Historical Context

• The Sweeney introduced a more gritty, realistic representation of the police force informed by cultural influences including press stories and American crime drama imports. It challenged the more reassuring image of the police.
• The Sweeney looked different to previous crime dramas, it was shot on 16mm film to achieve a more washed-out, grainy feel to the images which achieved a more gritty realism
• The Sweeney reflected the time it was made as in the 1970s the actual Flying Squad were in the news after reports of bribery, corruption and consorting with gangland criminals
• The programme was produced before the 1984 Police and Criminal Evidence Act was passed, providing the code of practice for exercising police powers. Before that, there were restrictions on the methods that could be used to secure a conviction. For example, when Regan exhorts information out of Billy through violence