Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the

penny dreadful Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typically referred to ...

serial '' The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century

melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exce ...

and London

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

. A

barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

from

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...

, Todd murders his customers with a

straight razor A straight razor is a razor with a blade that can fold into its handle. They are also called open razors and cut-throat razors. The predecessors of the modern straight razors include bronze razors, with cutting edges and fixed handles, produced b ...

and gives their corpses to

Mrs. Lovett Mrs. Lovett is a fictional character appearing in many adaptations of the story ''Sweeney Todd''. Her first name is most commonly referred to as Nellie, although she has also been referred to as Amelia, Margery, Maggie, Sarah, Shirley, Wilhelmina ...

, his partner in crime, who bakes their flesh into meat pies. The tale has been retold many times since in various media. Claims that Sweeney Todd was a historical person are disputed strongly by scholars,
Full text
although possible legendary prototypes exist.

Plot synopsis

For the original version of the tale, Todd is a barber who kills his victims by pulling a lever as they sit in his barber chair. His victims fall backward through a revolving trap door into the basement of his shop, generally causing them to break their necks or skulls. In case they are alive, Todd goes to the basement and "polishes them off" (slitting their throats with his

). In some adaptations, the murdering process is reversed, with Todd slitting his customers' throats before dispatching them into the basement through the revolving trap door. After Todd has robbed his dead victims of their goods,

, his partner in crime (in some later versions, his friend and/or lover), assists him in disposing of the bodies by baking their flesh into

meat pie A meat pie is a pie with a filling of meat and often with other savory ingredients. They are found in cuisines worldwide. Meat pies are usually baked, fried, or deep fried to brown them and develop the flavour through the Maillard reaction. M ...

s and selling them to the unsuspecting customers of her pie shop. Todd's barber shop is situated at 186

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, next to St. Dunstan's church, and is connected to Mrs. Lovett's pie shop in nearby Bell Yard by means of an underground passage. In most versions of the story, he and Mrs. Lovett hire an unwitting orphan boy, Tobias Ragg, to serve the pies to customers.

Literary history

Sweeney Todd first appeared in a story titled ''The String of Pearls: A Romance''. This

was published in 18 weekly parts, in Edward Lloyd's magazine ''The People's Periodical and Family Library'', issues 7–24, published 21 November 1846 to 20 March 1847. It was probably written by James Malcolm Rymer, though

Thomas Peckett Prest Thomas Peckett (or Preskett) Prest (probable dates 1810–1859) was a British hack writer, journalist, and musician. He was a prolific producer of penny dreadfuls and was known as a skilled author in the horror genre. He is now remembered as the co ...

has also been credited with it; possibly each worked on the serial from part to part. Other attributions include Edward P. Hingston, George Macfarren, and Albert Richard Smith. During February/March 1847, before the serial was even completed,

George Dibdin Pitt George Dibdin Pitt (born George Pitt , 30 March 1795 – 16 February 1855) was an English actor, stage manager and prolific playwright, specializing in melodrama. He was the first playwright to dramatize the fictional character Sweeney Todd, in hi ...

adapted ''The String of Pearls'' as a melodrama for the

Britannia Theatre The Britannia Theatre (1841–1900) was located at 115/117 High Street, Hoxton, London.''Britanni ...

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. It l ...

, east London. It was in this alternative version of the tale, rather than the original, that Todd acquired his catchphrase: "I'll polish him off". Lloyd published another, lengthier, penny part serial during 1847–1848, with 92 episodes. It was then published in book form in 1850 as ''The String of Pearls'', subtitled "The Barber of Fleet Street. A Domestic Romance". This expanded version of the story was 732 pages long. A

plagiarised Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and though ...

version of this book appeared in the United States c. 1852–1853 as ''Sweeney Todd: or the Ruffian Barber. A Tale of Terror of the Seas and the Mysteries of the City'' by "Captain Merry" (a pseudonym used by American author Harry Hazel, 1814–1889). In 1865, the French novelist Paul H.C. Féval (1816–1887), famous as a writer of horror and crime novels and short stories, referred to what he termed "L'Affaire de la Rue des Marmousets" in the introductory chapter to his book ''La Vampire''. In 1875, Frederick Hazleton's c. 1865 dramatic adaptation ''Sweeney Todd, the Barber of Fleet Street: or the String of Pearls'' (see below) was published as volume 102 of ''Lacy's Acting Edition of Plays''. A scholarly, annotated edition of the original 1846–1847 serial was published in volume form in 2007 by the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

with the title of ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'', edited by Robert Mack.

