Die Füchse

After a hard day at work, I like nothing better than to pour myself a large Scotch, settle down on the sofa, switch on the DVD player and tell the bird to shut it as I watch those diamond geezers from the flying squad getting all tooled up for another blag. This series is without a doubt an absolute classic and if you remember the seventies - this was essential viewing. John Thaw's Regan and Dennis Waterman's Carter were no nonsense coppers who went up against a London full of well dodgy villains. Sawn-off shotguns, pick axe handles, car chases, fights, flared trousers and sideburns galore as our heros battle and bring to justice the various blaggers operating on their manor while at the same time drowning themselves in booze, smoking like chimneys and chatting up the birds. Gloriously politically incorrect this was a series which we will sadly never see the like again. In a word, magnificent!

Don your kipper tie and bell bottoms, chug yer glass of scotch and screech off in yer Mk1 Granada (ok, consul GT) and take a trip back to the '70s. This series was Brilliant.

and the actual catchphrase is "we're the sweeney, son, and we haven't had any dinner." NOT "we haven't had out dinner yet." it's in the episode "ringer" with Ian Hendry and Brian "shouty bloke" Blessed.

John Thaw was born to play this role, I could not fault his performance at all;

I did start to wonder if a remake would be a good idea, but no, they don't make granadas any more. wouldn't be the same with a mondeo.

"Get Your Trousers On-Your Nicked!", was the quote from this highly popular series which ran from the 70's to the early 80's.

The late great John Thaw played Detective Inspector Jack Regan and was joined by Dennis Waterman as Detective Sergeant George Carter, they were both detectives for New Scotland Yard.

Don't look for too much character development in this show. It's all about car chases, fights, gunshots and the like. It was the perfect show for testosterone driven males like myself who were only interested in action. D.I. Regan and D.S. Carter were two tough sons of guns-they engaged in fistfights routinely and couldn't stop drinking. They took absolutely no notice of the rulebook and did whatever they pleased.

The 70's were a great time for action shows and this a fantastic show, well worth a serious look.

On promotional material for 70s US cop series Starsky and Hutch when it was remade, Paul Michael Glaser commented that that series worked because it was first about men, second about cops. The same applies for The Sweeney. Regan and Carter are not perfect, they are not saints, they are not superheroes. They do not solve every crime perfectly. That is why we can relate to them. We watch them and see men like ourselves.

The setting is firmly in the Seventies, with all its period detail. But as with Starsky and Hutch, we see the relationship between men engaged in battle. The dated backdrops fall away and we see the same spirit behind it - an appeal to heroism in an age when this is lacking.

The series is over 30 years old but talks to men today. Therein lies its continued appeal - and success.

I was amazed recently when watching a television programme on a debate about good TV and The Sweeney was completely slated!! The content in those episodes is as fresh today as it were then and the violent feel throughout most instalments has some how become more menacing as time as moved on. You see this series is about real Brut swilling Coppers who new exactly how to wear their bell bottoms. This series was about as good as it gets and I would go as far to say that after this and The Proffesionals latter police style programmes look plain. Dated maybe but like a fine rolls Royce...never out of fashion for those who are lucky enough to see one.