Network DVD have followed up their release of the first series with the second with John Thaw in his first starring role. Thaw plays Sgt John Mann of the Royal Military Police's Special Investigation Branch in this groundbreaking, gritty drama which has not been seen since its original transmission on ITV in October 1964. Each episode sees Thaw solve a complex crime committed by the armed forces. His interpretation of Mann's character led him to become synonymous with crime-fighting roles and demonstrate why he went on to play such iconic characters in THE SWEENEY, INSPECTOR MORSE and KAVANAGH QC. As well as powerful storylines, Thaw was supported by an excellent cast including Keith Barron, Windsor Davies, Leonard Rossiter, Colin Blakely, Warren Mitchell, Allan Cuthbertson, and David Burke. Thaw's name will obviously be a draw to collectors and casual buyers alike, but thankfully it is not just the name that will sell this, the series is extremely well done. Early ITV drama is very thin on the ground in the shops and the only other series that I have seen that comes close to this in style is the original Honor Blackman era Avengers. Those who are fans of Thaw and had already bought Networks releases of The Sweeney have had the opportunity to watch the first episode as an extra on the series 3 set.
Where this series differs to others Thaw has been involved is that character is really only seen 'on duty' with no time spent fleshing out the character at all. This can be a bit disconcerting to those who are used to seeing their characters down the pub having a pint and a chat, or at home, and can be slightly 2-dimensional at times, but certainly keeps your mind on the task at hand in each episode, which is to catch the villain, although his methods would certainly be frowned upon in these more enlightened times. There is no doubt that without the top class writing on the series, the whole would have fallen flat, and it is testament to their ability that it didn't become just a formulaic series - each episode is demanding and well-constructed and many different topics are covered over the series.
Series 1: It looks as though the series has been released without any major 'treatment', with only one show actually being restored (and that was originally for the release on the Sweeney set), but it certainly doesn't suffer for this as all the episodes are fresh transfers from film.. Whilst it is certainly nice to have shows that look as fresh as the day they were recorded, these are more than acceptable, but it should be remembered that anything of this vintage (40 years plus) has done well to survive at all, and to have the occasional sound drop-out or picture trouble is par for the course unless huge amounts of cash have been thrown at it.
A pdf of the 1966 Redcap Annual which was published in the previous year by World Distributors (a company that cornered the market for TV Tie in annuals - I have their Danger Man releases on the shelf next to me) is included as an extra on the last disc, but I only stumbled on this as it was not mentioned on the menus and the review discs came bare of packaging. Although it cannot be considered a definite extra, the release would have suffered for the loss of the adcaps. These are the little idents that lead to and from the advert breaks periodically through the show, and were normally stripped from video releases. In this instance, the fading of both sound and vision would have made their removal very clumsy indeed, and I am glad to see shows exactly how they would have been first broadcast. I do wonder if at some stage we will see a selection of contemporary adverts included on discs as extras (is this a possible way of funding restoration?) that play randomly.
Series 2: Originally broadcast in 1966, this set contains all thirteen episodes of the second series, which has not been seen since its original transmission, and follows the investigations carried out by Sgt John Mann in places as far apart as Malaysia, Cyprus, Borneo and Germany. Redcap is from a time when the British army was still very much active throughout the world, and the occasional hostility towards Mann is pitched as such. The second series also includes appearances from some of the biggest names in television, including George Sewell, Edward Fox, Windsor Davis, and Peter Bowles.
All in all, these are superb releases and with a price tag of £39.99 for each series, are well worth a punt.