The Sweeney: Series Four

To coincide with the 50th anniversary of The Sweeney, All Gold Media has released all four series of the classic British cop show. The final instalment is out now. The 14 episodes that conclude the show's run have been lovingly restored and are presented in HD on Bluray.

Like the prior releases of series one to three, the quality of the restoration is superb. Some of the DVD versions were ropy to say the least. Episodes come with the original Thames Television London skyline ident and advertising break inter-titles.

The additional material that came with the first two instalments of The Sweeney was extensive. These two sets used up much of the archival material that still exists in acceptable quality, from 50 years back. The latter two sets are scrapping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to this stuff. The last discs have a couple of short segments from the cloyingly sycophantic This Is Your Life, featuring John Thaw and Dennis Waterman, who played Detective Inspector Jack Regan and Detective Sergeant George Carter, and the trailer for the spin-off movie Sweeney 2. There are five audio commentaries by cast and crew. They largely tread the same ground as those on the previous three sets. They will be of interest to die hard fans of the show. There are also introductions to some of the episodes, mostly by cast members. One universal theme runs through them: how appearing on a show as big as The Sweeney kicked off their fledgling carriers. The one on the episode Hearts and Minds, which featured the comedy duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, is by Gary Morecambe, the son of the late comedian. It explains how the iconic double act got involved with the cop show.

There is a navigation problem with the menu system on all four sets of discs. The introductions and commentaries to the episodes can be easily missed. Access to them can be found from the episode's menu entry only after you have chosen to play it. You can't access them via the extras menu where you would expect to find them.

Excepting this minor issue with the navigation on the discs, The Sweeney: Series Four 50th Anniversary Edition is a well put together package. The fourth series can look dated in some places and by modern standards lacks a little in production values, but it compares very favourably to many of the boilerplate cop shows of today.

Reviewed on: 01 Feb 2026