Shut It!: The Inside Story of The Sweeney
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Product Description
Product Description
Unlike Dixon of Dock Green, it did not begin with a reassuring uniformed salute. Instead, The Sweeney exploded on to TV screens in 1975 with threats, intimidation and violence. Grainy, adult and ultra-realistic, never before had a British police drama portrayed crime fighting on London’s streets quite so authentically. Cops were as hard, ruthless and darkly glamorous as the villains they nicked, and liked smoking, drinking and bedding women – on and off duty. Then there were the thrilling car chases around grubby streets and derelict docks, where police in souped-up Ford Granadas hurtled after armed robbers in old Jags, and the punch-ups which saw cops and villains battering each other senseless against brick walls and chain-link fences. Focusing on the exploits of the Flying Squad, the Metropolitan Police’s elite CID unit, the series made overnight stars of John Thaw and Dennis Waterman – playing bantering detectives Jack Regan and George Carter – and featured an array of guest stars, from John Hurt, George Cole and Diana Dors to Patrick Mower, Lynda Bellingham and Morecambe & Wise. Shot entirely on location on 16mm film, the show pioneered a new way of making quality TV drama in the UK that soon became the norm. Thirty years after it ended, when Gene Hunt swaggered on to our screens in Life on Mars to give a masterclass in old-school policing at the end of a fist, Britain was still paying homage to The Sweeney, and it was regularly being repeated on cable TV channels. Now, in Shut It!, Pat Gilbert investigates the culture of law and order in the ’70s that inspired and shaped the series, and talks to actors, writers, directors, producers, crew and real-life Flying Squad officers about their experiences working on the show. Here, then, are the behind-the-scenes bust-ups, on-set brawls, mythical drinking sessions and intriguing backroom secrets – the story of how Britain’s greatest ever cop show was made. So, get your trousers on, you’re nicked…
About the Author
Pat Gilbert is a former editor of MOJO, the bestselling and internationally acclaimed music magazine. He has also contributed to Q magazine, the Guardian, The Times and the Sunday Times, and produced radio programmes for the BBC. He has written two books for Aurum: the definitive biography of the Clash, Passion is a Fashion –hailed by Uncut magazine as ‘a great book’- and Shut It! The Inside Story of The Sweeney.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
'The Sweeney' is rightly remembered as THE '70's British cop show. The combination of John Thaw's 'Regan' and Dennis Waterman's 'Carter', scripts by the likes of Roger Marshall, the late Ranald Graham, Trevor Preston and others, direction from the late Douglas Camfield, Jim Goddard, and David Wickes, made it a winner both critically and commercially. To see just how revered it is you only have to look at the B.B.C.'s 'Life On Mars' which was practically a love letter to the Euston Films production.
Pat Gilbert's book is entertaining and thoughtful, drawing on interviews with many of the key personnel connected with the series. I would recommend it, but with reservations. I was a bit disappointed to find the last section devoted to a lengthy episode guide. They are easy enough to find on the internet. I wonder whether any interview material had to be deleted to make room for it. Also, he is a bit hard on 'Special Branch' ( which starred first Derren Nesbitt and then George Sewell ), the Sweeney's precursor. I like both shows for different reasons. As many of the same writers and directors later worked on 'The Sweeney', it seems bizarre to knock it. 'Sweeney 2' was a boring ramble, whereas the first film was exciting ( and had Diane Keen topless ). Gilbert also indulges in an unnecessary spot of '70's bashing, some of his comments about political events in the Britain of that time could have come straight from 'The Daily Mail'. But what really made me laugh was his grousing about the lack of home computers, iPods, multi-channel television and the like. He wonders on earth how people got by without them. I was around then, Pat, and it was a case of 'what you've never had, you don't miss'!
In fairness, the book's good points outweigh the not-so good. He brings us up to date with the rumours concerning a proposed remake with Ray Winstone ( which, thankfully, has so far failed to surface ). 'The Sweeney' was of its time, and cannot be done again. Nor should anyone try.
Despite my reservations, I did enjoy this enormously, and would not hesitate to recommend it to any fan. It will make you want to see the series again, and that is the hallmark of a good T.V. related book. Perhaps Pat can next write the definitive history of 'Life On Mars/Ashes To Ashes'?
Pat Gilbert's book is entertaining and thoughtful, drawing on interviews with many of the key personnel connected with the series. I would recommend it, but with reservations. I was a bit disappointed to find the last section devoted to a lengthy episode guide. They are easy enough to find on the internet. I wonder whether any interview material had to be deleted to make room for it. Also, he is a bit hard on 'Special Branch' ( which starred first Derren Nesbitt and then George Sewell ), the Sweeney's precursor. I like both shows for different reasons. As many of the same writers and directors later worked on 'The Sweeney', it seems bizarre to knock it. 'Sweeney 2' was a boring ramble, whereas the first film was exciting ( and had Diane Keen topless ). Gilbert also indulges in an unnecessary spot of '70's bashing, some of his comments about political events in the Britain of that time could have come straight from 'The Daily Mail'. But what really made me laugh was his grousing about the lack of home computers, iPods, multi-channel television and the like. He wonders on earth how people got by without them. I was around then, Pat, and it was a case of 'what you've never had, you don't miss'!
