"John was as he has been throughout his illness - very positive, funny and self-effacing," said Mr Childs, who worked with Thaw for nearly 30 years on Morse, The Sweeney and other programmes.

Sweeney co-stars John Thaw and Dennis Waterman had a real-life street brawl - on Christmas Day. Dame Sheila Hancock, 91, revealed how Thaw - who played DI Jack Regan - and Waterman, who played ...

John Thaw may have played some of the grumpiest ... gruff Inspector Morse but also the ferocious Inspector Regan of The Sweeney, liked nothing more than to give the public impression of being ...