The Sweeney (2012 film) Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 47% score based on 60 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10. The site's consensus states: "Ray Winstone exudes tough-guy bravado, but this cop thriller otherwise feels thoroughly generic." "The New York Times" wrote, "Marred by an overbearing musical score and an undercooked plot (by the director, Nick Love, and John Hodge), “The Sweeney” nevertheless looks a lot classier than its characters. Simon Dennis’s photography is glossy and crisp, and a lengthy foot chase — making excellent use of the National Gallery — is inventively choreographed." Metacritic reports a 48 out of 100 rating
The Sweeney programme was shot on 16mm film by Thames Television's film division, Euston Films. It was originally broadcast on ITV between 2 January 1975 and 28 December 1978 at 21:00–22:00 on weekdays (usually Mondays), with repeated screenings at the same time until the early 1980s. The series was created by writer Ian Kennedy Martin, brother of the better-known Troy Kennedy Martin, who wrote several episodes and also the second film. It was developed from a one-off TV drama entitled "Regan", a 90-minute made-for-TV movie that Ian Kennedy Martin wrote for Thames Television's "Armchair Cinema" series in 1974. The part of Regan