Tom Clegg: Self - Director

Quotes 

• [talking about the contribution of stunt arranger Peter Brayham, who had knowledge of the criminal world, to the opening sequence of "Regan", the pilot of "The Sweeney"] 

  Tom Clegg : Because of Peter's background, he knew a lot about the villains and he knew a lot of characters. He introduced me to quite a lot. I asked him "What would you do, as a villain, if they caught a cop spying on them? How would they have dealt with him?" And he said "They'd have thrown him out the window." So I said "Right, we'll do that."

• [talking about the Red Cow pub, opposite Colet Court, where the cast and crew used to drink after finishing filming for the day] 

  Tom Clegg : It was not a nice pub, but it was home.

  David Wickes : The Red Cow across the street was the local villains' pub. And the local CID used to go and drink there with the villains. And then when they realised that we were across the street, making The Sweeney of all things, the villains used to say "Eh, come over 'ere. Right, that wages van would never, not never, in a million years have gone down that street." And then the police would say "Oh no, C11 wouldn't have allowed that. He'd have had to fill in a form first." and "I tell you how he'd have done it. He wouldn't have answered the phone." And that would go in. And this is how we got a lot of stuff from them.

  Narrator : Whichever side of the law The Sweeney's sources stood, their input meant that the series' realism was second to none.