The Sweeney - The Complete Third Series

Old Gold Media released the 50th anniversary editions of The Sweeney series one and two earlier this year. They are now releasing the third instalment. The four Blu-ray discs come with the 13 newly restored episodes that made up series three.

The quality of the restoration is still as good as it was for the the first two series. It is more akin to film than what was originally broadcast on TV in 1976. The deep depth of field used in some shots would appear fuzzy on the old CRTs.

The first two instalments of The Sweeney came with a host of special features, audio commentaries and introductions. Those things are a lot thinner on the ground with this package. This is unsurprising; the program is 50 years old and most people who were associated with it have passed on. There is a limited amount of archival material that is in an acceptable condition.

There are two short special features. The first is a short five minute clip from the 1977 Evening Standard British Film Awards in which the spin off film Sweeney! picks up two. Best Newcomer – Actor goes to Dennis Waterman, which was a bit weird - his first film was in 1960. Best Actor goes to John Thaw. Objectively it should have gone to James Mason as Oberst Brandt in Sam Peckinpah's Cross Of Iron. The second is a somewhat self congratulatory segment from ITV's This Is Your Life. it features John Thaw and Dennis Waterman alongside Raymond Francis and Eric Lander who played Tom Lockhart and Harry Baxter in the 1960s ITV cop show No Hiding Place.

There is a problem with the menu system on all three sets of discs. It is easy to miss the introductions and commentaries. They are accessed from the episode's menu entry after you have chosen play. You can't access them via the extras menu where you would expect to find them.

Apart from the slight difficulty with the menu system, the 50th anniversary editions of The Sweeney are very nice packages. Unlike most of its contemporaries, The Sweeney holds up to this day.

Reviewed on: 01 Dec 2025