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When it first hit the screens in the mid 70s, "The Sweeney" was the first in a line of gritty, violent British cop shows which also included such series as "The Professionals" and "Dempsey and Makepeace". "The Sweeney" was a radical departure from the comparative coziness and tranquility of long-established shows like "Z Cars" and "Dixon of Dock Green" and portrayed a London full of violent villains brandishing sawn-off shotguns, pick axe handles, sideburns and flared trousers being pursued and often violently brought to justice by John Thaw's no-nonsense Detective Inspector Jack Regan and his sidekick Detective Sergeant George Carter, played by Dennis Waterman. Punch-ups, gunfights and car wrecks abounded, Thaw and Waterman frequently getting blood and grime on their enormous, tasteless ties and winged shirt collars as they strove to uphold law and order on the funky streets of Seventies London. Sometimes they'd introduce themselves to their quarry with lines like "we're The Sweeney, son - and we haven't had our dinner yet" before piling in, fists flying, to make the arrest. Violent, politically incorrect and still great entertainment, even after all these years.

"Get Your Trousers On-Your Nicked!", was the quote from this highly popular series which ran from the 70's to the early 80's.

The late great John Thaw played Detective Inspector Jack Regan and was joined by Dennis Waterman as Detective Sergeant George Carter, they were both detectives for New Scotland Yard.

Don't look for too much character development in this show. It's all about car chases, fights, gunshots and the like. It was the perfect show for testosterone driven males like myself who were only interested in action. D.I. Regan and D.S. Carter were two tough sons of guns-they engaged in fistfights routinely and couldn't stop drinking. They took absolutely no notice of the rulebook and did whatever they pleased.

The 70's were a great time for action shows and this a fantastic show, well worth a serious look.

"The Sweeney" is one of the best, if not THE best, British Television crime drama ever made.

The scripts, directors, producers and not forgetting the actors are all of the highest calibre especially Messrs. Thaw & Waterman with their great characterisations of Regan & Carter.

"The Sweeney" portrayed the real 'Flying Squad' as it apparently was in real life, and thus caused the controversy that it did in the mid-70's. The guys didn't always catch the villains either, so it never held that fantasy element like every other series of the time.

It was the seventies equipped with flared trousers, kipper ties, dodgy hairdos and moustaches along with Ford Cortinas and all. But, it is the most entertaining hour from the seventies produced in the most hard-hitting way.

There's A Pilot feature entitled "Regan", Four glorious TV series and 2 Award-Winning Feature Films - ENJOY!!!

On promotional material for 70s US cop series Starsky and Hutch when it was remade, Paul Michael Glaser commented that that series worked because it was first about men, second about cops. The same applies for The Sweeney. Regan and Carter are not perfect, they are not saints, they are not superheroes. They do not solve every crime perfectly. That is why we can relate to them. We watch them and see men like ourselves.

The setting is firmly in the Seventies, with all its period detail. But as with Starsky and Hutch, we see the relationship between men engaged in battle. The dated backdrops fall away and we see the same spirit behind it - an appeal to heroism in an age when this is lacking.

The series is over 30 years old but talks to men today. Therein lies its continued appeal - and success.

Ian and Troy Kennedy-Martin were the brothers who revolutionised crime drama on British TV in the 1970s. While Troy was a far more political animal, Ian concentrated on commercial TV.

However, that doesn't make The Sweeney any less authentic. In fact, many ex-Flying Squad officers have commented on its authenticity, helped by the fact that the producers used to pay real policeman in used fivers as 'technical advisors'.

The Sweeney represents Scotland Yard's first proper attempt to stem the rise of violent robberies following the oil crisis and economic slump of the 1970s. It represents the time before the Police And Criminal Evidence Acts changed the face of policing for ever in Britain - a far more free-wheeling, corruption laden time.

Policing is shown as hard, tedious work where moral dilemmas must be confronted all the time and there are no sudden leaps in detection, just stress and danger.

Particularly impressive in the Sweeney are the number of times that firearms are used - this was really true in the Flying Squad - even back in the good old days...