The Sweeney

when Kelly was...

When Ben was born, and she was up doing the n- night feeds and stuff, uh, because he was bottle-fed, we used to take turns, so I would watch, like, The Sweeney late night, you know, 3:00 in the morning.

Man stuff.

[laughs] Well, no, 'cause I can...

The Sunday blues.

For me, primary school, it was the Sweeney.

When the Sweeney came on.

Sweeney was a great show.

But see if you remember in Sweeney, a fussy and I know as well.

Bear in mind, at the end of the Sweeney, that might have been when you were thinking about going to bed.

No, no. at the end of the Sweeney that went a wee very melancholic.

It was the theme changed.

My understanding is that they finished series one with no real sense of, will this go any further? You know, I think after series two, I don't think that, I don't think that dilemma ever really existed again until maybe towards the end of its life.

But no, I think the, no, that's kind of, that's in terms of what, if anything, persuaded them the powers that be that there should be I think you know I think this is just a good feeling but I think they still needed that you know the it hadn't necessarily hit the dizzy heights of The Sweeney, you know, as the follow-up show to The Sweeney for ITV and for Houston.

But I think we live in different times, don't we? I think they saw, they must have seen Promise and knew that it was worthy of further development.

Now, if you don't get the ratings, you might need some shows that don't even show the first full series.

Gone to jog his memory.

But he was, he was insane.

He was like, when, when I was looking at it, it was obviously, he was in the Sweeney and the professionals as if you could, you could go through any episode of Minder and, And half the cast will also have appeared in Sweeney and the Professionals.

The two things I remember him for, in addition to If, because obviously we have If is the debut film for the lad himself.

Yeah

... off of, um, lots of dramas, including The Sweeney.

And this was not long after, after the, the original Sweeney Ford Consul Granada, you know, the, one of the, one of the iconic '70s TV cars of, in the UK anyway, that a certain audience would still go, "Oh, my gosh, that's so iconic." And they t- they told him in an interview that the car had been found, and it was being restored, and it's the one that did all the things with him.

Mm.

No, I was a bit naive.

I joined because I You know, I, one of the TV programs I enjoyed was, uh, The Sweeney, and, um, uh, The Professionals.

Bodie and Doyle.

So Bodie and Doyle.

Ended up being a DI in a plain car with a driver [laughs].

Anyway.

The Sweeney and Bodie and Doyle.

Yeah.

They dealt with domestic abuse, organized crime, and systemic poverty in a way that just shattered the Doc Green illusion.

And that transition accelerated dramatically in the 1970s with The Sweeney.

Oh, The Sweeney.

This was the antithesis of George Dixon.

The Sweeney followed Jack Regan and George Carter in the elite flying squad.

These were plainclothes detectives roaring around London in Ford Granadas, basically functioning in a state of perpetual aggression.

Yeah.

They drank heavily, ignored procedure, engaged in brutal fistfights, and regularly utilized firearms.