cult film freak: JOHN THAW IN 'THE SWEENEY: ABDUCTION" WITH STUART WILSON

Written by James M. Tate / 10/12/2023 / No comments / action , british , cop , dennis waterman , john thaw , kidnapping , seventies , stuart wilson , sweeney

JOHN THAW IN 'THE SWEENEY: ABDUCTION" WITH STUART WILSON

10/12/2023 | No comment

Stuart Wilson and Janet Key in THE SWEENEY: ABDUCTION Year: 1975 Rates: ***1/2

John Thaw's Inspector Regan is the kind of sex symbol that could only derive from the British 1970's... and while resembling the devil-head from the William Shatner roadside-cafe fortune-machine TWILIGHT ZONE, he's never at a loss for sexy birds, who usually simply throw themselves at him...

Yet sometimes settling for somewhat plain ones, that actually fit him aesthetically and realistically over the bombshells... so here's a middle-ground in ABDUCTION as we meet his first wife, having been divorced before the series began, and young daughter, befitting the titular plot-line of kidnapping...

John Thaw and Dennis Waterman in THE SWEENEY: ABDUCTION with Wanda Ventham

Like most episodes, there are enigmatic characters and more upfront blunt types: from a pretty blonde neighbor with a secret to future villainous-actor Stuart Wilson as the monotone doctor who took Regan's place with wife Janet Key...

Then leading to a risque twist ending that befits a series far ahead of its time, and yet, since England's Neo Noir was always ahead of America... going all the way back to the 1950's... maybe it's par for the course...

Stephanie Turner and Dennis Waterman in THE SWEENEY: ABDUCTION

Yet the most intriguing scenes occur with Regan's younger partner Dennis Waterman as Carter, who'd soon enough become a similar kind of womanizer as his gov...

But for the first two seasons he's married to an assertive and progressive but not too pushy Stephanie Turner, who, angry about her husband working on a genuine sick day, gives Regan more hell than anyone so far... male or female... ending the first season with a hybrid of suspense and melodrama.

John Thaw and Dennis Waterman in THE SWEENEY: ABDUCTION

John Thaw and Garfield Morgan in THE SWEENEY: ABDUCTION

Stuart Wilson in THE SWEENEY: ABDUCTION

John Thaw and Dennis Waterman in THE SWEENEY: ABDUCTION

John Thaw in THE SWEENEY: ABDUCTION

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Tags : action , british , cop , dennis waterman , john thaw , kidnapping , seventies , stuart wilson , sweeney

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