Last night at 9pm on ITV1, a one–off special ‘documentary’(for want of a better description) called “Unforgettable” featured the writers, producers, cast and crew of “The Sweeney” reminiscing on that legendary seventies TV series. Unforgettable may be name of the programme but I’d rather label it as unmissable.
I have written about the series before so regular readers will know that I love The Sweeney. From a personal perspective, it was fascinating to hear from those responsible for the creation of it (and indeed an ex CID man of the time). Interesting insights included:
Shooting on location in London without attracting the wrong attention from the legitimate rozzers.
How Ford stepped up to supply the cars when other manufacturers were a bit precious (did the reluctant manufacturers learn nothing from the Italian Job?). So successful was the sponsorship for the manufacturer that many used The Ford Squad as an alternative label for The Flying Squad).
And most unexpectedly, how the creators had the ears of the police and the criminal fraternity and were able to use knowledge shared to make the scripts/scenes more gritty and realistic. I thought it was amazing to hear that genuine villains rated the series highly enough to be prepared to liaise with the producers and crew.
The final fascinating fact for me was that success, as in most things, came down to everyone pulling together and working bloody hard. The cast and crew knew each other and the series characters so well that improvisation and script deviation were not unusual or frowned upon. There was genuine comradery and respect and everyone connected to the series worked long hours – in fact the documentary drew parallels between the hours put in by the crew and the real Flying Squad.
If you missed the programme, I recommend that you catch up with it online.
Separately, John Thaw was a class act and I think there was something almost career like in his law enforcement roles – Jack Regan to Morse to Kavannagh QC. Maverick cop to respected chief inspector and finally to judge – funny to reflect that Jack Regan ultimately became a QC. Interestingly, Martin Shaw, another 70’s TV hero achieved something similar – Doyle in the Professionals, Inspector George Gently and Judge John Deed.
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I have written about the series before so regular readers will know that I love The Sweeney. From a personal perspective, it was fascinating to hear from those responsible for the creation of it (and indeed an ex CID man of the time). Interesting insights included:
Shooting on location in London without attracting the wrong attention from the legitimate rozzers.
How Ford stepped up to supply the cars when other manufacturers were a bit precious (did the reluctant manufacturers learn nothing from the Italian Job?). So successful was the sponsorship for the manufacturer that many used The Ford Squad as an alternative label for The Flying Squad).
And most unexpectedly, how the creators had the ears of the police and the criminal fraternity and were able to use knowledge shared to make the scripts/scenes more gritty and realistic. I thought it was amazing to hear that genuine villains rated the series highly enough to be prepared to liaise with the producers and crew.
The final fascinating fact for me was that success, as in most things, came down to everyone pulling together and working bloody hard. The cast and crew knew each other and the series characters so well that improvisation and script deviation were not unusual or frowned upon. There was genuine comradery and respect and everyone connected to the series worked long hours – in fact the documentary drew parallels between the hours put in by the crew and the real Flying Squad.
If you missed the programme, I recommend that you catch up with it online.
Separately, John Thaw was a class act and I think there was something almost career like in his law enforcement roles – Jack Regan to Morse to Kavannagh QC. Maverick cop to respected chief inspector and finally to judge – funny to reflect that Jack Regan ultimately became a QC. Interestingly, Martin Shaw, another 70’s TV hero achieved something similar – Doyle in the Professionals, Inspector George Gently and Judge John Deed.
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