The Sweeney: Series One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

The Sweeney: Series One Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 12, 2025

"The Sweeney: Series One" (1975) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Old Gold Media. The supplemental features on the release include multiple archival video introductions; multiple archival audio commentaries; restoration program; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

John Thaw’s character is undoubtedly one of the strangest, possibly even the strangest, good characters to emerge on British television. He is a member of The Flying Squad a.k.a. The Sweeney, a branch of London’s Metropolitan Police, and everyone identifies him by his real name, Regan. He handles the toughest, most violent cases, and everyone agrees that if they could be solved, he is the one who can get the job done. However, everyone, including his partner, Carter (Dennis Waterman), thinks that he often evolves into a genuine, completely intolerable nutjob, who is in the wrong line of work, too. For this reason, his boss, Haskins (Garfield Morgan), frequently attempts to secure a ‘promotion’ to get him off The Flying Squad. Because Regan is a hardcore boozer and divorced father of a little girl who rarely sees him, even his ex-wife, who instantly gets a headache whenever they arrange to meet, agrees that he must choose a new profession.

However, the real reason Regan is a strange character is something that is a lot bigger than him. It is the admission that someone like him, a very ordinary, often distractingly imperfect bloke, can represent the law much better than his supposedly superior colleagues. An element of this admission is also an acknowledgement that in an environment where the law is routinely bent and broken, the best bloke to chase and catch the criminal elements that do it must be someone who understands their ways and acts exactly like them while flashing a badge. In other words, Regan’s association with The Flying Squad is just a pretext for a refreshingly honest deconstruction of the imperfect cop that keeps the streets safe, rather than the ideal cop that the public is conditioned to believe is right for the job.

Regan appeared in 1974 with a memorable seventy-seven-minute-long pilot that was later cut down to the standard shorter running time of every episode from Season One of The Sweeney. Each of the thirteen episodes in Season One is approximately fifty minutes long and broken into three parts.

While the tempo remains consistent, the tone and intensity of the drama chronicled in each episode vary quite a bit. For example, in Thin Ice, a goofy gangster, accompanied by his dim-witted mistress, is allowed to escape to Côte d’Azur, where he launches a complex operation to have his favorite dog delivered to him. But when Regan begins tracking his even goofier associate, a lot that can go wrong goes terribly wrong, and a random dog makes the trip to France. However, in The Placer, Regan adopts a new identity, infiltrates a gang of hijackers, and while trying to move up the ladder, he nearly gets killed. In Golden Boy, one of the most entertaining episodes, Regan takes down a gang of very smart thieves as they prepare to leave the country with a massive load of stolen gold. At the airport, Regan also discovers that one of the thieves has hatched a plan to keep all of the gold for himself, too. The biggest fireworks are in Stoppo Driver, where another gang of criminals blackmails a brilliant wheelman working for Regan.

The Sweeney was a huge success, so it is hardly surprising that a few years later David Wickes and Tom Clegg directed Sweeney! and Sweeney 2, respectively. The feature films are even looser and packed with twice as much authentic, high-octane action that nowadays looks incredibly attractive.

*The biggest competitor of The Sweeney was The Professionals. However, there is a crucial difference between these equally great TV shows. In The Sweeney, virtually all bad characters are homegrown and trying to permanently distance themselves from the gutter. In The Professionals, Bodie and Doyle routinely face well-connected chameleons, well-funded psychopaths, and even international players doing jobs on behalf of foreign governments.

The Sweeney: Series One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080/50i transfer, The Sweeney: Series One arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Old Gold Media.

John Thaw's Regan was introduced on Blu-ray with this release from Network in 2011. A year later, the first season of The Sweeney was introduced with this release.

Old Gold Media's five-disc release brings a new presentation of the first season from a new restoration, finalized in 2025. However, the new restoration is based off of work that was completed earlier.

I would describe the overall quality of each episode as very good. However, I have to immediately point out that some episodes reveal fluctuations, affecting delineation, clarity, and depth in unique ways. Also, the entire first episode, not the pilot, has the most dated appearance, revealing inherited softness that is never even partially replicated on the remaining episodes. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections anywhere, but, while very pleasing, grain exposure does not have the consistency that would have been present on a properly restored feature film. I think it is pretty easy to tell that this is an inherited limitation as well. Color reproduction and balance are convincing. However, I think that in various areas small adjustments that strengthen saturation levels are possible. Darker areas look very good. There is no flattening, crushing, or other similar anomalies. Image stability is excellent. The surface of the visuals is very healthy as well. All in all, I think that this release brings a wonderful, very attractive organic presentation of The Sweeney: Series One that makes it incredibly easy to enjoy Regan's antics and adventures. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Sweeney: Series One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: English LPCM Mono 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Each episode features an LPCM 2.0 isolated track as well. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided.