Alleged historical basis

The original story of Sweeney Todd is from an older legend that may contain motifs from even earlier stories. Possibly the oldest reference to the story in its present form is found in the diary of the Swedish traveller Pehr Lindeström. In his diary, dating from the middle of the 17th century, the story is set in Calais, which is also where the author heard the story. The story includes all the details of the legend, except for the name of the character himself. In

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

' ''

Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with '' Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to ...

'' (1836–1837), the servant Sam Weller says that a pieman used cats "for beefsteak, veal, and kidney, 'cording to the demand", and recommends that people should buy pies only "when you know the lady as made it, and is quite sure it ain't kitten." Dickens then developed this in ''

Martin Chuzzlewit ''The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit'' (commonly known as ''Martin Chuzzlewit'') is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between 1842 and 1844. While he was writing it ...

'' (1843–1844), published two years before the appearance of Sweeney Todd in ''The String of Pearls'' (1846–1847), with a character named Tom Pinch who is grateful that his own "evil genius did not lead him into the dens of any of those preparers of cannibalic pastry, who are represented in many country legends as doing a lively retail business in the metropolis". Claims that Sweeney Todd was a real person were first made in the introduction to the 1850 (expanded) edition of ''The String of Pearls'' and have persisted to the present. In two books, Peter Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a historical person who committed his crimes around 1800. Nevertheless, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations do not find anything in these sources to verify Haining's claims.

In literature

A late (1890s) reference to the legend of the murderous barber can be found in the poem by the Australian

bush poet The bush ballad, bush song or bush poem is a style of poetry and folk music that depicts the life, character and scenery of the Australian bush. The typical bush ballad employs a straightforward rhyme structure to narrate a story, often one of a ...

Banjo Paterson Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the ...

, "

The Man from Ironbark "The Man From Ironbark" is a poem by Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson (Andrew Barton Paterson). It is written in the iambic heptameter. It was first published in '' The Bulletin'' on 17 December 1892. The poem relates the experiences of a ma ...

". In his 2012 novel'' Dodger'',

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his '' Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first no ...

portrays Sweeney Todd as a tragic character, having lost his mind after being exposed to the horrors of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

as a

barber surgeon The barber surgeon, one of the most common European medical practitioners of the Middle Ages, was generally charged with caring for soldiers during and after battle. In this era, surgery was seldom conducted by physicians, but instead by barbe ...

In performing arts

In stage productions

* ''The String of Pearls'' (1847), a melodrama by

that opened at Hoxton's Britannia Theatre and billed as "founded on fact". It was something of a success, and the story spread by word of mouth and acquired legendary characteristics. Various versions of the tale were staples of the British theatre for the rest of the century. The play was produced on Broadway during 1924 at the

Frazee Theatre The Anco Cinema was a former Broadway theatre turned cinema at 254 West 42nd Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It opened in 1904 and was originally named the Lew Fields Theatre. It continued to operate as a playhou ...

, featuring Robert Vivian as Sweeney Todd and Rafaela Ottiano as Mrs. Lovett. * ''Sweeney Todd, the Barber of Fleet Street: or the String of Pearls'' (c. 1865), a dramatic adaption written by Frederick Hazleton which premiered at the Old Bower Saloon, Stangate Street,

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area e ...

