Sweeney S1

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.