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British television drama series The Sweeney focuses on two officers of the Flying Squad, the Metropolitan Police's armed robbery and violent crime unit. Its name is derived from Cockney rhyming slang for "Flying Squad," Sweeney Todd. Euston Films, the Thames Television film branch, shot the show exclusively on 16mm film. As of the early 1980s, it was rebroadcast on ITV between January 2 and December 28 in the 9-10pm weekday time period. They were portrayed by Dennis Waterman (Det Sgt. George Carter), who was played by John Thaw (Det Sgt. Jack Regan). Sweeney! and Sweeney 2 inspired two theatrically released feature films in the United Kingdom because of its popularity there. This was the time period when the real-life Flying Squad was at its lowest point. As early as the 1970s, the Flying Squad was exposed for its involvement in corrupt police practices and its overly tight ties to the criminal underworld. On July7,1977, Detective Chief Superintendent Kenneth Drury was sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted of five counts of corruption in the Flying Squad. Corruption was then discovered, and a new internal inquiry, called Operation Countryman, was initiated. Twelve more cops were found guilty, and many more were forced to quit.