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The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama about two members of the Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad, which specializes in armed robbery and violent crime in London. The name of the show comes from Sweeney Todd, which is Cockney slang for "Flying Squad." Thames Television's film branch, Euston Films, shot the show entirely on 16mm film. It first broadcast on ITV in the 9-10pm weekday slot between 2 January 1975 and 28 December 1978, with repeat showings into the early 1980s. Detective Inspector Jack Regan was played by John Thaw, and Detective Sergeant George Carter was played by Dennis Waterman. Its popularity in the UK prompted two film spin-offs, Sweeney! and Sweeney 2. The show debuted at a difficult time for the real-life Flying Squad. The Flying Squad was publicly chastised in the late 1970s for bribery, police corruption, and extremely tight ties to the criminal underworld. Unlike the fictitious Sweeney, the real-life head of the Flying Squad, Detective Chief Superintendent Kenneth Drury, was found guilty of five counts of corruption and sentenced to eight years in prison on July 7, 1977. Operation Countryman was created to end more corruption. Twelve more cops were found guilty, and many more resigned.