JOHN THAW IN 'THE SWEENEY: ABDUCTION" WITH STUART WILSON

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIGKWnY8SOzb8DjrvPwtvqFOPJalpH1VbPDXejrznsm7rx1c9qXvuTYG6jKSuzv2faMm-jDZGIYYfrNjxieVlIuqDNIb-rSQhU7ewjspUgLvgbnC0vVU4n3iH50w3oGodQwAQIjoWn-72-NCtWlv54-bW8pKewnN1Flk4lv37QyOYqth9CIc2LNLGuJUq/s1395/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-11%20at%201.16.16%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="1395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIGKWnY8SOzb8DjrvPwtvqFOPJalpH1VbPDXejrznsm7rx1c9qXvuTYG6jKSuzv2faMm-jDZGIYYfrNjxieVlIuqDNIb-rSQhU7ewjspUgLvgbnC0vVU4n3iH50w3oGodQwAQIjoWn-72-NCtWlv54-bW8pKewnN1Flk4lv37QyOYqth9CIc2LNLGuJUq/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-11%20at%201.16.16%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Stuart Wilson and Janet Key in THE SWEENEY: ABDUCTION Year: 1975 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>John Thaw's Inspector Regan is the kind of sex symbol that could only derive from the British 1970's... and while resembling the devil-head from the William Shatner roadside-cafe fortune-machine TWILIGHT ZONE, he's never at a loss for sexy birds, who usually simply throw themselves at him... </p><p></p><p></p><p>Yet sometimes settling for somewhat plain ones, that actually fit him aesthetically and realistically over the bombshells... so here's a middle-ground in ABDUCTION as we meet his first wife, having been divorced before the series began, and young daughter, befitting the titular plot-line of kidnapping...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, british, cop, dennis waterman, janet key, john thaw, kidnapping, seventies, stuart wilson, sweeney

JOHN THAW IN 'THE SWEENEY: ABDUCTION" WITH STUART WILSON

Stuart Wilson and Janet Key in THE SWEENEY: ABDUCTION Year: 1975 Rates: ***1/2 John Thaw's Inspector Regan is the kind of sex symbol tha...

JOHN THAW WITH JOHN CLIVE IN 'THE SWEENEY: BIG BROTHER'

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8LRyZesOoHw1Nf0K7E-qwLoJ8ENdod9SOl9mIT3o51tNV2cgfcoi1gZsRD1f-J7N8mNkc5cVopS6cuWGnkQYPYtbIaxpC8mRUYFqr3jI7S1BgjFLD1C1N5kw-NzG5H9nLl66CAwmah7eQSRU4k3lHjnLb5hdJ1CX0bjmG0YWHvDrvmTdg-TN81PsQKcGT/s979/387214730_1817622472000254_9116286702101684868_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="979" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8LRyZesOoHw1Nf0K7E-qwLoJ8ENdod9SOl9mIT3o51tNV2cgfcoi1gZsRD1f-J7N8mNkc5cVopS6cuWGnkQYPYtbIaxpC8mRUYFqr3jI7S1BgjFLD1C1N5kw-NzG5H9nLl66CAwmah7eQSRU4k3lHjnLb5hdJ1CX0bjmG0YWHvDrvmTdg-TN81PsQKcGT/s16000/387214730_1817622472000254_9116286702101684868_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Clive in THE SWEENEY: BIG BROTHER Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Like the film noir WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS, as an otherwise brutal cop looks extremely guilty of murder when he's innocent... THE SWEENEY episode BIG BROTHER puts John Thaw's Regan in a similar circumstance... </p><p></p><p>Only he doesn't punch a guy to accidentally kill him like Dana Andrews... instead, after a bit of manhandling witnessed by partner Dennis Waterman's Carter, alone in the interrogation room with the smug younger brother of a criminal kingpin, the kid suddenly falls to the floor and is hospitalized, in critical condition, with Regan the suspect...</p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MJoI6MtySza7cmpQW3Nypmam_FFtCtFOYG5-_ZZ1PZ3ARkFJSav73SvozEW1sYPQz8kRHsePnj03bwyas6SA51fq0ikeJEPomKk_Lpkl_NLgp2tWLtYExgwC6y4CAE6WQDbXIyB7dGYUYmArro50wSAafBAdLqeZaYzzK1j9DnzaeUBiJyVGrvpJfVTH/s1544/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-11%20at%2012.42.26%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="808" data-original-width="1544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MJoI6MtySza7cmpQW3Nypmam_FFtCtFOYG5-_ZZ1PZ3ARkFJSav73SvozEW1sYPQz8kRHsePnj03bwyas6SA51fq0ikeJEPomKk_Lpkl_NLgp2tWLtYExgwC6y4CAE6WQDbXIyB7dGYUYmArro50wSAafBAdLqeZaYzzK1j9DnzaeUBiJyVGrvpJfVTH/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-11%20at%2012.42.26%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Thaw in THE SWEENEY: BIG BROTHER with David Dixon</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>As the episode juggles several genre elements: from gangster-revenge, bad cop, wrong man to blaxploitation... particularly intriguing when A CLOCKWORK ORANGE goading stage actor John Clive... always with a weaselly trick up his sleeve... plays a liberal journalist dying to turn the infamous cop into a killer...<br></p><p></p><p>Meanwhile Maurice Roëves looks dapper and partially menacing as the title character, who hires a wild card torpedo to off Regan, yet neither story-line comes to anything, really... leaving a foot chase with Regan and Carter after a black pimp backed by a funky score to close a really good episode that's almost downright incredible.</p><p><span></span></p>

action, british, cop, dennis waterman, garfield morgan, john clive, john thaw, maurice roëves, seventies, sweeney

JOHN THAW WITH JOHN CLIVE IN 'THE SWEENEY: BIG BROTHER'

John Clive in THE SWEENEY: BIG BROTHER Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2 Like the film noir WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS, as an otherwise brutal cop look...

