The Sweeney was a British police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, an elite branch of the Metropolitan Police Service specialising in combatting armed robbery and violent crime.

The programme title derives from rhyming slang, in which the expression Sweeney Todd stands for 'Flying Squad'.
The programme was originally aired between 1975 and 1978 and it starred John Thaw as Detective Inspector Jack Regan and Dennis Waterman as Detective Sergeant George Carter.

It proved to be so popular in the UK that it spawned two feature film spin-offs.