TotalTelly.co.uk

Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV

The Definitive Sweeney - Complete TV series 1-4, The Sweeney & The Sweeney 2 (18 Discs)


RRP: £99.99
Our Price: £79.93 (subject to change)

Old but gold.
Review date: 2008-11-25 Rating: 8 out of 10

The best collection of one of the very best television series of the Seventies.
This groundbreaking Police drama was made in an era when professional programme makers were not on their knees to the great god of political correctness, in other words it's got b***s. The acting, scripts and production are all of a very high quality-particularly the first two series. Authenticity takes precedence over preaching; the main characters rulebending and chauvinism nearly always ring true. The unsanitised extreme violence is used to show the good guys taking on the bad guys at their own game (and nearly always winning). It might not have the gloss of a lot of modern drama series but it's got something else; integrity.

Similar Products

Reviews


Retro diamond stuff
Review date: 2008-08-12 Rating: 10 out of 10

Hi All
This is a very good purchase, this is one of those series that you can watch WITHOUT getting a overdose ( sick of watching ), I have had great pleasure in watching 90% of the episodes and what most people leave out is that the two films are brilliant ( I prefer sweeney 2), the only criticism is the Interviews at the star of some episodes realy needed to be at the end of an episode, Lot`s of great past actors that keeps your mind serching, where have I seen Him or her before??, value for money ta under £40.00.
Logan1

worth ten stars
Review date: 2008-05-14 Rating: 10 out of 10

Simpley the best boxset ever .It includes every thing sweeney related Regan and the Sweeney and Sweeney 2 .Cant be topped by any other cop show . I wasnt allowed to watch this as a kid because I had to goto bed when the titles came on so I watched a rerun on sky and absolutly loved it and added it to my wish list .I would recomend this to anyone....

Fantastic!
Review date: 2008-04-16 Rating: 10 out of 10

The Sweeney is simply the greatest television programme ever made, and this is one of those box sets where they seem to have gone out of their way to cram extra goodies in. That adds up to a brilliant package.

Besides the material mentioned elsewhere (all the episodes, the pilot and both feature films) there are whole episodes from other shows, including 'Special Branch' (with Dennis Waterman in the guest role that apparently got him the job as George Carter), and "Thick as Thieves", the sitcom John Thaw starred in (opposite Bob Hoskins) before the Sweeney. There are even PDFs of The Sweeney Annuals.

I'm not completely convinced by the restoration (the colours seem a bit bright - I preferred the dull-as-ditchwater 1970s originals!), but you soon get used to it, and the commentaries, with people like Dennis Waterman and Garfield Morgan, are very entertaining and informative. You get a booklet with brief plot summaries of all the episodes too. A really excellent set.



Never bettered?
Review date: 2008-04-14 Rating: 10 out of 10

This is the box set to buy without doubt as it simply collects everything in one place. The pilot is included and begins possibly the best TV police series ever shown on British TV.

The first three seasons are great with rarely a weak episode amongst them. Two years elapsed before the fourth season and the producers made a series of missteps that makes the final season the weakest. The iconic opening titles were poorly redesigned, the key character of Haskins was marginalised and a series of other superior officers brought in who all lacked the chemistry Haskins shared with Regan and Carter, humour and guest stars were increased (resulting in the nadir of the entire show when Morcambe and Wise made an appearance - a truly, truly terrible episode) and they even messed with the motors! There are some gems in the fourth season and it ends with one of the best episodes of them all - wonderfully ambiguous ending - but it still remains that the show went out with a whimper and not the bang it deserved. Thaw and Waterman apparently felt they'd milked the situation and characters to their end point and were beginning to repeat themselves, so there's no fifth season and I think they were right. What's quite interesting about rewatching the show is how all the cliches about the show that are now quite popular and spoofed - such Thaw's line "Shut It" endlessly being shouted about - aren't actually true. The show took itself quite seriously and the episodes feel a lot rawer and more real than I think people will expect.

This set also includes the two big screen outings - neither are as good as the TV show, but worthwhile curios all the same.

Dennis Waterman would follow the show with Minder, but would never get a role as good as Carter again. John Thaw had his time in the wilderness before returning as Inspector Morse, where he created another iconic TV police man and, to my mind, The Sweeney and Morse remain the best two police shows ever produced on British TV.

So, buy this and enjoy hours of great television. And when you've finished don't be tempted by Life On Mars - The Sweeney, it ain't! And if Nick Love reads this - don't mess with The Sweeney, you muppet!


Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Dennis Waterman
Barry Foster
John Thaw
Colin Welland
Ian Bannen

Creators:
Dennis Waterman (Primary Contributor)
John Thaw (Primary Contributor)

Recording label: Network
Manufacturer: Network
EAN: 5027626274849
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 18
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2007-10-29
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 2923 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)

Add to Cart

© 2006 Darren Hester, DesignsByDarren.com, Some Rights Reserved.
Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional