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A hard-hitting 1970s British police drama series that was
the talk of its day, and two decades later was considered to be so
politically incorrect (that horrible 1990s catchphrase) that it barely
received a screening anywhere.
During pre-production, the concept was originally
entitled The Outcasts, and this was changed in time for the pilot
film to Regan. This appeared as a single drama episode in the
long-running Armchair strand that featured new and daring dramas. Armchair
Theatre had been around since its inception in the early 1960s by
Sydney Newman, the man most instrumental behind the creation of The
Avengers and Doctor Who. In
the 1970s, Armchair Cinema was born out of this to feature bigger
budget efforts by ITV companies, most notably Thames Television's
film arm, Euston Films (run, aptly, by Doctor Who's first
producer, Verity Lambert). The series commissioned out of this particular
successful features became The Sweeney.
The Sweeney concerned the division of the London
Metropolitan police force in charge of robbery. Their official title was
the Flying Squad, taken from their modern, powerful vehicles and their
ability to react instantly to any call-out. The nickname, Sweeney, is
derived from cockney rhyming slang; Sweeney Todd, Flying Squad.
There were 53 episodes, the pilot television film Regan,
and two spin-off cinema films, Sweeney! (1976, 89 minutes) and Sweeney
2 (1978, 108 minutes), neither of which compromised the series'
reputation for hard, gritty storylines. The first and fourth seasons were
screened on Monday nights, with the middle two showing on Thursdays. The
time slot was always the same, 9pm-10pm, followed by the then traditional
ITV News At Ten, and the series was one of the key viewing events
of the week for young and old alike.
British satellite channel UK Gold (then co-owned by the
BBC and Thames Television) screened most of the series on Tuesday evenings
in the mid-1990s (skipping some episodes - probably the more violent ones), with
each episode repeated a few weeks later on Saturday evenings. Another
satellite channel, Granada Plus (Granada Television's repeat channel) took
over in 1999. By this time, the actor behind the boozing, smoking,
swearing Jack Regan had become even better known for playing another
policeman, Inspector Morse.
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Created by: Ian Kennedy Martin
Executive Producers: Lloyd Shirley
and George Taylor
Producers: Ted Childs
Associate Producer: Mary Morgan
Title Music by: Harry South
A Euston Films Production for Thames Television
53 colour 52-minute episodes, one 77-minute feature
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Armchair Cinema: 1 Episode
4th June 1974
Season One: 13 Episodes
2nd January - 27th March 1975
Season Two: 13 Episodes
1st September - 24th November 1975
Season Three: 13 Episodes
6th September 20th December 1976
Season Four: 14 Episodes
7th September - 28th December 1978
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Armchair Cinema
Regan
Season One
Ringer
Jackpot
Thin Ice
Queen's Pawn
Jigsaw
Night Out
The Placer
Cover Story
Golden Boy
Stoppo Driver
Big Spender
Contact Breaker
Abduction
Season Two
Chalk and Cheese
Faces
Supersnout
Big Brother
Hit and Run
Trap
Golden Fleece
Poppy
Stay Lucky Eh?
Trojan Bus
I Want the Man
Country Boy
Thou Shalt Not Kill
Film
Sweeney!
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Season Three
Selected Target
In from the Cold
Visiting Firemen
Tomorrow Man
Taste of Fear
Bad Apple
May
Sweet Smell of Succession
Down to You, Brother
Payoff
Loving Arms
Lady Luck
On the Run
Film
Sweeney 2
Season Four
Messenger of the Gods
Hard Men
Drag Act
Trust Red
Nightmare
Money, Money, Money
Bait
The Bigger They Are
Feet of Clay
One of Your Own
Hearts and Minds
Latin Lady
Victims
Jack or Knave
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