In fairness, the book's good points outweigh the not-so good. He brings us up to date with the rumours concerning a proposed remake with Ray Winstone ( which, thankfully, has so far failed to surface ). 'The Sweeney' was of its time, and cannot be done again. Nor should anyone try.
Despite my reservations, I did enjoy this enormously, and would not hesitate to recommend it to any fan. It will make you want to see the series again, and that is the hallmark of a good T.V. related book. Perhaps Pat can next write the definitive history of 'Life On Mars/Ashes To Ashes'?
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Despite being a Sweeney addict since childhood, this is the first book I've picked up on the subject. I read it quickly - always a good sign, being hooked in - but had reservations. Gilbert tracks down plenty of the hardcore backroom crew, including the main writers and show supremo, Ted Childs, and moulds his words around theirs... the caveat being that these chaps - and they are all chaps - are getting on a bit. Ranald Graham, Troy Kennedy Martin and Garfield Morgan all sadly passed away during the gestation of the book. Thaw, equally sadly, is no longer with us and we must assume, since his few quotes here are drawn from his biography, that Dennis Waterman did not wish to be interviewed. I was left with a sense of what might have been, wishing Gilbert had embarked on this project a good decade or so ago. Equally, you wonder how much the Sweeney's crew could remember of the mid- to late-Seventies, which might explain the half-arsed episode guide padding out the rear. None of which is to say that this isn't an enjoyable read, and packed with some great facts. I guess I was hoping for more depth on the Regan/Carter Thaw/Waterman interchange, and inside tales from each of the episodes. The author flags up other Sweeney books, which I now feel compelled to buy - cheers, Pat! - and I imagine that in conjunction with those, Shut It! will form a perfect archive, of a series that deserves never to be forgotten.
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
With his pacily-written new book, Pat Gilbert has completely nailed the appeal of the enduring '70s cop show.
The Sweeney was a one-off because its writers, crew and stuntmen, to varying degrees, all had first-hand experience of the London underworld and the forces of law and order operating in the capital.
Gilbert's no-nonsense approach is to show how a group of sometimes wildly mismatched individuals all played a crucial role in shaping this TV classic. Ex-documentary maker Ted Childs (producer), tough Yorkshireman Tom Clegg and posh ex-soldier David Wickes (directors), South London hard man Trevor Preston and anarchic The Italian Job scribe Troy Kennedy Martin (writers) - among others - all had their part to play. Gilbert teases apart their role in The Sweeney's construction with the same streetwise insight he showed in breaking down the mechanics of seminal punk band The Clash in his previous book Passion Is A Fashion.
A word, too, for the book's picture section, which visually sums up The Sweeney's development from the realities of corruption in the Metropolitan Police - disgraced head of the Flying Squad Kenneth Drury is featured - through to its legacy in recent TV shows like the brilliant Life On Mars and the gleefully grumpy New Tricks.
Right tasty, my son.
The Sweeney was a one-off because its writers, crew and stuntmen, to varying degrees, all had first-hand experience of the London underworld and the forces of law and order operating in the capital.
Gilbert's no-nonsense approach is to show how a group of sometimes wildly mismatched individuals all played a crucial role in shaping this TV classic. Ex-documentary maker Ted Childs (producer), tough Yorkshireman Tom Clegg and posh ex-soldier David Wickes (directors), South London hard man Trevor Preston and anarchic The Italian Job scribe Troy Kennedy Martin (writers) - among others - all had their part to play. Gilbert teases apart their role in The Sweeney's construction with the same streetwise insight he showed in breaking down the mechanics of seminal punk band The Clash in his previous book Passion Is A Fashion.
A word, too, for the book's picture section, which visually sums up The Sweeney's development from the realities of corruption in the Metropolitan Police - disgraced head of the Flying Squad Kenneth Drury is featured - through to its legacy in recent TV shows like the brilliant Life On Mars and the gleefully grumpy New Tricks.
Right tasty, my son.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A real fan's book
Bought this for my hunnie who is a fanatical Sweeney fan, has loads of informative stuff inside and some great stroies and pictures. Lists some of the film locations too..... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Karenp
SHUT IT!: THE INSIDE STORY OF THE SWEENEY
quite simply this is a superb book, if you have any interest in the SWEENEY, this is a must have, superbly detailed with the things that realy count, for me anyway, without... Read more
Published 10 months ago by D. Tallon
Must watch the DVDs all over again!
This was the first book I downloaded to my Kindle. And it was a real struggle to put it down once I started to read it. I loved the Sweeney and still watch it. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Madeleine
interesting
if you grew up watching this show, then it was interesting to see where the stories came from and the shoe string budget
Published 15 months ago by thepen002
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