JOHN THAW & DENNIS WATERMAN IN 'THE SWEENEY: SUPERSNOUT'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQG5PCieHf1XQ1f5z3q6ExU7611Hah2R8g_SbiHd3Nes3SvphIt9nMBDKOmJB8PNx0VrcLnDuiVmjXLcLHT_ezukgKrhzHMKl1SK7mYfi9W_NjhXeOHSaRregGfj23-cJACe2teqOYGrMIBGDO6bbc46tlm8gS9WV2XLTO9pPliCmFFzZFDTeP0PyXTya0/s993/1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="993" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQG5PCieHf1XQ1f5z3q6ExU7611Hah2R8g_SbiHd3Nes3SvphIt9nMBDKOmJB8PNx0VrcLnDuiVmjXLcLHT_ezukgKrhzHMKl1SK7mYfi9W_NjhXeOHSaRregGfj23-cJACe2teqOYGrMIBGDO6bbc46tlm8gS9WV2XLTO9pPliCmFFzZFDTeP0PyXTya0/s16000/1.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Thaw and Dennis Waterman in THE SWEENEY: SUPERSNOUT Year: 1975 Rates: ***<br></u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Whenever THE SWEENEY writers want to get under John Thaw's independent-minded Chief Inspector Regan's skin, they either add a new partner... making a third alongside Dennis Waterman as Carter...  or in this case (and the second theatrical film SWEENEY 2) they'll add a new superintendent, who in this case is so quirky his name's actually Quirk...</p><p></p><p>Played by bald character-actor Bill Maynard, he even shakes hands funny, and, as a mediocre, unfit leader he wants to prove himself by busting a mail-thief operation that's already weeks old, inevitably pushing his neurotic personality to the sideline as SUPERSNOUT refers to an even more neurotic John Tordoff as Stickler, an inside information man for Regan, and their dialogue-driven expository scenes are more interesting than the confusing big con that, as usual, takes until the very last minute to comprehend. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, bill maynard, british, cop, dennis waterman, john thaw, seventies, sweeney, tv series

JOHN THAW & DENNIS WATERMAN IN 'THE SWEENEY: SUPERSNOUT'

John Thaw and Dennis Waterman in THE SWEENEY: SUPERSNOUT Year: 1975 Rates: *** Whenever THE SWEENEY writers want to get under John Thaw'...

KEN HUTCHISON STEALS 'THE SWEENEY: STAY LUCKY EH' EPISODE

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNjMlmfujBiUdrcmFOHpcq4eAhVOmgS0gg_xoweXSZchEl74JCCyXQ7xsdr87FRDI0AbDYnDn7FreqRtiKtR4RZKwrwm9nZWquKAbR5dPWztMtt0cO0HgKz7Og6qDcTiDLgga4rOfPlANw3LJIqphBySDY6FljAHqF3K3mn8koiIndPEc9AzuVin5wYg/s2184/Screen%20Shot%202022-11-21%20at%204.19.50%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1394" data-original-width="2184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNjMlmfujBiUdrcmFOHpcq4eAhVOmgS0gg_xoweXSZchEl74JCCyXQ7xsdr87FRDI0AbDYnDn7FreqRtiKtR4RZKwrwm9nZWquKAbR5dPWztMtt0cO0HgKz7Og6qDcTiDLgga4rOfPlANw3LJIqphBySDY6FljAHqF3K3mn8koiIndPEc9AzuVin5wYg/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-11-21%20at%204.19.50%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Sweeney: Stay Lucky Uh? Year: 1975 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Before playing Mr. Hill in SWEENEY 2, STRAW DOGS actors Ken Hutchison dons a fake blonde wig and mustache in STAY LUCKY EH where his character Vincent Vaughan steals money before being delivered to mob boss and Ken's STRAW DOGS leader Peter Vaughan while thwarting patsies Alun Armstrong to Michael Ripper...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>One of the few episodes where the heavies get more screen time than John Thaw's Regan and his younger partner Dennis Waterman as Carter... </p><p><span></span></p>

alun armstrong, british, british neo noir, crime, dennis waterman, donald webster, john thaw, ken hutchison, michael ripper, peter vaughan, seventies, sweeney, TV

KEN HUTCHISON STEALS 'THE SWEENEY: STAY LUCKY EH' EPISODE

The Sweeney: Stay Lucky Uh? Year: 1975 Rates: **** Before playing Mr. Hill in SWEENEY 2, STRAW DOGS actors Ken Hutchison dons a fake blonde ...

KEN HUTCHISON PLAYS THE ULTIMATE HEAVY FOR 'SWEENEY 2'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5CyDwi-EPuWeZCljnpNSngY4MgZE2drDKeoKqDzlUJlL4btLUIadbykG-nTcA18kJCDaku6PMrPKlRmvbRp8jTd2CPo9LDRpbxIOqQDPM30v3-iH8JfaYPRL2FQw1sMh1Ab4_1l8-U2s4f_L1XRZlnUwUV8SYo3N2BqTLbeQL1geOtLfBhhv7znbmrO5S/s1600/Screen%20Shot%202019-03-07%20at%204.08.25%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="986" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5CyDwi-EPuWeZCljnpNSngY4MgZE2drDKeoKqDzlUJlL4btLUIadbykG-nTcA18kJCDaku6PMrPKlRmvbRp8jTd2CPo9LDRpbxIOqQDPM30v3-iH8JfaYPRL2FQw1sMh1Ab4_1l8-U2s4f_L1XRZlnUwUV8SYo3N2BqTLbeQL1geOtLfBhhv7znbmrO5S/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202019-03-07%20at%204.08.25%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: SWEENEY 2 Stars: John Thaw, Dennis Waterman Shown: Ken Hutchison Year: 1978 Rates: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Before the fourth and final season of the popular British crime television series <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/06/sweeney-sustained.html">THE SWEENEY</a>, two theatrical films hit the big screens in succession, from 1977 to 1978...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The first called <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/06/sweeney-one.html">SWEENEY!</a> centered more on John Thaw's Chief Inspector Regan in a kind of NORTH BY NORTHWEST where his young protege Sergeant Carter, played by Dennis Waterman, had such little screen-time at one point he chooses not to be seen with Regan's "wrong man" at all...</p><p><span></span></p>

british, british neo noir, buddy, cop, crime, dennis waterman, frederick treves, john thaw, ken hutchison, roddy mcmillan, seventies, sweeney

KEN HUTCHISON PLAYS THE ULTIMATE HEAVY FOR 'SWEENEY 2'

Title: SWEENEY 2 Stars: John Thaw, Dennis Waterman Shown: Ken Hutchison Year: 1978 Rates: ****1/2 Before the fourth and final season of the ...

