The Sweeney Returns?

[lordtednfs]

Just been searching for info on Imdb for one of the UK's best actors, Ray Winstone, and I find that there is pre-production talks of The Sweeney making a return in 2009. It seems that Ray might be asked to play Jack Regan. The info is very limited and there is no mention of other cast members. Trying to rack my brains as to who could play George Carter, but I have lost touch with whats happening back there in dear old Blighty and who the up and coming best actors are.

Ray is a brilliant actor and could fill John Thaws boots. John was Regan through and through. Can Ray do it? I would love to think so. It's a hard act to follow.

On imdb one guy is thinking of Dennis Waterman to play Regan, no chance mate.

Someone else suggests Regan - Ray Winstone, agree.
Carter - Philip Glenister? Don't know anything about him.
Haskins - Christopher Ellison? He is best known for his role as Detective Chief Inspector Frank Burnside in the The Bill and Burnside. Maybe he could be Regan's dad? Joke! An excellent choice

Let's hope whatever is chosen, it's the best! Long may The Sweeney remain an icon in British television history. Roll on 2009!

___________________
Hooked off the line

[batman]

Sorry, but I think this a terrible idea. The Sweeney is an iconic programme from the 70s and should stay that way. To update it would be to lose everything that made the series so popular, you just couldn't get away with those characters in a 21st century setting. On the other hand if you set it in period you wouldn't be able to put the right language and attitudes of the time on screen. Life on Mars succeeded because Sam Tyler acted as it's 21st century conscience. With regard to casting, John Thaw's performance was a lot more subtle than people often realise. That's one of the things that made Reagan such a great character, the different shadings given to him by Thaw. Ray Winstone, great actor that he is, doesn't do subtle very well. IMHO if this project does see the light of day it will be a disaster.

Bats.

[samkydd]

Originally Posted by batman Sorry, but I think this a terrible idea. Bats.

I don't think it would be a good idea either. Life on Mars was popular mainly because the comedy came from characters living in a pre-PC world where the shackles were off and anything went in respect of attitudes towards race, women etc. The apparent unregulated behaviour of some police squads was widely publicised in the media at the time; beating up suspects, fabricating evidence, and generally being judge, jury and executioner. This basically is what some viewers like to see and is something of a feel good factor. In today's society the perception of the the police is that they are a bit too politically aware and have no teeth, and in the fly-on-the-cell-wall documentaries they appear to treat criminals with far too much respect (Brazilian students being executed on the Underground excepted).

The only way programme makers can do as they please is if they set the story back in time, which grabs the viewers' interest because secretly they hark back to those days where the criminals (and everyone else) were frightened of the police!

[Moor Larkin]

Wasn't the Sweeney something of a fantasy when it was made? The halcyon days of the rubber truncheon wielding Flying Squad were long gone by the time Regan started jumping out of Ford Cortinas..... weren't they?

The 1970s was a dark period for the Flying Squad. An internal police investigation, Operation Countryman, revealed an extensive and tangled web of corruption. Bribery was endemic, especially between officers and Soho pornographers.
BBC NEWS | UK | The Sweeney's proud history

[dylan]

Originally Posted by lordtednfs Just been searching for info on Imdb for one of the UK's best actors, Ray Winstone, and I find that there is pre-production talks of The Sweeney making a return in 2009. It seems that Ray might be asked to play Jack Regan. The info is very limited and there is no mention of other cast members. Trying to rack my brains as to who could play George Carter, but I have lost touch with whats happening back there in dear old Blighty and who the up and coming best actors are. Ray is a brilliant actor and could fill John Thaws boots. John was Regan through and through. Can Ray do it? I would love to think so. It's a hard act to follow. On imdb one guy is thinking of Dennis Waterman to play Regan, no chance mate. Someone else suggests Regan - Ray Winstone, agree. Carter - Philip Glenister? Don't know anything about him. Haskins - Christopher Ellison? He is best known for his role as Detective Chief Inspector Frank Burnside in the The Bill and Burnside. Maybe he could be Regan's dad? Joke! An excellent choice Let's hope whatever is chosen, it's the best! Long may The Sweeney remain an icon in British television history. Roll on 2009! ___________________ Hooked off the line

I think that at 50 Ray Winstone is a little too old to play a serving police officer -John Thaw was 32 when he came to the role.

D.

[dremble wedge]

Can't see Ray Winstone doing much sprinting after villains either!

[harryfielder]

Make a cops and robbers film but don't call it The Sweeney....

Aitch,

[samkydd]

Originally Posted by dylan I think that at 50 Ray Winstone is a little too old to play a serving police officer. D.

Ray Winstone started his TV career back in the late 70s in the Cockney family saga Fox I think, and you mean to tell me that there are no actors out there in the present day that are any good, younger than 50, capable of playing a hard hitting maverick New Scotland Yard DI? Probably not! Unfortunately many in the 30 to 40 age group are former soapsters and so acting is someting alien, too much of a challenge for them!

We have The Sweeney series on DVD, plus the spin-off movies and it would be a shame to cheapen what was regarded then as a ground-breaking police drama just to cash-in on this unhealthy obsession we all seem to have with nostalgia.

Since The Sweeney I can only think of four TV cop series that I've really enjoyed; Inspector Morse, Frost, The Last Detective and New Tricks (I don't think you can count Life on Mars because it was more of a comedy series)!
There have been many more turkeys on the box, some absolutely awful like Waking the Dead, Murphy's Law, Rebus and Thief Takers to name but four.

Some may not agree with my choices but IMHO not too good a track record of TV cop success since The Sweeney finished nearly 30 years ago! Doing a remake will be an absolute disaster and I think something new would be far more appropriate, if they're capable of doing it well! Unfortunately all these docusoaps about the police, plus the crap cop show soap The Bill make very boring viewing, so a new drama would need to be exceptional!

[batman]

Originally Posted by harryfielder Make a cops and robbers film but don't call it The Sweeney.... Aitch,

Good call Aitch. We don't need a ''new'' Sweeney but a new ''cops n robbers'' series would be great. samkydd is also right in that good ''cops n robbers'' series have been few and far between over the past 20yrs or so. The ones sam mentions are very good but the best of the lot IMHO has been Prime Suspect.

Bats.

[Marky B]

Originally Posted by harryfielder Make a cops and robbers film but don't call it The Sweeney.... Aitch,

I agree,Aitch.
Ta Ta
MArky B

[harryfielder]

Why not call it ''The Flying Squad''''

Aitch,

[batman]

Originally Posted by harryfielder Why not call it ''The Flying Squad'''' Aitch,

'Cos potential US buyers would probably think it was about aeroplanes.

Bats.

[DB7]

It's another (terrble) idea from the Nick Love (Football Factory, The Business) stable, so it's safe to assume Danny Dyer (Dire) will be Carter and everybody will talk in an exaggerated Mockney accent.

SO19/CO19 would probably be a more relevant update of The Sweeney? And probably the premise for a good action/detective series.

[HIPPIEDAVE]

As with most remakes, they never work, especially if its an iconic series like The Sweeney. Although by no means typecast,Ray Winstone will always be Will Scarlett to me, as portrayed in Robin of Sherwood. What about James Nesbitt as Regan, or maybe too young.

[dadsarmy]

I wished to hell they would leave classic progs as they are and do not make crap remakes.