THE SWEENEY:THE COMPLETE FIRST SERIES

A short blurb from International Voyage about The Sweeney Season 1:” Britain’s first hard hitting, police based television series delves deep into the gritty encounters of the “Flying Squad “ (nicknamed “The Sweeney”), the elite investigation unit of London’s Police Force and the seedy underworld of organized crime.

The Granddaddy of all cop shows that showed gritty realism was “The Sweeney”. The Sweeney was one of the toughest units that London ever had. Another word for the Sweeney was “The Flying Squad” named for this highly mobile force of top London crime-busters whose job was to fight major crimes and its masterminds. Running for 4 seasons and 53 episodes this show was at the time extremely violent, nothing compared with today’s shows but kept you interest all the way through. It also had catchy theme music and closing credits music. On this season 1 set includes the first 13 episodes with introductions on selected episodes but the guest stars of that particular episode. There are 5 audio commentaries on selected episodes from the stars and crew of the series. There is also a photo gallery and a featurette about the success of UK crime dramas.


VIDEO

The video quality is quite good! Taken straight from the 16 mm negatives, the picture quality is quite clear. There is also a Play All Feature.

Audio

Was originally recorded in Mono. Audio quality is quite clear.

Disc 1- 1. “The Ringer” with Ian Hendry and Brian Blessed
2. “Jackpot” with Sally Faulkner
3. “Thin Ice” with Peter Jeffrey
4. “Queen’s Pawn” with Tony Selby and Julian Glover

Disc 2- 1. “Jigsaw”
2. “Night Out” with TP McKenna
3. “The Placer” with John Forgeham
4. “The Cover Story” with Prunella Gee

Disc 3- 1. “Golden Boy” with Tony Jay and Peter Miles
2. “Stoppo Driver” with Aubrey Morris and Bill Murray
3. “Big Spender” with Warren Mitchell and Catherine Schell
4. “Contact Breaker” with Warren Clarke, Tony Anholt and David Jackson

Disc 4-1. “Abduction” with Wanda Ventham

Extras

Disc 1: Audio Commentary on The Episode-“The Ringer” with Dennis Waterman
Audio Commentary on The Episode-“Thin Ice” with Ted Childs
Introduction to episode “Queen’s Pawn” by Tony Selby

Disc 2: Audio Commentary on The Episode-“Night Out” with David Wickes
Audio Commentary on The Episode-“Night Out” with Ted Childs
Introduction to episode “The Placer” by John Forgeham
Introduction to episode “The Cover Story” by Prunella Gee

Disc 3: Introduction to episode “Golden Boy” by Dudley Sutton
Introduction to episode “Stoppo Driver” by Billy Murray
Introduction to episode “Big Spender” by Warren Mitchell

Disc 4: Audio Commentary on Episode of-“Abduction” with Dennis Waterman
Introduction to episode “Abduction” by Wanda Ventham
“London Beat Featurette” (11:22)
Photo Gallery
Interview with Creator Ian Kennedy-Martin (11:58)


Verdict

I would highly recommend buying this set! The picture and audio quality are fantastic. The extras are very nice and the audio commentaries are interesting about the workings of the show. Bring on Season 2. I can hardly wait!


Rating; *****!