
Tooled up - Armed

If you're a Brit this TV show is as famous as Starsky & Hutch, so allow me to address the US consumer for a moment.

Remember when US TV comedy was mostly cringe inducing twaddle, but British TV comedy was genius stuff like Fawlty Towers and Good Neighbors? What you DIDN'T know was that serious British TV drama was often just as brilliant, but didn't translate as well ("too British") and had no hope of a US licensing deal to allow you to see it.

And thus we have THE SWEENEY, a ground-breaking show about Britain's elite coppers The Flying Squad. (Cockney rhyming slang: Flying Squad = Sweeney Todd = The Sweeney.) Previous British police shows had been relatively genteel affairs, but THE SWEENEY exposed the raw side of street policing. Inspector Jack Regan (John Thaw of Inspector Morse fame) is a born cop and a stone predator in the crime jungle. He will bend the rules when necessary to achieve rough justice. His sidekick George Carter (Dennis Waterman) often calls his methods into question, but is always ready when the scrap is on.

Rather than dissect every episode and angle, let me just say that if you cherish great acting, strong casting, inventive plotting and tasty style, THE SWEENEY will afford you many hours of pleasure. The dialog will, at times, require a US viewer to listen attentively. Once you've watched a few episodes and gotten into the London and Manchester argot, it becomes easier. I could wish for an English subtitle track in future series however. It's been a lifesaver with Life on Mars: Series 1 [Region 2] where it can get a bit thick.

There is no question...this is a show for 'blokes' primarily:

"Are you married?"
"No, I've always walked with a limp"

It's hard to sum up the genius of The Sweeney. When you watch 'Snatch' and 'Lock Stock...' they are good movies but you watch The Sweeney and there is no overacting...it's all almost natural. The one-liners are delivered with as much ease as asking someone to pass the salt. Reagans snarly face and caustic wit, Carter's ethics but overriding loyalty and the leash pulling guv Haskins or 'askins just add constant flavor and spice to each episode.

The villians are always one-dimensional no good fiends. Everyone always gets hauled in for questioning with no regard for red-tape "nick 'im an' all"

It's wonderful stuff. No great mystery or plots but great characters. John Thaw was a genius RIP but Dennis Waterman is almost like Nicholas Lyndhurst's Rodney to Del Boy...he's crucial to Thaw's Reagan.

If you don't know your Mockney slang (Cockney rhyming slang), you might have some difficulty following one of the grittiest cop shows on either side of the Atlantic. Long before NYPD Blue was catching the attention of the FCC censors, the Sweeney (Scotland Yard's Flying Squad of plain clothes detectives) was thrust upon UK viewers in the early to mid 70's, with some harsh language, occasional topless girls, and the over the top violent antics of the fiercest cops in England.

John Thaw, as Detective Inspector Jack Regan, perfectly fills what is possibly his best known role, apart from Inspector Morse. He's nothing like that character, in fact, you'd be in for a shock if you haven't seen him in action in the Sweeney before. Dennis Waterman, as Regan's partner, Sergeant George Carter, is equally talented in fisticuffs, which would come in handy in Waterman's next series Minder, playing bodyguard for hire Terry McCann, which would be his best known role.

Regan often twisted the rules of the law to apprehend his criminals, usually convincing the apprehensive Carter to help. Regan was often in trouble with his superiors, and was constantly under scrutiny from internal affairs. The show lasted 4 seasons, and ended with Regan actually getting ... well, I won't give it away!

Apart from the double disc set of the 2 late 70's Sweeney big screen films, which is avaiable on Amazon, the 4 seasons of the show have not been available in the US. All 4 sets are available in the UK, with some great extras. If you have the capability to play region 2 PAL discs, don't hesitate to pick up a season of one of the best cop shows in TV history (any country).

THE SWEENEY was one of the great TV cop series from Euston Films of the 1970s. As one reviewer noted, before John Thaw was Inspector Morse he was Jack Regan. I've got all the sets from England and hope the rest will be issued in the USA, especially with the audio-commentaries and introduction from featured actors who often say something like, "When the Sweeney was on everybody made a point of watching in and it was an honor to appear in the show. You can't say the same about anything on British TV now (this was pre-LIFE ON MARS and NEW TRICKS). They are not exaggerating!

Dennis Waterman, one of the NEW TRICKS team, went on to appear as Terry in the long running Euston series MINDER. It was a shame that PBS never showed these series in the USA since they were really innovative and much better than Guy Ritchie's awful "mockney" British gangster films. THE SWEENEY was an inspiration for LIFE ON MARS now being adapted (and obviously ruined!!!) for American TV.

Enjoy this series which has finally reached this side of the pond and give PBS programmers "a good kicking" (as Regan and George Carter would say) for not transmitting it earlier.

This is a fantastic set of 4 discs. Picking an episode at random the other day the words SHUT IT! were spoken after 1min 39secs of the episode starting (even before the opening credits) and I was in TV heaven.

A ground-breaking series by any standards, the worst episodes are good and the best episodes are television of the highest quality. Well-written, sharply directed and the main cast are perfection. Nobody ever drank alcohol like Jack Regan; there was a certain way he swallowed the drink. John Thaw was perfect for this role, a gifted actor who added something special to it. As his sidekick Dennis Waterman was dam good as well.

OK there are a few cliches that run through the series, such as Carter always getting beaten up, but these are small failings, more than compensated for by its brilliance in other areas. For the younger generation this will look old, the cars, the fashion (or lack of it) are all of the time, and unless you were around in the 70's it may be a difficult program stick with. Hopefully "Life on Mars" will have addressed this issue because this is a series that has a lot to say. The endings are frequently downbeat, and of course it had a great opening and closing theme tunes as well

My wife and I loved John Thaw in the "Morse" series and "Cavanaugh QC". We were saddened by Mr. Thaws death and wish to extend our sympathies to his family and all who enjoyed his work as much as we did.

Because of our feelings for John Thaw, we decided to try "The Sweeney" even though it is a 1970's vintage English TV series. Well, to our surprise, we loved that old series also. The appeal is the outstanding writing, great directing, and excellent acting. The Sweeney is an interesting character study of the chief protagonist and the lead characters in every episode. The stories are as relevant today as they were in the 70's, and the audience can become immersed in the plot, even in the Summer 2010. The only drawback is revisiting 1970's technologies, which can sometimes give the viewer a little chuckle. We highly recommend this series.

I always like "Inspector Morse". I figured I give "The Sweeney" a shot, I was in my 20's in the 70's so I can relate to the styles. This is w/o a doubt equal to Morse. I just love it. I found myself in a time warp. A great police series ( I think this was the first series shot with hand held cameras ). British police dramas are just as good or better than ours. Are you a baby boomer? BUY this!

What a great police show from the U.K.!!! Now this hard hitting cop show that starred the late John Thaw and Dennis Waterman show is now available in a awesome 4-DVD set!!! Some choice DVD extras are also included:audio commentaries on select episodes and some video introductions on select episodes by some classic guest stars,and more!!! This show was shot on a shoestring budget,but the entertainment is of the highest calibur!!! Great picture and sound!!! This show was quite original and paved the way for countless cop shows thereafter!!! Absolute classic television!!! Get this before it goes out of print!!! Two thumbs up Way up!!! Five stars!!! A+