KEN HUTCHISON CINEMA PRESENTS 'SWEENEY 2' W/ 'SWEENEY!'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0iopp1Ah6VNgHmaXxPfazA5Arfkbh1z6NBpmuJsYsGow8ChRJyIlNBVWeqGqIdVGcMj6wmUwPwAEu3F3auPOoPq9BAj5e61GGJHxTD_pbcz4xlIcmTj1oI65WmH3IkxFyDz_N3R86i5e-nwUhKJtwKx6inX9OCje3WDk8hPknz7Vl6gSeA8VzMcYhYA/s1387/Screen%20Shot%202022-11-24%20at%205.43.08%20AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1387" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0iopp1Ah6VNgHmaXxPfazA5Arfkbh1z6NBpmuJsYsGow8ChRJyIlNBVWeqGqIdVGcMj6wmUwPwAEu3F3auPOoPq9BAj5e61GGJHxTD_pbcz4xlIcmTj1oI65WmH3IkxFyDz_N3R86i5e-nwUhKJtwKx6inX9OCje3WDk8hPknz7Vl6gSeA8VzMcYhYA/s320/Screen%20Shot%202022-11-24%20at%205.43.08%20AM.jpeg" width="320"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u style="font-size: 12.8px;">King of the 70's Obscure Cinema Shotgun is Ken Hutchison</u></td></tr></tbody></table>The last few years provided Cult Film Freak new favorite actors including Tom Courtenay, who we've yet to start covering; Dana Andrews, the site's patron saint, is all over the damn place; and for the last decade, STRAW DOGS villain Ken Hutchison — and here it begins...<br> <br> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXC1MXdIcSEP2_H726JRxlcOKbFNWDMOvItRsiDLavBjd4z8oXGBjYK1Q-K7ahSLPcTyJGSY8TgYlKJIyybf2FOzcOEcgdysixl7NScbcBd9agAv6S-nqxfjlLiAJMHfBG9pkhN8qmKFG/s1600/0000+%25282%2529.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="450" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXC1MXdIcSEP2_H726JRxlcOKbFNWDMOvItRsiDLavBjd4z8oXGBjYK1Q-K7ahSLPcTyJGSY8TgYlKJIyybf2FOzcOEcgdysixl7NScbcBd9agAv6S-nqxfjlLiAJMHfBG9pkhN8qmKFG/s400/0000+%25282%2529.jpg" width="186"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ken Hutchison in Sweeney 2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> First off, John Thaw and Dennis Waterman as D.I. Jack Regan and D.S. George Carter are two tough and edgy British cops who look tough and edgy, and are better than ever in their second theatrical venture after the series THE SWEENEY went off the air: First being SWEENEY! sans THE and followed by an exclamation point, and the next, fitfully titled...<br> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <br> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhquWOxyWNFtQmf0bD5lEQkXAAd0vA4qLwRU_9oI3_EMlWFBxME-z5Io5h6UHZJN95K-2f2Pd-yNco0RcmTisu2zTFGRD45NJ3mRLhrfcp-1mENy9ib2nt9lMAfKk1saO0fHV6EHDyeVVT7/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-11-25+at+3.15.37+AM.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="369" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhquWOxyWNFtQmf0bD5lEQkXAAd0vA4qLwRU_9oI3_EMlWFBxME-z5Io5h6UHZJN95K-2f2Pd-yNco0RcmTisu2zTFGRD45NJ3mRLhrfcp-1mENy9ib2nt9lMAfKk1saO0fHV6EHDyeVVT7/s400/Screen+Shot+2017-11-25+at+3.15.37+AM.jpg" width="206"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><u>Ken Hutchison in STRAW DOGS</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <span style="font-size: large;"><u>SWEENEY 2</u></span> centers on a strange group of bank robbers who steal <i>only</i> a particular amount each time, and never has a group of thugs been so cultish and family-oriented...<br> <br> Oddly mundane scenes with the gang sitting at long outdoor table in their poolside home of Malta (each hit pays for exact sections of their expensive compound) gives a parenthetical glimpse into thugs who, once in London, become shotgun-wielding, nylon-masked marauders (known as "blaggers"), and the leader looks natural with that particular weapon in hand as Ken Hutchinson played the meanest of the bullying and untimely deadly STRAW DOGS villains, Norman Scutt, under the tense and ultra-violent direction of Sam Peckinpah...<br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZi25gpAJ-e0NFhhyiuWEONg-KHjgYpUL5xB1KSIUC6tWnZWFSdA5RgW3r1CHPjS-FyL0zAPTh9KoVCOqMACJHYBP1yNYktiUDJ5wFyFbR7pKpeVP5TuLAITzmIGVFpFWZPF7MogLzatK/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-11-14+at+2.19.15+AM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="1051" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZi25gpAJ-e0NFhhyiuWEONg-KHjgYpUL5xB1KSIUC6tWnZWFSdA5RgW3r1CHPjS-FyL0zAPTh9KoVCOqMACJHYBP1yNYktiUDJ5wFyFbR7pKpeVP5TuLAITzmIGVFpFWZPF7MogLzatK/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-11-14+at+2.19.15+AM.jpeg" width="320"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ken Hutchison aims in SWEENEY 2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> In fact, Ken's character, Hill, is the most memorable, and someone to fear, but there are distractions. One scene, playing more for the sort of dark comedy of the series, involves a time bomb in a hotel. Meanwhile, another side-story about Denholm Elliot as Regan's crooked chief under scrutiny is rushed and contrived...<br> <br> Leaving Hutchison's deadly persona to cut through an intentionally sparse Neo Noir story, second only to a literally smashing chase where a yellow car crashes through a store window and goes blasting through the grungy streets of London. Wherein the action and gunfire evenly curbs the pulpy dialogue, especially between our SWEENEY cops John Thaw as Regan and Dennis Waterman as Carter, always on edge and waiting for the next crime as we get two sparse, offbeat tales from either side of the law.<br>

anna nygh, british, colin welland, denholm elliott, dennis waterman, exploitation, john thaw, ken hutchison, seventies, susan valentine, sweeney

KEN HUTCHISON CINEMA PRESENTS 'SWEENEY 2' W/ 'SWEENEY!'

King of the 70's Obscure Cinema Shotgun is Ken Hutchison The last few years provided Cult Film Freak new favorite actors including Tom ...

