The Sweeney: Series One

The Sweeney is 50 this year. Old Gold Media is releasing an anniversary edition of this seminal police drama. This Blu-ray edition features a newly restored version of this Seventies classic.

Old television programs can look particularly scrappy on modern screens. It's not just the screen resolution, it's that the CRT is a fundamentally different technology from the modern screen. This restored version of The Sweeney holds up really well on modern equipment. This is not always the case. For instance, the updated version of Homicide: Life On The Street doesn't look good, and the conversion from its original 4:3 aspect ratio to widescreen crushes its directors' artistic intent. What has been done with the Sweeney is preservation, not clumsily modernisation. There are of course differences. The approaching Ford Consul GT from the credits, plate number HNK 295M, doesn't get in your face in quite the same way. CRT TVs were convex, not flat, after all.

The box set kicks off with the Armchair Cinema episode Regan. This 120m stand alone film acts as a pilot for the main series. It lacks a few of the cosmetic elements from the series proper, but importantly sets up a stylistic framework for what is to follow. After that there are 13 episodes and extras.

When it comes to special features there is a host of episode introduction and commentaries. The introductions are generally short and either factual or are an interesting, often comic, yarn. There is an interview with Ian Kennedy-Martin who created the series, which is informative, a short piece on the restoration of The Sweeney and another on the title sequence used on the Blu-ray.

Both the box art and the playing discs are in keeping with the aesthetics of the series. Of special note is the aforementioned title sequence used as a backdrop for the disc's title page. It is a recreation of The Sweeney's opening titles. As can be seen in the little documentary piece it was put together from the original stills that were used to make the original black and blue photomontage. It is an impressive detail in the presentation.

There is one problem with the menu system. It is very easy to miss the introduction and commentaries. They are accessed via the episode entry in the menus rather that the extras section. If you hit Play All, like I initially did, you'll skip right past them without even knowing that they are there.

If you want to watch a police procedural that stands out against that slush of American copaganda, Chicago whatever, Criminal Minds/Intent, CSI [insert city name], The Rookie Blue Bloods (three shows, four words), numerous FBIs, then a slab of 1970s nihilism might hit the mark. The Sweeney: Series One (50th Anniversary Edition) gives you that.

Reviewed on: 31 Aug 2025