Ian Kennedy Martin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 May 1936 |
| Occupation | Television scriptwriter and producer |
| Nationality | British |
| Years active | 1964–2012 |
| Notable works | The Sweeney |
| Relatives | Troy Kennedy Martin (brother) |
Ian Kennedy Martin (born 23 May 1936) is a British television scriptwriter who created the action drama series The Sweeney (1975–78).
He began his television career in the 1960s, first as a script editor on the military police drama series Redcap (1964) [1] and then later as a writer on series such as The Troubleshooters (1965). In 1971 he worked on the popular BBC drama series The Onedin Line , which ran for nine years until 1980.
He also wrote the 1974 drama series The Capone Investment . He is best known for creating the popular police action drama series The Sweeney , [2] produced by Euston Films for Thames Television, which ran on the ITV network from 1975 to 1978. It also spawned two feature film spin-offs. He is also known for writing the 1975 action film Mitchell . [3]
Since the end of The Sweeney in 1978, Kennedy Martin has continued to write for various police and detective dramas. These have included the BBC's Juliet Bravo and The Chinese Detective during the 1980s and ITV's The Knock in the 1990s.
Martin has also written a number of novels, including Rekill and the dystopian science fiction novel The Last Crime , this last under the pseudonym John Domatilla. On 9 March 2009, his first play, The Berlin Hanover Express premiered at the Hampstead Theatre in North London.
He is the younger brother of the scriptwriter Troy Kennedy Martin ( Z-Cars , Edge of Darkness ), with whom he worked on Redcap . It was Ian who originally came up with a concept for a robbery film set near a traffic jam that Troy eventually bought the rights for what eventually became The Italian Job (1969).
John Edward Thaw, was an English actor in television, stage and cinema, best known for his starring role in the television series Inspector Morse as Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse and The Sweeney as Detective Inspector Jack Regan.
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It stars John Thaw as Detective Inspector Jack Regan and Dennis Waterman as his partner, Detective Sergeant George Carter. It was produced by the Thames Television subsidiary Euston Films for broadcast on the ITV network in the UK between 2 January 1975 and 28 December 1978.
The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agencies as the protagonists, as contrasted with other genres that focus on non-police investigators such as private investigators.
Kacey Ainsworth is an English actress, known for her roles as Little Mo Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and Cathy Keating in the ITV drama series Grantchester.

Edge of Darkness is a British television drama serial produced by BBC Television in association with Lionheart Television International and originally broadcast in six 50 to 55-minute episodes in late 1985. A mixture of crime drama and political thriller, it revolves around the efforts of widowed policeman Ronald Craven to unravel the truth behind the murder of his daughter Emma. Craven's investigations soon lead him into a murky world of government and corporate cover-ups and nuclear espionage, pitting him against dark forces that threaten the future of life on Earth.
Troy Kennedy Martin was a Scottish-born film and television screenwriter. He created the long-running BBC TV police series Z-Cars (1962–1978), and the award-winning 1985 anti-nuclear drama Edge of Darkness. He also wrote the screenplay for the original version of The Italian Job (1969). His last film was Ferrari (2023), which was posthumously released.
Z-Cars or Z Cars was a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.

Redcap is a British television series produced by ABC Weekend TV and broadcast on the ITV network.
Derek Martin is a retired English actor. Beginning his career as a stuntman, he moved into acting and played many roles on UK television. One of his most widely known roles is Charlie Slater on the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 2000 to 2011, with brief appearances in 2013 and 2016.

Robert Banks Stewart was a Scottish screenwriter, television producer and former journalist. He was sometimes credited as Robert Stewart early in his career. Banks Stewart contributed extensively to drama for the BBC and ITV for several decades, which included creating and producing the series Shoestring (1979) and Bergerac (1981) and producing the first series of Lovejoy (1986). He also produced and co-adapted the early episodes of The Darling Buds of May (1991).
Raymond Stanley Lonnen was an English stage and television actor. His most prominent roles include Willie Caine in the ITV cult classic Cold War-era spy drama series, The Sandbaggers (1978–80), and also as Harry Brown in the television miniseries Harry's Game (1982).

The Chinese Detective is a British television police procedural drama series, first transmitted by the BBC between 1981 and 1982. The series was created by Ian Kennedy Martin, who had previously devised The Sweeney and Juliet Bravo.
Terence John Feely was a British screenwriter, playwright and author. His work spanned five decades and included creating the ITV police drama series The Gentle Touch (1980–84) and its spin-off C.A.T.S. Eyes (1985–87).

Sweeney! is a 1977 British action crime drama film and extension of the ITV television series The Sweeney which aired on ITV from 1975 to 1978. The film did well enough at the box office that a sequel, Sweeney 2, was released in cinemas in 1978.
Sweeney 2 is a 1978 British action crime drama film. It was made as a sequel to the successful 1977 film Sweeney!. Both films are an extension of the popular British ITV television series The Sweeney (1975–78). Some of the action in the film is transferred from the usual London setting to Malta.
This is a list of British television related events from 1975.
James MacTaggart was a Scottish television producer, director and writer. He worked in London from 1961.
The Sweeney is a 2012 British action drama film, inspired by the 1970s The Sweeney, the British television police drama of the same name, but set in contemporary London. Written and directed by Nick Love, from a story by Love and John Hodge, it is based on the characters created by Ian Kennedy Martin. It stars Ray Winstone as Jack Regan, Plan B as George Carter, and Damian Lewis as Frank Haskins, with Allen Leech and Hayley Atwell.

King and Castle is a British television crime drama series, made by Thames Television and screened on ITV, that first broadcast on 20 August 1985. The series stars Derek Martin as Ronald King, a Detective Sergeant with the Metropolitan Police, who is obliged to leave the force when he is investigated by the anti-corruption squad. His first venture outside of the police involves setting up his own Debt Collection Agency, known as 'The Manor', where he partners with mild-mannered martial arts expert David Castle.
Armchair Cinema is a British television drama anthology series of one-off plays that ran on the ITV network between 1974-1975. It was produced by Euston Films in conjunction with Thames Television. The series was a spin-off from the long running anthology series Armchair Theatre. A total of six episodes were produced over the course of one series.