Ian Kennedy Martin, the television writer who created the iconic 1970s police drama The Sweeney, has died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 90. His groundbreaking series, known for its gritty realism, featured action shot on London streets, screeching tyres, punch-ups, and officers as violent as the criminals, with memorable lines such as: “Get yer trousers on – you’re nicked!”
From Regan to The Sweeney
The series began as Regan, a 1974 story in the ITV Armchair Cinema series, starring John Thaw as Detective Inspector Jack Regan and Dennis Waterman as Detective Sergeant George Carter. They were members of the Flying Squad, known in cockney rhyming slang as Sweeney Todd, a Metropolitan police unit tackling armed robbers.
Martin’s elder brother, Troy Kennedy Martin, had created Z Cars a decade earlier, moving TV’s depiction of police beyond the homely image of Dixon of Dock Green. But by the time Ian Kennedy Martin formulated his programme—where knuckles crack and gunshots blast loudly—those portrayals seemed tame. He said Softly Softly: Task Force was “like a soap” and “didn’t reflect what was going on in the police. At that time, drugs were becoming a big issue and armed robbery was the major crime in London. None of this was seen. It was all internecine rows at HQ and people talking about budgets. We needed two cops running on the streets.”
Production Conflicts and Legacy
The Sweeney ran for four series from 1975 to 1978, with two feature-film spin-offs. Complaints about violence, bad language, and rule-bending cops were swatted away, even as the real-life Met faced accusations of brutality and corruption. Martin devised the part of Regan specially for his drinking buddy Thaw, having worked with him on the military police drama Redcap (1964-66). However, Martin quit after the pilot due to creative differences with producer Ted Childs and Euston Films, who wanted location shooting on 16mm film for a gritty look, while Martin envisioned a studio-based programme on videotape with emphasis on dialogue. Childs told the press: “It was all about interpretation of the script, and it eventually came down to, ‘It’s me or him.’” Childs kept his job, and other writers scripted the series.
Juliet Bravo and The Chinese Detective
Martin later created Juliet Bravo (1980-85) for the BBC, set in the fictional Lancashire town of Hartley. It was pioneering in featuring a female officer, Inspector Jean Darblay played by Stephanie Turner, facing male prejudice. The character was based on Superintendent Wynne Darwin, a real-life detective near Manchester. When Turner left, Anna Carteret took over as Inspector Kate Longton.
His third significant police drama, The Chinese Detective (1981-82), starred David Yip as Detective Sergeant Johnny Ho, a maverick British Chinese officer in London’s Docklands, tackling racism within the force.
Also the Origin of The Italian Job
Martin also left a legacy to film by dreaming up the initial idea for The Italian Job (1969), the heist caper starring Michael Caine and Mini Coopers. He scripted a BBC play about a robbery in Regent Street involving a new computerised traffic system, but it was never produced. His brother Troy, aware of such a system in Turin, reworked the story set in Italy.
Early Life and Career
Ian was born in London to Scottish parents of Irish ancestry: Francis Martin, a toolmaker and engineer, and Kathleen (née Flanagan), a teacher who died when he was 11. Both Ian and his brother had the middle name Troy. After leaving Finchley Catholic grammar school in 1954, he began a degree in history and political science at Trinity College, Dublin, but was “kicked out” after immersing himself in theatres and spending time with writers like JP Donleavy and Brendan Behan.
Encouraged by his brother’s success, he scripted two television plays that were not produced. In 1962, he joined the BBC’s writers’ pool, reading scripts and working with producers. He adapted Bridget Boland’s play The Prisoner for a 1963 BBC Sunday-Night Play, then moved to Redcap on ITV before becoming story editor on the rural soap Weavers Green (1966). He contributed episodes to series such as The Troubleshooters (1966-68), Parkin’s Patch (1969-70), Hadleigh (1971), The Onedin Line (1971), and Colditz (1972-73).
Later Work and Personal Life
Among his other creations was King & Castle (1986), a drama with a light side starring Derek Martin as a bent former police officer. He continued as a writer-for-hire, scripting episodes of Bergerac (1989), The Chief (1995), and The Knock (1996-97). A planned remake of The Sweeney in 1998 never materialised. His stage play The Berlin Hanover Express, about Irish diplomats in Berlin during WWII, premiered at Hampstead theatre in 2009. He also wrote more than half a dozen novels.
In 1970, Martin married Barbara Ohrbach, who survives him, along with their daughter Lucy, son Daniel, two grandsons, and his sister Mo.