ANN CURTHOYS & NINA THOMAS IN 'THE SWEENEY: TOMORROW MAN'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGrWvytP5lvt5wlXRRpQ6Kpgt6oOMoI2IMLMLPoolDpY8N6a2HpHw61D0Zyvd62uy9YWuE9B_6uUbdLF5Rldt6BFMc4xIy_NGVt0-EFDLReN313QB7_2Xzq3SU5Ev42u8tvy5DhRKJoQWhJ0AfT7et46FL7nwcIHXRTNOjhCSu4ExztI7V_DdXywYuCQ/s2019/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="2019" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGrWvytP5lvt5wlXRRpQ6Kpgt6oOMoI2IMLMLPoolDpY8N6a2HpHw61D0Zyvd62uy9YWuE9B_6uUbdLF5Rldt6BFMc4xIy_NGVt0-EFDLReN313QB7_2Xzq3SU5Ev42u8tvy5DhRKJoQWhJ0AfT7et46FL7nwcIHXRTNOjhCSu4ExztI7V_DdXywYuCQ/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE SWEENEY: TOMORROW MAN Year: 1976 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Another episode with an obvious inspiration drawn from Peter Falk's COLUMBO... although it has nothing to do with John Thaw as Inspector Regan or Dennis Waterman as the younger Carter badgering a suspect...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Instead the similarity occurs in the cold open when John Hurt as computer expert Tony Gray ignites a deliberately overboard ploy in chewing-out boss George Cole... but that results in revenge and trickery instead of murder...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

ann curthoys, british, british neo noir, con man, cop, dennis waterman, garfield morgan, george cole, john hurt, john thaw, nina thomas, revenge, sweeney

ANN CURTHOYS & NINA THOMAS IN 'THE SWEENEY: TOMORROW MAN'

Title: THE SWEENEY: TOMORROW MAN Year: 1976 Rating: ***1/2 Another episode with an obvious inspiration drawn from Peter Falk's COLUMBO.....

NICOLA PAGETT & BILLY MURRAY ON 'THE SWEEENEY: STOPPO DRIVER'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVOnAob6L1tFMwryf-c3p6hudsdXuonBeTiSpFI0Y-7zskbv1urv4QLOdIUyvjVDZBrCDbNHVsaZUhrtMC22W3n4Y85hyQ01M-Ovj1m4F12rto9yRTSLXPrEPgnaiXq4UfUvqBJCycaSNztcdEej8qaNKcr_sxNp7X9BWz0hpDMGYs5PIeNbUkvxTrWQ/s1988/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1988" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVOnAob6L1tFMwryf-c3p6hudsdXuonBeTiSpFI0Y-7zskbv1urv4QLOdIUyvjVDZBrCDbNHVsaZUhrtMC22W3n4Y85hyQ01M-Ovj1m4F12rto9yRTSLXPrEPgnaiXq4UfUvqBJCycaSNztcdEej8qaNKcr_sxNp7X9BWz0hpDMGYs5PIeNbUkvxTrWQ/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Billy Murray & John Thaw in The Sweeney: STOPPO DRIVER Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Another action-packed opener that winds up in a den of thieves with loads of pulpy dialogue... and a titular STOPPO DRIVER in this first SWEENEY season, played by Billy Murray, drives like... as described by John Thaw's Inspector Regan... Evel Knievel in that rudimentary chase that winds up killing the crime family's own driver, and they want this whipper-snapper wheelman for their own, so far as kidnapping his just-married wife...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But story-wise the DRIVER winds up riding backseat to the likes of gambling-house moll Nicola Pagett, who, along with her crooked brothers and father (including a rowdy card playing Aubrey Morris), could have had a gritty gangster series of their own, which is what made THE SWEENEY often play out like a gritty criminal's anthology series with our mainstay SWEENEY partners Thaw with Dennis Waterman serving as their inevitable foil.</p><p><span></span></p>

action, aubrey morris, british, british neo noir, dennis waterman, gangster, getaway driver, john thaw, nicola pagett, seventies, sweeney

NICOLA PAGETT & BILLY MURRAY ON 'THE SWEEENEY: STOPPO DRIVER'

Billy Murray & John Thaw in The Sweeney: STOPPO DRIVER Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2 Another action-packed opener that winds up in a den of ...

JOHN THAW IN 'THE SWEENEY: THIN ICE' WITH JOHN FLANAGAN

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwlqW0rf-ZucvIJ-RoQOcwpMNnZVCSuixT62px11TaPuT-OcVuvPjK878x9P27DEEawLK9_w7RthWMjGQ31Lv1P7KkIXLtEuvFeQqd9qX246M5Q5g9EBOWrbP_YFuGkkLHOl38mniyFXIVZ3W4K3ZMkDR1j112HOoGcY8oWLghW3BhS1-FQJlA0JYYQ/s2022/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1149" data-original-width="2022" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwlqW0rf-ZucvIJ-RoQOcwpMNnZVCSuixT62px11TaPuT-OcVuvPjK878x9P27DEEawLK9_w7RthWMjGQ31Lv1P7KkIXLtEuvFeQqd9qX246M5Q5g9EBOWrbP_YFuGkkLHOl38mniyFXIVZ3W4K3ZMkDR1j112HOoGcY8oWLghW3BhS1-FQJlA0JYYQ/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Thaw and John Flanagan in THE SWEENEY: THIN ICE Year: 1975 Rating: *** </u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>THE SWEENEY season one's third episode THIN ICE can be called the "dog one" as it centers on a sophisticated criminal who flees to France, leaving his beloved pet behind... to be babysat and then imported to France by Brian Glover, an inept/bungling criminal who Regan and Carter (John Thaw and Dennis Waterman aided by grouchy PC John Flanagan as Matt Matthews) keep their eyes on and eventually sink their interrogating hooks into...</p><p></p><p>Making THIN ICE not only a quirky, semi-comedic episode but is the first of a series broken up into GET CARTER style gritty action/exploitation pieces or offbeat ventures like this one; yet it's also replete with the usual ingredients including a strict, overbearing chief for Regan to rebel against (Peter Jeffrey, who co-starred with John Thaw in the DR. PHIBES sequel) and the usual collection of character-actors also including Brian Wilde as a high-class lawyer and token bimbo-moll Margaret Nolan, waiting poolside with the classy antagonist Alfred Marks. </p><p><span></span></p>

brian glover, brian wilde, british, british neo noir, cop, crime, dennis waterman, john thaw, seventies, sweeney

JOHN THAW IN 'THE SWEENEY: THIN ICE' WITH JOHN FLANAGAN

John Thaw and John Flanagan in THE SWEENEY: THIN ICE Year: 1975 Rating: *** THE SWEENEY season one's third episode THIN ICE can be calle...

