The Sweeney

The Sweeney (1975)

16 continuity mistakes in season 4 - chronological order

(5 votes)

Hard Men - S4-E2

Continuity mistake: When Freeth and Gibson meet under the canal bridge a barge sails past them in the direction that carter is approaching from, but when the camera is on Carter the barge has disappeared .

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Money, Money, Money - S4-E6

Continuity mistake: During the car chase when the sweeney Ford Granada is chasing Sleman's Renault, in some shots the bonnet on the Granada has been released but at the end of the chase it is closed, which couldn't have been done when the car was being driven.

Money, Money, Money - S4-E6

Continuity mistake: When Fischer and Monk are fighting in the car, they collide with a parked red Austin 1100, pushing it on the pavement, but when they crash into the parked red sunbeam next you can see the red 1100 behind them undamaged and still on the road.

Money, Money, Money - S4-E6

Continuity mistake: After Fischer drives away after hitting the mini he passes Sleman's parked white Renault but when the camera switches to inside the car Fischer passes Sleman's parked car again.

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.

One of Your Own - S4-E10

Continuity mistake: When Tina comes out of the bureau de change and walks towards the car there is no one walking behind her, but as soon as she gets in to the car the shot from inside the car shows two people walking directly behind her.

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.

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.

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.

In from the Cold - S3-E2

Other mistake: During the hold up when Medhurst is sprung from the police van, the breakdown truck used to pull the doors of the van reverses towards the police van twice after releasing the chains off the doors before driving away, and the camera lights are reflected in the side of the white getaway car.

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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