Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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71 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A model for all other books on television series, 3 Sep 2003
For almost two decades I've been waiting for this - a book about the seminal British police/action series The Sweeney (1974-8), competently written and including all relevant information.
Thankfully there's no endless waffling about haircuts, flares, drinks and bloopers, no, the writers have chosen a sane "making of"-approach. The setting up of the series format and the history of the production company are discussed. Introductions to all four seasons, episode synopses and analyses are provided for. Inside information is given by way of quoting hand-picked interviewees (David Wickes, Peter Brayham, Trevor Preston et al), those who really know what was going on at the time because they were behind the camera. Sometimes these accounts are hilarious, more often they are simply enlightening, and for the reader it's like being taken back in a time machine to witness the production of The Sweeney with his/her own eyes. Also featured are biographies of the leads, cast and credit details and a nice introductory chapter on "more policing", an overview of those series which are similar to The Sweeney. A couple of stills and some other pictures are included, which leads me to the only thing I'm missing: If you interview all those behind-the-scenes guys why not have pictures of them??
Nonetheless a terrific, a WONDERFUL book which could have had 1,000 pages without running the risk of being boring for one second. A thoroughly professional job, carried out with a lot of love and care and pretty much impossible to do better!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
`We left it how we found it - a right mess', 11 May 2007
This book is a superb accompaniment to the TV series, and comes highly rated.
It contains a complete background to the 4 Series' that were made, plus the 2 films and includes chapters detailing the following:
Background of the main actors that starred in the series
Influence of the real police on the making of the programme
Complete synopsis on each programme, including, original transmission date, cast list, plot, snippets of dialogue and famous actors/actresses
Also included in the middle of the book are a selection of still photographs, including some of the merchandise that was available, film posters and picture stills from the show.
A really interesting read, and especially good if you are watching an episode and want to glean some information about it, or if you are perhaps drinking in the atmosphere listening to `Shut It! The Music of the Sweeney', which also comes recommended.
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by Brian Hawkins
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DVD ~ John Thaw
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DVD ~ Amanda Redman
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