The Sweeney

Hearts and Minds - S4-E11

Continuity mistake: During the car chase when the camera is inside the Sweeney Granada, a green Fiat can be seen driving in the other direction. The shot immediately changes to outside the car and the Fiat has gone.

On the Run - S3-E13

Continuity mistake: When Cook throws "Uncle" down the stairs and then out the window the actor playing "Uncle" has so obviously been replaced by a stunt double who has more hair of a darker colour than the actor.

Sweet Smell of Succession - S3-E8

Continuity mistake: The first scene when Steven and Arlene are in the office you can see a major road through the windows behind them. When the camera is on them in alternate shots the vehicles seen on the road in the first shots should been seen when the angle changes but are not.

Visiting Fireman - S3-E3

Continuity mistake: In the final scene, when Regan is mixing a drink while on the phone to Carter, he opens the fridge and pulls a green bottle out and puts it on the worktop. The scene cuts back to Carter, but when it cuts back to Regan the bottle has disappeared and Regan is pulling ice cubes out of an ice bucket that wasn't there before. Also another green bottle on the worktop has moved away from the wall.

The Placer - S1-E7

Continuity mistake: When Carter gets a puncture while driving the red van, as he gets out of the van there is a house on the opposite side of the road, but when the angle changes as Carter looks at the punctured wheel, the house is not there.

On the Run - S3-E13

Continuity mistake: Carter arrives at the hotel to tell Regan about Cook escaping. Regan introduces his girlfriend to Carter as Pat Knightly, but later on when Regan phones the hotel to ask to speak to Miss Knightly Carter asks "is that Pat's name, 'Knightly'?"

Jack or Knave - S4-E14

Continuity mistake: In the final scene Regan hails a taxi as it pulls in the taxi is passed by a green Jaguar and a yellow Ford Transit. When the angle changes, these two vehicles should pass by, but they don't. Then when the taxi turns round and drives off, the vehicles in front of it should have been seen in the previous angle but they weren't.

Nightmare - S4-E5

Continuity mistake: In the yard behind the furniture shop when Regan and Carter are nearly crushed by the reversing van they escape by climbing up some old cabinets and then jumping on the van roof. Regan then jumps down on the bonnet before banging on the windscreen and having a go at the driver. Carter has disappeared when he should be visible on the van roof. Then when the Irish man comes out of the shop Carter has reappeared, climbing down from the roof to the bonnet of the van, also the two stunt doubles have darker hair than John Thaw and Dennis Waterman.

Drag Act - S4-E3

Continuity mistake: In the final scene when the squad car passes the zebra crossing Julie is working on, there are no vehicles behind the squad car, but in the next shot of Julie on the crossing a lot of cars have suddenly appeared.

Loving Arms - S3-E11

Continuity mistake: When Regan and Carter search Blakeley's garage the squad car is parked to the left of the garage entrance, after they have returned to the car the shots from inside the car show it is parked across the garage entrance.

Money, Money, Money - S4-E6

Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the car chase a silver Hillman Hunter is parked on the left hand side of the road when the squad car is chasing after Sleeman. It wasn't there a few seconds earlier when the camera was following Sleeman's car.

Faces - S2-E2

Continuity mistake: In the first scene of part three, the outside shots show the squad car driving over a bridge over the river Thames. As soon as the shots are inside the car they are driving past a sports ground.

Faces - S2-E2

Continuity mistake: During the car chase the Jag spins round, the Sweeney's Ford Granada is behind it, then next shot the squad's blue Ford Cortina is behind it. Then at the crossroads the blue Cortina is driving towards the Jag from the other direction.

Cover Story - S1-E8

Continuity mistake: In the final scene when Regan and Carter are being chased by the police car they take a left hand corner past a building with two red doors. There are no cars parked outside, but when the police car passes there is a blue Datsun parked there.

Hearts and Minds - S4-E11

Continuity mistake: When the squad car is on its way to Sussex to investigate the camper van, it is escorted by a police motorcyclist, but when the squad car arrives at the scene the police motorcyclist is already there and standing next to his bike.

Hearts and Minds - S4-E11

Continuity mistake: As soon as the camper van is lifted out of the lake, Carter gets inside it and it is dry, despite the doors being open when it was in the water, and water pouring out of it while the crane was lifting it out of the lake.

Bait - S4-E7

Continuity mistake: When the camera is looking out the window of the flat being used for surveillance, Lennie and Tolman drive past the parked Sweeney silver Ford Granada, a red Peugeot, a blue Peugeot estate, an empty space, then a white Hillman Superminx. The camera then changes to inside the car - Lennie and Tolman pass the Granada and the two Peugeots a second time but there is a brown Ford Cortina parked where the white Hillman Superminx was. Lennie and Tolman drive round the block and drive past a second time, you see the brown Cortina, but when Lennie parks the car in the empty space next to the blue Peugeot estate, the white superminx is back where the brown Ford Cortina was.

Bait - S4-E7

Continuity mistake: When Tolman and Lennie first drive past Joan's flat, the Sweeney's silver Ford Granada is parked right up against the Mini parked behind it. When they drive past a second time there is a gap between the Granada and the Mini.

Nightmare - S4-E5

Continuity mistake: The blue van turns right by a pub with a large car park - when the squad car takes the same turning a few moments later more cars have appeared in the car park.

Drag Act - S4-E3

Continuity mistake: Julie Kingdom and Mike Seton are on the motorbike riding in the country lane. Julie drops the map, they stop further on down the lane, but when Julie gets off the bike to pick the map up, it is in the lane right behind them.

On the Run - S3-E13

Character mistake: When Mrs Haldane is giving her statement to Regan she tells him that Cook was wearing dark glasses when she saw him outside her neighbour's house, but Cook wasn't wearing any glasses.

More mistakes in The Sweeney

Trivia: The blue Ford Cortina squad car seen in series 1 and 2 has the reg number NHK 296M. Sometimes it is fitted with a false number DLO 97M on the front (as has been noted as a mistake). The programme makers had been supplied with two cars from Ford, this Cortina and a Consul GT. The Cortina was fitted with this false plate to make the squad look like it had more cars, and only one number plate (the white front one) was made up to keep costs down, as the Sweeney had a small budget. In the series 3 episode "Pay Off" DLO 97M is on a white Cortina, in series three the same Triumph 2000 is seen with number plates TPA 931N and UUV 931N - again it is the same car with different number plates.

eric 64

More trivia for The Sweeney

Hit and Run - S2-E5

Question: Towards the end of this episode the squad car has to double park so Regan can use a phone box, as Regan gets out of the car a van has to drive round the squad car and the driver sounds the horn, Regan gesticulates and shouts "up yours" at the van driver. I wonder if this was scripted or was a random moment and John Thaw was ad-libbing?

eric 64

Answer: Scripted.

More questions & answers from The Sweeney

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