Palmer
Cameraman
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Post by Palmer on Sept 17, 2021 13:37:18 GMT
I have not got the faintest idea where to start here so I will let you good people consider the options...
What could have become of our favourite characters in our favourite television shows...?!
Over to you...
P.S. I am sure Bodie could have gone on to bigger and better (and more explosive!) things or Carter could have investigated far more 'under the radar' crimes...
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Nightfly
Screenwriter
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Post by Nightfly on Sept 17, 2021 20:36:11 GMT
I have not got the faintest idea where to start here so I will let you good people consider the options... What could have become of our favourite characters in our favourite television shows...?! I'll pitch one. "Public Ear". Bristol private eye Eddie Shoestring moves to Windsor and goes into partnership with Frank Marker. Frank is able to take on more juicy cases and the more business savvy Eddie gets Frank to up the ditch the daily rate of a few guineas plus expenses in favour of higher rates to bring in a comfortable living. But conflict between laid back Frank and the often volatile Eddie soon surfaces. Episode One sees Frank turn his nose up at Eddie's desire to ditch the Cortina estate in favour of a Merc. A hired Dormobile has been good enough for Frank for years afterall. I'm up to write the first few episodes if the Beeb or ITV are reading, subject to approval by the appropriate focus groups of course
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Sept 17, 2021 22:28:54 GMT
What about Oz & Barry from Auf W Pet's World Camper Van tour? On the razzle in the Falklands, the Loire Valley, Bruges, Gozo, Tipton...
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Del Boy
Moderator
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Post by Del Boy on Sept 18, 2021 12:30:36 GMT
I know the writers of The Sweeney felt they had run out of ways to write bank jobs into scripts but I feel there was an evolution happening in series four that could of allowed for a fifth series or a spin off. Alongside the drama of outgoing characters The Sweeney closely work with another department on a job. The new characters and theme introduced there would then dovetail into a new spin off series of said department. Another option for The Sweeney could have been a transition amongst the squad where Jack's situation as seen in Jack Or Knave played out with him eventually leaving after a couple of episodes and either Carter taking over or other characters being brought in. That approach worked quite successfully in Minder I thought and the Ray Daley years were kind of a spin off. Not as good as the original granted but successful in it's own way.
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Sept 20, 2021 17:44:29 GMT
'Tucker's Luck' was a 'Grange Hill' spin off, I think a spin off featuring bully Gripper Stebson would've been more interesting & harder hitting. Mr. Bronson is another.
I was reading about how Doctor Who Tom Baker & Blakes 7 Gareth Thomas were interested in having the two characters meet up. What about Yosser Hughes joining forces with Oz from Auf W Pet?
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Palmer
Cameraman
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Post by Palmer on Sept 21, 2021 10:02:14 GMT
I know the writers of The Sweeney felt they had run out of ways to write bank jobs into scripts but I feel there was an evolution happening in series four that could of allowed for a fifth series or a spin off. Alongside the drama of outgoing characters The Sweeney closely work with another department on a job. The new characters and theme introduced there would then dovetail into a new spin off series of said department. Another option for The Sweeney could have been a transition amongst the squad where Jack's situation as seen in Jack Or Knave played out with him eventually leaving after a couple of episodes and either Carter taking over or other characters being brought in. That approach worked quite successfully in Minder I thought and the Ray Daley years were kind of a spin off. Not as good as the original granted but successful in it's own way. I think that any spin-off of The Sweeney late in its life would've been chewed up by both the press and public alike... They loved Regan & Carter and that's that!! However... I always liked the idea of seeing how different teams worked in The Flying Squad throughout the series. When watching the Series 1 episode 'Golden Boy' it was a really interesting little snippet of dialogue seeing Detective Inspector Terry Potter (of a different Squad team) talking to George painting a much bigger picture of the goings in Squad life. Maybe (just maybe) a different squad team could've been focused on every now and again (maybe 1 or 2 episodes a series) just to expand the world of The Squad and extend the run of the show to a certain degree... What do you folks think?? A good idea or a ruddy disgrace??!!
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Sept 21, 2021 11:30:39 GMT
It was an option that could have breathed new life into things however I do agree that it wouldn't have been as good as the show that spawned it. The Sweeney went out on top of the ratings but for me it ended abruptly and left a huge void. Minder followed and Euston concentrated on that and made a good series out of it. It's success was one of the reasons The Sweeney wasn't resurrected. There is no doubt the public had an appetite for more, ITV repeated it for years after it finished.
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Sept 21, 2021 11:33:38 GMT
'Tucker's Luck' was a 'Grange Hill' spin off, I think a spin off featuring bully Gripper Stebson would've been more interesting & harder hitting. Mr. Bronson is another.
I was reading about how Doctor Who Tom Baker & Blakes 7 Gareth Thomas were interested in having the two characters meet up. What about Yosser Hughes joining forces with Oz from Auf W Pet?
Tuckers Luck was successful and ran to three series. It is surprising that given the amount of popular characters Grange Hill had that there wasn't subsequent spin offs.
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Cartman
Producer
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Post by Cartman on Sept 21, 2021 16:00:25 GMT
It was an option that could have breathed new life into things however I do agree that it wouldn't have been as good as the show that spawned it. The Sweeney went out on top of the ratings but for me it ended abruptly and left a huge void. Minder followed and Euston concentrated on that and made a good series out of it. It's success was one of the reasons The Sweeney wasn't resurrected. There is no doubt the public had an appetite for more, ITV repeated it for years after it finished. The Sweeney went out at exactly the right time. There were signs in series 4 that it was starting to run out of steam a little, although some episodes in it were still top drawer.
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Sept 21, 2021 16:29:47 GMT
Not sure that the other Sweeney characters were strong enough to carry a series without Regan & Carter, I find 'Special Branch' a dull watch for this reason, George Sewell & co. just don't have Thaw & Waterman's charisma.
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