CLASSIC CRIME CINEMA AMBIANCE FOR 'THE SWEENEY: NIGHT OUT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAji9LB6UDdhwcBM9kWXW9t9QoriFKIib5BqrqjqdUBML5avw1MPWC9Jbt5WKybUDh-6k2Ft2NglxPFqyaYow-80SJk2kIXCKbNLlbYqLysfE7zMG6ZD57Fk6-lSj2sW7uEiQaii79A1htqezY8mwiOuANqTHPZ9AjpgaWabpE860KNj4uXN-_DDNAbw/s2022/1.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1387" data-original-width="2022" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAji9LB6UDdhwcBM9kWXW9t9QoriFKIib5BqrqjqdUBML5avw1MPWC9Jbt5WKybUDh-6k2Ft2NglxPFqyaYow-80SJk2kIXCKbNLlbYqLysfE7zMG6ZD57Fk6-lSj2sW7uEiQaii79A1htqezY8mwiOuANqTHPZ9AjpgaWabpE860KNj4uXN-_DDNAbw/w400-h275/1.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Sweeney: NIGHT OUT Year: 1975 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of the best episodes of the first SWEENEY season stays mostly indoors, and in one small, shabby apartment room belonging to Mitzi Rogers as Iris Lohttps, Jack Regan's loose and lawdy, heart-of-gold lush ex-girlfriend living upstairs from a seedy bar where she works...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Providing NIGHT OUT a kind of neon-noir aesthetic that makes the tough, world-weary, gritty and experienced dialogue of the former lovers that much more pulpy and inspired...</p><p></p><p>And John Thaw's Regan is there for a reason because, in the style of crime classics like LARCENY INC, a group of robbers plan on breaking through the building into an adjoined bank, so it's a waiting game for the exterior cops led by a shallow, political, unapologetic T.P. McKenna's Det. Supt. Grant, who has authority-hating Regan's number from the start, which leads to a delicious 11th hour CLOCKWORK ORANGE homage, combining this episode's gangster roots with new-wave exploitation and even a Western-style barroom brawl for good measure. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, british, british neo noir, cop, crime, dennis waterman, john thaw, seventies, sweeney, t.p. mckenna, terence plummer

CLASSIC CRIME CINEMA AMBIANCE FOR 'THE SWEENEY: NIGHT OUT'

The Sweeney: NIGHT OUT Year: 1975 Rating: **** One of the best episodes of the first SWEENEY season stays mostly indoors, and in one small, ...

DENNIS WATERMAN GETS ROMANTIC ON 'THE SWEENEY: DRAG ACT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpJwFBnSaUDT5ZUMDBO3Ri3CTDaw9jpu1UVFx2PD5mW6vJ7J7ZIkgXOzH99_c0kSbWkc_4PVoaEprrM1ASIYugDDft9LBIXqdYBHMxa-6CCiXEs2tR7o6GJl0z_bXss_nkBXMYPJrFCyEUCWNF1vA3fYzzRHqz-tVLl4cs_zQf3fc5zkjSPwAaN0DYJA/s1996/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-31%20at%206.55.54%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1219" data-original-width="1996" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpJwFBnSaUDT5ZUMDBO3Ri3CTDaw9jpu1UVFx2PD5mW6vJ7J7ZIkgXOzH99_c0kSbWkc_4PVoaEprrM1ASIYugDDft9LBIXqdYBHMxa-6CCiXEs2tR7o6GJl0z_bXss_nkBXMYPJrFCyEUCWNF1vA3fYzzRHqz-tVLl4cs_zQf3fc5zkjSPwAaN0DYJA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-31%20at%206.55.54%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE SWEENEY: DRAG ACT Year: 1978 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Early on in THE SWEENEY, Dennis Waterman's Sgt. Carter, the young, more vulnerable partner of hot-tempered John Thaw's Inspector Regan, has a wife... who asked for more screen-time and money, and was run over by a car (the episode fitfully titled HIT AND RUN), thereafter making Carter almost as much a womanizer as Regan...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Until the final season's DRAG ACT, Carter's romantic episode paired with pretty Katy Fahy as PC Julie Kingdom (a rookie with an energetic male partner about to get credit for stolen lorries carrying brandy under a miffed Regan's nose)... which includes one of those date montage sequences in a filler episode that, like many, bookends the more intense and violent action upfront and in the finale, and while phoned-in is not altogether awful. </p><p><span></span></p>

british, british neo noir, cop, crime, dennis waterman, heist, john thaw, katy fahy, seventies, sweeney

DENNIS WATERMAN GETS ROMANTIC ON 'THE SWEENEY: DRAG ACT'

Title: THE SWEENEY: DRAG ACT Year: 1978 Rating: *** Early on in THE SWEENEY, Dennis Waterman's Sgt. Carter, the young, more vulnerable p...

JOHN THAW VS TONY SELBY FROM 'THE SWEENEY: QUEEN'S PAWN'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIbGNZwrHJNpJbTkjx4REXcnq2SxWobH-8B519vxQrri6iZZAbRiftGWBtEslcDeOUUvymj1zZity2E5BlYowmh3ZhhzjAEqoXXLSV-bC7Nryo0nHq1DCCbAXrvYrfPOxOlj4T8bFSX6kcGdr7MIxbHpEn_PedSEvu8lGdMkIuSlqUBILboSANursdQ/s2015/2.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="2015" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIbGNZwrHJNpJbTkjx4REXcnq2SxWobH-8B519vxQrri6iZZAbRiftGWBtEslcDeOUUvymj1zZity2E5BlYowmh3ZhhzjAEqoXXLSV-bC7Nryo0nHq1DCCbAXrvYrfPOxOlj4T8bFSX6kcGdr7MIxbHpEn_PedSEvu8lGdMkIuSlqUBILboSANursdQ/s16000/2.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE SWEENEY: QUEEN'S PAWN Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>From HIGH SIERRA before to CARLITO'S WAY after, the device of a famously-guilty convict freed on a technicality is nothing new... and the first half of QUEEN'S PAWN has the unapologetic gall of Tony Selby's Johnny Lyon getting Inspector Regan's goat... a whole mountain of them actually...  </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Surrounded by floozy moll Lynn Dearth, pseudo family man Tony Caunter and eventual weak link married couple Christopher Ellison and Judy Monahan, the episode has John Thaw's Regan and Dennis Waterman as Sgt. Carter putting heat on the Lyon's den of thieves; but the most intimidating is a different kind of crook...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, british, dennis waterman, gangster, john thaw, julian glover, lynn dearth, seventies, sweeney, tony selby

JOHN THAW VS TONY SELBY FROM 'THE SWEENEY: QUEEN'S PAWN'

Title: THE SWEENEY: QUEEN'S PAWN Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2 From HIGH SIERRA before to CARLITO'S WAY after, the device of a famously-...

