Sweeney

In my humble opinion, probably the best cop show ever produced (it's an age thing) and undoubtedly the finest for featuring Granadas. You won't find such an array of them screened anywhere else.

We first saw Jack Regan on our screens in a TV film entitled "Regan" which was one in a series especially made for TV called "Armchair Cinema" in 1973.

From the start Regan was seen as having series potential, and when the film ranked high in the ratings work began on developing it into a series of 13 one hour programmes. Most elements of the film remained unchanged for the series, bar the name which was changed to "The Sweeney".

The Sweeney! film was produced after the roaring success of the second Sweeney series. It was shot on location in London over five weeks during Spring 1976.

The film was followed by a third and then fourth TV series, and then another film, Sweeney 2.

Finally a Sweeney special was made with Morecambe and Wise guesting! This came about as a return invitation, after Morcambe and Wise invited John Thaw and Dennis Waterman onto their 1976 Christmas Special for a comedy sketch.

In the end The Sweeney ran for 4 series, with 53 episodes made in all. It has been shown in 51 countries, and was regarded by many as the most successful police series ever made for British television.