I viewed all episodes with the LPCM 2.0 track. I tested the 5.1 track only during a couple of big action sequences, like the one in Stoppo Driver. The former produces clear, sharp audio with a rather surprisingly good range of nuanced dynamics. If you turn up the volume of your system, you will easily notice that the audio is quite thick, nicely rounded too. I did not encounter any age-related anomalies to repot in our review. The 5.1 track opens up the action sequences quite well. However, it would be unfair to declare that it is superior. I think that ultimately it is just a good option to have, as I cannot see how, or in what way, anyone could be underwhelmed by the quality of the LPCM 2.0 track.

The Sweeney: Series One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

BLU-RAY DISC ONE

• Pilot Alternate Version - presented here is a cut-down version of the original Regan version. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles. (52 min).

• Ian Kennedy Martin Interview - this archival program with the creator of The Sweeney was produced by Network. In English, with optional English subtitles. (13 min).

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Dennis Waterman, producer Ted Childs, and director Tom Clegg.

• Isolated Music Score - presented as LPCM 2.0.

BLU-RAY DISC TWO

• Restoring The Sweeney - a short but very informative program about the restoration of The Sweeney. The first episode, which is the roughest, is addressed. Before-and-after comparisons highlighting improvements and grading choices are included as well. In English, with English subtitles. (5 min).

• Reconstructed Titles From Original Stills - presented with music. (1 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage Thames trailer for "Jackpot". In English, with optional English subtitles. (1 min).

• Commentary One - this audio commentary for "Ringer" was recorded by Dennis Waterman, Garfield Morgan, Trevor Preston, and Chris Burt.

• Commentary Two - this audio commentary for "Jackpot" was recorded by Robert Fairclough and Mike Kenwood.

• Commentary Three - this audio commentary for "Thin Ice" was recorded by Ted Childs, Troy Kennedy-Martin, and Tom Clegg.

• Isolated Music Score - presented as LPCM 2.0.

BLU-RAY DISC THREE

• Introduction One - a short archival introduction for "Queen's Pawn" by Tony Selby. In English, with English subtitles. (4 min).

• Introduction Two - a short archival introduction for "The Placer" by John Forgeham. In English, with English subtitles. (4 min).

• Commentary One - this audio commentary for "Night Out" was recorded by David Wickes and Bill Westely.

• Commentary Two - this audio commentary for "Night Out" was recorded by Ted Chidls and Troy Kennedy-Martin.

• Isolated Music Score - presented as LPCM 2.0.

BLU-RAY DISC FOUR

• Introduction One - a short archival introduction for "Cover Story" by Prunella Gee. In English, with English subtitles. (5 min).

• Introduction Two - a short archival introduction for "Golden Boy" by Dudley Sutton. In English, with English subtitles. (4 min).

• Introduction Three - a short archival introduction for "Stoppo Driver" by Billy Murray. In English, with English subtitles. (4 min).

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary for "Stoppo Driver" was recorded by Dennis Waterman and Garfield Morgan.

• Isolated Music Score - presented as LPCM 2.0.

BLU-RAY DISC FIVE

• Introduction One - a short archival introduction for "Big Spender" by Warren Mitchell. In English, with English subtitles. (3 min).

• Introduction Two - a short archival introduction for "Abduction" by Wanda Ventham. In English, with English subtitles. (6 min).

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary for "Abduction" was recorded by Dennis Waterman, Garfield Morgan, Trevor Preston, and Tom Clegg.

• Isolated Music Score - presented as LPCM 2.0.

ADDITIONAL CONTENT

• Booklet - 12-page illustrated booklet with writings on The Sweeney and technical information about the new 2025 restoration of the show.

The Sweeney: Series One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Sweeney became a huge hit for several different reasons. However, the biggest of these reasons is that before its arrival there had never been anything else like it on British TV. Indeed, The Sweeney went to the streets and embraced realism with pretty much the same enthusiasm The French Connection did a few years earlier. Unsurprisingly, John Thaw's character, detective Regan, is a very close relative of Gene Hackman's Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle. This five-disc box set from Old Gold Media presents a wonderful new restoration of the first season of The Sweeney with plenty of informative archival bonus features. It will have a spot on my Top Ten list at the end of the year. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.