FINAL SEASON KICKOFF 'THE SWEENEY: MESSENGER OF THE GODS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-yZwVuz_MND3XvaSQmr__-VqhgiqtxMal9dgSaO_KAQiavzDq4Y_EOTkNePuq_pstKx9SjcHGPvPJ6KEGcqMihWLw0AE8964X_LXqj0MP53BAwbJoOssKTKqhBSyGzaDhKUT9dfmMglWSdWwMmGkdOMvVBRVTrMn0VotGvNtpNE5LivAGf_PfHzIW0g/s2002/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-28%20at%208.58.16%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1230" data-original-width="2002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-yZwVuz_MND3XvaSQmr__-VqhgiqtxMal9dgSaO_KAQiavzDq4Y_EOTkNePuq_pstKx9SjcHGPvPJ6KEGcqMihWLw0AE8964X_LXqj0MP53BAwbJoOssKTKqhBSyGzaDhKUT9dfmMglWSdWwMmGkdOMvVBRVTrMn0VotGvNtpNE5LivAGf_PfHzIW0g/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-28%20at%208.58.16%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Thaw and Michael Tarn in The Sweeney: Messenger of the Gods Year: 1978 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Although THE SWEENEY final season's kickoff episode MESSENGER OF THE GODS is basically an outlet for former <i>British Marilyn Monroe </i>blonde-bombshell Diana Dors to guest star in her middle-age overweight boisterous persona, and the central guest star looks like a brat teenager who'd hang out with Leif Garrett in a disco, it's probably the best episode from the final run that had pretty much run its course...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Following two feature films after season/series three, by four THE SWEENEY got noticeably cheaper, taking place mostly indoors compared to the authentic exterior action of the earlier seasons... but despite some overboard comedic aspects, MESSENGER still belonged to the gritty streets, and of John Thaw's Inspector Regan and his young protege Sergeant Carter played by Dennis Waterman, the latter takes the most risks...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, british, crime, dennis waterman, diana dors, john thaw, michael tarn, sweeney

FINAL SEASON KICKOFF 'THE SWEENEY: MESSENGER OF THE GODS'

John Thaw and Michael Tarn in The Sweeney: Messenger of the Gods Year: 1978 Rates: **** Although THE SWEENEY final season's kickoff epis...

COLIN WELLAND & DENNIS WATERMAN MAKE 'THE SWEENEY: FACES'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzKtuwsiSngkA6RWgJR5qmgPSDsla4gRUzHRE0TaAnTNg-W5uJOT9X-0zAtRdQh_dkIpcM_YNU2rvdNS4aM-e5lskJp5IBq4rgz_2hARdRteJ-Q27TbxE4_Dv8NlvymAlbsAJaoZ4qhWCANXwtMa8N99mzW-m9LxLrD_JbNgzgbnEV3fLjhNlZPQkl5A/s1741/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1182" data-original-width="1741" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzKtuwsiSngkA6RWgJR5qmgPSDsla4gRUzHRE0TaAnTNg-W5uJOT9X-0zAtRdQh_dkIpcM_YNU2rvdNS4aM-e5lskJp5IBq4rgz_2hARdRteJ-Q27TbxE4_Dv8NlvymAlbsAJaoZ4qhWCANXwtMa8N99mzW-m9LxLrD_JbNgzgbnEV3fLjhNlZPQkl5A/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dennis Waterman in THE SWEENEY: Faces YEAR: 1975 Rating: ****<br></u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Starting with a bombastic heist sweeping an entire London street, THE SWEENEY season two episode FACES is, like the pilot <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2022/04/ian-hendry-jill-townsend-christen.html">RINGER</a>, another centering on a grungy and eclectic lot of sordid thieves that only <i>seems</i> to have a leader...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Here it's British actor/screenwriter Colin Welland who, despite looking like a chunky chipmunk and having played a passive vicar in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2022/11/peckinpahdogs.html">STRAW DOGS</a>, turns in one of the most formidable and in that, suspenseful performances when he screams, "OKAY SWEENEY!" at the top of his lungs, carrying a knife from his house to the adjoined junkyard headquarters, and giving Dennis Waterman's Carter good reason to run, and climb, quickly...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

barry stanton, british, british neo noir, colin welland, dennis waterman, gangster, garfield morgan, heist, john cording, john thaw, keith buckley, nazi, seventies, sweeney

COLIN WELLAND & DENNIS WATERMAN MAKE 'THE SWEENEY: FACES'

Dennis Waterman in THE SWEENEY: Faces YEAR: 1975 Rating: **** Starting with a bombastic heist sweeping an entire London street, THE SWEENEY ...

GERALDINE JAMES & GEORGE HARRIS STEAL 'THE SWEENEY: PAY OFF'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZQqMk8WIsGFRU2TI231gjCqdC3OPRnWOCfMYEK7As7xwbiqkP7BVIfvapdq294-OvaQM6T4mSsshR5CXdx1nfVl-qKL3mfmHURm_6jlMlD7_BHHarvq5sYk4yDFWPpRvmHCZhvLe4AjEAmPWPuPKUCEiWXSYjtsRUOL-LjMCEPSIEvD7gvg6nST4P2w/s1868/1%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1145" data-original-width="1868" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZQqMk8WIsGFRU2TI231gjCqdC3OPRnWOCfMYEK7As7xwbiqkP7BVIfvapdq294-OvaQM6T4mSsshR5CXdx1nfVl-qKL3mfmHURm_6jlMlD7_BHHarvq5sYk4yDFWPpRvmHCZhvLe4AjEAmPWPuPKUCEiWXSYjtsRUOL-LjMCEPSIEvD7gvg6nST4P2w/s16000/1%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Geraldine James and George Harris in THE SWEENEY: Pay Off Year: 1976 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>THE SWEENEY episode PAY OFF combines two of the British cop show's two most wielded devices: the <i>woman in need</i> and the <i>band of backstabbing thieves</i>, in which this dame is part of, working at the low-rent casino for, and she meets Dennis Waterman's Carter in what seems just another of many one-night-stands when it's anything but...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Instead, classic-beauty Geraldine James is trying to get some inside information about her possibly dead or perhaps just hiding-out-with-the-stolen-cash ex-partner, member of a violent gang of forest-fleeing thieves wearing creepy animal masks during the boisterous cold open/prologue...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

british, british neo noir, david ellison, dennis waterman, gambling, garfield morgan, george harris, geraldine james, heist, john thaw, rural, sweeney

GERALDINE JAMES & GEORGE HARRIS STEAL 'THE SWEENEY: PAY OFF'

Geraldine James and George Harris in THE SWEENEY: Pay Off Year: 1976 Rating: ****1/2 THE SWEENEY episode PAY OFF combines two of the British...

IAN HENDRY AND JILL TOWNSEND CHRISTEN 'THE SWEENEY: RINGER'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-1CZV1mGwCvhBoB5ry44hNrDIqAch88d4PQFa4WWusHoDRf-VMIenYEr6nWjrSrcJPu0UwQxQMBB1DN8VIlIouT0od_ImxIYkEykhZUXOFmHaWaxD3rRTuUfI27Y8fqPDvuSdp0nF299LhMzdTVCzIy3grOQP3k0p9mgb0NLfcGiIW1ekl0ZuBEcfFCW/s2528/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-07%20at%203.05.09%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1526" data-original-width="2528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-1CZV1mGwCvhBoB5ry44hNrDIqAch88d4PQFa4WWusHoDRf-VMIenYEr6nWjrSrcJPu0UwQxQMBB1DN8VIlIouT0od_ImxIYkEykhZUXOFmHaWaxD3rRTuUfI27Y8fqPDvuSdp0nF299LhMzdTVCzIy3grOQP3k0p9mgb0NLfcGiIW1ekl0ZuBEcfFCW/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-07%20at%203.05.09%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: RINGER Season 1 Episode 1 Year: 1974 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The rudimentary episode of THE SWEENEY is one of the best, and like all great superheros are judged by their villains, this sordid lot of edgy crooks are straight out of GET CARTER: Literally in the case of Ian Hendry as Dave Brooker, who gets the first one-liner in the first cold open before the roaring theme song and title cards zoom into motion...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Leading to John Thaw's Regan bedded down with such a comfortably and contented girl-next-door in Jill Townsend, you'd never think he'd become a womanizer thereafter... he even borrows her car...</p><span></span>

alan lake, brian blessed, british, cop, crime, dennis waterman, gangster, heist, ian hendry, jill townsend, john thaw, neo noir, seventies, sweeney

IAN HENDRY AND JILL TOWNSEND CHRISTEN 'THE SWEENEY: RINGER'

Title: RINGER Season 1 Episode 1 Year: 1974 Rating: ****1/2 The rudimentary episode of THE SWEENEY is one of the best, and like all great su...

SHERIDAN FITZGERALD STEALS 'THE SWEENEY: ONE OF YOUR OWN'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIVYfTi5OExIujRXwcUDDPx77GwAeMaLxHc9UzrCW-UVvKIX03N145hPERHltPO4RJpFrEacOhXNW-tZkCAeVsut-GVdUyDQUMMOgvvKyVqVxFSDA5KRGCHqX44P6DTJWq7HsKzuAitFQOI_quQLMhcZ_1ueEbDnJQTS2kS5JBQ7lnhQU43PIJJpJb8Q/s2032/1.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1382" data-original-width="2032" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIVYfTi5OExIujRXwcUDDPx77GwAeMaLxHc9UzrCW-UVvKIX03N145hPERHltPO4RJpFrEacOhXNW-tZkCAeVsut-GVdUyDQUMMOgvvKyVqVxFSDA5KRGCHqX44P6DTJWq7HsKzuAitFQOI_quQLMhcZ_1ueEbDnJQTS2kS5JBQ7lnhQU43PIJJpJb8Q/w400-h272/1.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sheridan Fitzgerald in One Of Your Own 1978 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>THE SWEENEY would sometimes go outside the crowded and bickering New Scotland Yard box as Regan played by John Thaw and Dennis Waterman's Carter would be sent undercover (which is actually unrealistic given how prominent they are to villains); and Season Four's ONE OF OUR OWN has Carter pulling an Edmond O'Brien from WHITE HEAT, impersonating a prisoner to befriend a newly-arrested career criminal in Michael Elphick's Jimmy Fleet... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>There's also a touch of KISS OF DEATH since Carter only spends one night in lockup, resulting mostly in a gangland barroom with dark surrounding alleyways, and, donning glasses and a new haircut, Waterman does all the work while womanizing Regan has all the fun; in particular with gorgeous bartender Sheridan Fitzgerald, originally paired with Carter and who, it turns out in a comedic twist, has the entire Sweeney on her cop-groupie hit list. But given the forty-five minute run-time she only conquers three cops while the gangster throwback story drags with too much dialogue, making the promiscuous peripheral shine more brightly than the gritty (but not gritty enough) mainline. </p><span></span>

action, british, british tv, cop, crime, dennis waterman, gangster, john thaw, michael elphick, neo noir, prison, seventies, sweeney

SHERIDAN FITZGERALD STEALS 'THE SWEENEY: ONE OF YOUR OWN'

Sheridan Fitzgerald in One Of Your Own 1978 Rates: ***1/2 THE SWEENEY would sometimes go outside the crowded and bickering New Scotland Yard...

JOHN THAW COLUMBOS DEL HENNEY ON 'THE SWEENEY: JIGSAW'

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW6uBIsphyzIsTzRRMaWW0K8PGHTIzG3dOFbbsRxIT9LHxIXcM8-5kNKBnTHc72b19OZvM-AX-ELUdbN4ngBJns2LBbImMZbOr_AohlOmNEzvqzKm-glH6pCnwWzQlXDuDeqL_U8Y64QcugliGuWjzPlLqetDiGKk9FnDsodeLVRYxVEMv8EYxt7jbCA/s2024/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-30%20at%2012.53.09%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="2024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW6uBIsphyzIsTzRRMaWW0K8PGHTIzG3dOFbbsRxIT9LHxIXcM8-5kNKBnTHc72b19OZvM-AX-ELUdbN4ngBJns2LBbImMZbOr_AohlOmNEzvqzKm-glH6pCnwWzQlXDuDeqL_U8Y64QcugliGuWjzPlLqetDiGKk9FnDsodeLVRYxVEMv8EYxt7jbCA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-30%20at%2012.53.09%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dennis Waterman and John Thaw on THE SWEENEY: JIGSAW Year: 1974 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The first of many STRAW DOGS alumni (ranging from TP McKenna to Jim Norton to Ken Hutchison) to appear on THE SWEENEY, and Del Henney makes sure he's in the right place at exactly the right time, singing at a club where John Thaw's Inspector Regan's having a drink, and right as a heist is going down, somewhere else, making him the unlikeliest of suspects, on purpose, as JIGSAW is basically Regan as Columbo, sans the compliments... </p><p></p><p></p><p>Sticking close to Henney's charming con artist Eddie Boyse, holed up with single mom Sheila Gish and pretending to be a dependable fatherly type to her young daughter, either Regan basically stalks Henney from place to place, including a parental school day, or he's trying to talk his woman/victim into revealing how the heist went down, making the entire premise a Howdunnit, and a pretty good one. </p><p><span></span></p>

action, british, british tv, cop, crime, del henney, dennis waterman, john thaw, mystery, seventies, sheila gish, sweeney

JOHN THAW COLUMBOS DEL HENNEY ON 'THE SWEENEY: JIGSAW'

Dennis Waterman and John Thaw on THE SWEENEY: JIGSAW Year: 1974 Rating: ***1/2 The first of many STRAW DOGS alumni (ranging from TP McKenna ...

