CS Weekly Archive > DVD > 06/22/07

A Law Unto Itself

by jason davis

The Sweeney: The Complete First Series

Tudor Gates, Ronald Graham, Martin Hall, Tony Marsh, Troy Kennedy Martin, Trevor Preston, Allan Prior, and R.B. Stewart

Intended to transcend the jurisdictions of London's disparate police departments, the elite Flying Squad (known as "The Sweeney" in Cockney rhyming slang) forms the basis for one of the UK's most memorable television classics.  Twenty-five years before The Shield's Vic Mackey trampled the rules, Detective Inspector Jack Regan (John Thaw) ran them down in his Ford Granada before backing over them for good measure.  Caught between the managerial paper-pushers calling for accountability and villains bent on ever more ingenious means of breaking the law, Regan and his partner, Detective Sergeant George Carter (Dennis Waterman), fight crime fast and loose with the conviction that they're the good guys and the ends justify the means.  An interview with creator Ian Kennedy Martin highlights the show's development and the conflicts that drove him from his series, while writers Troy Kennedy Martin (Ian's brother, who would later pen the much-lauded BBC eco-thriller Edge of Darkness) and Trevor Preston join the cast and crew on lively commentaries that address scripting a pivotal piece of UK drama.  Sadly, Regan, the one-off pilot that led to the series, is not included.

Brentwood Home Video

Not rated; 650 min.

$34.98

Buy it now

Jason Davis is the DVD Manager for CS Weekly , a contributing editor for Creative Screenwriting Magazine, and has written for Cinescape.com, MSN.com, and created the TV series Studio 13, which ran on Lorne Michaels' Burly TV network. He lives in the small space left over by his ever-expanding library of books, movies, and music.

The Sweeney: The Complete First Season courtesy Brentwood Home Video

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