The character of Jupp (Denholm Elliott) was based on disgraced Flying Squad commander Kenneth Drury.
John Thaw once said of this movie for its publicity: "The Sweeney really is your urban western. But the team, the cameramen and the director, are almost semi-documentary in style, and therefore you get much more sense of reality than you would in a studio set-up. And we never work in a studio."
The movie was filmed during November and December 1977.
This movie launched in cinemas in mid 1978 around eighteen months after La brigade volante (1977) debuted.
There was a big buzz excitement for the cast and crew about travelling to an exotic locale like Malta for some of the filming.