ANNA NYGH LIGHTS UP THE FINAL 'THE SWEENEY: JACK OR KNAVE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia9AqKRh94a7A7EKxjG9todh6KWti_XACUa-N-OiERdP2J0E6lwJumIQDOvqvidDVBwBBNabjvBVgPb8u5A16myjLDu7nEjKkEM48Ld0fqkf4AAu16V5XERGDDQakSUrvRPWChFqiqZZH8AxJC6bK1cKLa5Bixj2XS0hPRLnl0-RY106aNT9TUnDqE5w/s2021/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-31%20at%203.04.33%20PM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1381" data-original-width="2021" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia9AqKRh94a7A7EKxjG9todh6KWti_XACUa-N-OiERdP2J0E6lwJumIQDOvqvidDVBwBBNabjvBVgPb8u5A16myjLDu7nEjKkEM48Ld0fqkf4AAu16V5XERGDDQakSUrvRPWChFqiqZZH8AxJC6bK1cKLa5Bixj2XS0hPRLnl0-RY106aNT9TUnDqE5w/w400-h274/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-31%20at%203.04.33%20PM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Anna Nygh in Jack Or Knave Year: 1978 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The final episode of THE SWEENEY has no finality as the show's never been serialized... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But is another that starts out with a deadly heist, this time of the armored car nature, after which one of the show's most used devices occurs in that John Thaw's rebellious Inspector Jack Regan has to deal with an uptight, by-the-book <i>third partner</i> other than Dennis Waterman's faithful Sergeant Carter, and they butt heads, opinions, motivations and styles along the way...</p><p></p><p>Included within a busy exterior London shopping center-set investigation is punctual chief Garfield Morgan as Haskins and quirky tagalong Richard Griffiths... but perhaps most noticeable to SWEENEY fans is the technically-important culprit from SWEENEY 2, in that Anna Nygh (appearing in both the final movie <i>and</i> episode) turns up, again looking neo gothic punk combined with old-school cigarette-smoking noirish fatale, and, overall, JACK OR KNAVE is not a bad finale but not very great either, finishing with more of a muffled bang yet hardly a whimper. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

anna nygh, british, british tv, cop, dennis waterman, garfield morgan, john thaw, richard griffiths, seventies, sweeney

ANNA NYGH LIGHTS UP THE FINAL 'THE SWEENEY: JACK OR KNAVE'

Anna Nygh in Jack Or Knave Year: 1978 Rating: *** The final episode of THE SWEENEY has no finality as the show's never been serialized.....

DI DREVIS STEALS 'THE SWEENEY: BAIT' WITH GEORGE SEWELL

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jXjWphc5SC6h1l0fop99zqdTxhM6IBM3_h3xu7hb6IJtI9CWWWF7PABwJJ4wnuFRAFYhrRKzO5MySiTxI-i7GehV7OxCi8qK6r3KRaAZjaNvbAbm1LrJIxFbvsVfeNDD6RCOpp5iasLxlZQP3xml5sHZafE4JOAHmhy4qx17SOtcZWjmzVJfF0ZfmQ/s1988/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-31%20at%205.03.14%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1223" data-original-width="1988" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jXjWphc5SC6h1l0fop99zqdTxhM6IBM3_h3xu7hb6IJtI9CWWWF7PABwJJ4wnuFRAFYhrRKzO5MySiTxI-i7GehV7OxCi8qK6r3KRaAZjaNvbAbm1LrJIxFbvsVfeNDD6RCOpp5iasLxlZQP3xml5sHZafE4JOAHmhy4qx17SOtcZWjmzVJfF0ZfmQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-31%20at%205.03.14%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Di Trevis and George Sewell on THE SWEENEY: BAIT Year: 1978 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of the best episodes of the otherwise comparably subpar fourth/final season of THE SWEENEY features crime-genre staple George Sewell in BAIT working with girlfriend/femme fatale Di Trevis... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>A versatile stage actress, she's able to be attractive one minute and a gun-toting hag the next, starting off vulnerable and injured inside an ambulance before frantically turning tables on the cop inside...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXh9Q68XY_enbqtvq56WDhzKillBf5lghg_Ntap2idR0i82qaRVEPSHwF9BhA0ZCw8wdVVoJBxs5eFog1hnq4v6n3SSImbZbjtu_gV7SUf1ZqOw7enQNHGnS7YzAuQTXmjxv4HJcUe2ZKEG_kEsM-Nb7TzIDnw9opxYICVTIgEmFqZgGarZUVcvgnmQ/s2032/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1159" data-original-width="2032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXh9Q68XY_enbqtvq56WDhzKillBf5lghg_Ntap2idR0i82qaRVEPSHwF9BhA0ZCw8wdVVoJBxs5eFog1hnq4v6n3SSImbZbjtu_gV7SUf1ZqOw7enQNHGnS7YzAuQTXmjxv4HJcUe2ZKEG_kEsM-Nb7TzIDnw9opxYICVTIgEmFqZgGarZUVcvgnmQ/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Di Trevis on THE SWEENEY: BAIT</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A hybrid of OF MICE AND MEN with Sewell the stocky tough guy partnered with tall and dopey Edward Peel, fitfully named Lennie, in an inevitable factory's office payroll-robbery much like the film noir THE KILLERS... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Where Di's Lynn Hurst works as a misleadingly awkward, clumsy secretary while the BAIT title refers to her young child, staked-out by SWEENEY leads John Thaw and Dennis Waterman, who (at one point questioning gorgeous toy store salesgirl Judy Buxton), are more like guest stars on their own show. </p><p><span></span></p>

action, british, british tv, dennis waterman, di trevis, edward peel, george sewell, heist, john thaw, judy buxton, neo noir, seventies, sweeney

DI DREVIS STEALS 'THE SWEENEY: BAIT' WITH GEORGE SEWELL

Di Trevis and George Sewell on THE SWEENEY: BAIT Year: 1978 Rating: **** One of the best episodes of the otherwise comparably subpar fourth/...