The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It stars John Thaw as Detective Inspector Jack Regan and Dennis Waterman as his partner, Detective Sergeant George Carter. The programme's title derives from "Sweeney Todd", which is Cockney rhyming slang for "Flying Squad". Its very great popularity in the UK helped bring about the production of two feature film spin-offs, "Sweeney!" and "Sweeney 2".