. * ''Sweeney Todd'' (1962), a four-act melodrama adapted from ''The String of Pearls'' by Brian J Burton who also composed new songs and lyrics. It was first performed at the Crescent Theatre, Birmingham. Sweeney Todd Monterey

* ''Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (1973), a play by the British playwright Christopher Bond. This version of the story was the first to give Todd a slightly more sympathetic motive: he is Benjamin Barker, a barber convicted wrongfully who after 15 years in an Australian

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

escapes and returns to London using the new name Sweeney Todd, only to find that Judge Turpin, who is responsible for his conviction, has raped his young wife and adopted his daughter. He at first plans to kill Turpin, but when his prey escapes, he swears vengeance on humanity in general and begins to slash his customers' throats. He goes into business with

, his former landlady, who bakes his victims' flesh into pies. At the end of the play, he finally gets his revenge by killing Turpin, but then unknowingly kills his own wife, who Mrs. Lovett had misled him into believing had died. After learning the truth, he kills Mrs. Lovett, but is in turn killed by Mrs. Lovett's assistant and surrogate son Tobias Ragg, who slits Todd's throat with his own razor. * '' Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. A Musical Thriller'' (1979), is a musical adaptation of Bond's play by

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

and

Hugh Wheeler Hugh Callingham Wheeler (19 March 1912 – 26 July 1987) was a British novelist, screenwriter, librettist, poet and translator. He resided in the United States from 1934 until his death and became a naturalized citizen in 1942. He had attended L ...

. The show began on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in 1979 and in London's West End in 1980. The show won multiple awards including the

Tony Award for Best Musical The Tony Award for Best Musical is given annually to the best new Broadway musical, as determined by Tony Award voters. The award is one of the ceremony's longest-standing awards, having been presented each year since 1949. The award goes to the ...

and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical. There have since been several revivals in the West End, on Broadway and elsewhere. * ''TODD'' (2012), a rock musical by the Russian

horror punk Horror punk is a music genre that mixes punk rock and 1950s-influenced doo-wop and rockabilly sounds with morbid and violent imagery and lyrics which are often influenced by horror films and science fiction B-movies. The genre was pioneered b ...

band

Korol i Shut Korol i Shut (russian: Король и Шут, lit=King and Jester) were a Russian horror punk band from Saint Petersburg that took inspiration and costumes from tales and fables. In Russia, the band has achieved cult status. History The band ...

Dance

* '' Sweeney Todd'' (1959), a ballet version performed by the Royal Ballet with music by Malcolm Arnold and choreography by

John Cranko John Cyril Cranko (15 August 1927 – 26 June 1973) was a South African ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet. Life and career Early life Cranko was born in Rustenburg in the former province of Transv ...

Movies

* ''Sweeney Todd'' (1926), the first movie version of the story, a 15-minute British silent movie featuring G.A. Baughan in the title role, directed by George Dewhurst. The movie is now

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography * Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland *Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

. * '' Sweeney Todd'' (1928), a British silent movie featuring

Moore Marriott George Thomas Moore Marriott (14 September 1885 – 11 December 1949) was an English character actor best remembered for the series of films he made with Will Hay. His first appearance with Hay was in the film '' Dandy Dick'' (1935), but he wa ...

as Sweeney Todd and Iris Darbyshire as Amelia Lovett. This is the earliest surviving movie adaptation. * '' Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (1936), a movie version of the 19th-century melodrama featuring

Tod Slaughter Norman Carter Slaughter (19 March 1885 – 19 February 1956), also known as Tod Slaughter, was an English actor, best known for playing over-the-top maniacs in macabre film adaptations of Victorian melodramas. Early life Slaughter was born ...

as Sweeney Todd and Stella Rho as Mrs. "Lovatt". * ''

Bloodthirsty Butchers Bloodthirsty Butchers was a long-running indie rock and punk rock band from Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Although little-known in the West, they have contributed to two compilations on the Olympia, Washington based Yoyo label. The band has also ...

'' (1970), a horror movie with John Miranda as Sweeney Todd and Jane Helay as Maggie Lovett, directed by Andy Milligan. * In '' Jersey Girl'' (2004), Ollie Trinke (

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS education ...

), as Sweeney Todd, and his daughter Gertie ( Raquel Castro), as Mrs. Lovett, sing "God, That's Good!!" from the Sondheim version for her school play, accompanied by Ollie's love interest Maya ( Liv Tyler) as Tobias. * '' Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (2007), a movie directed by

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as '' Beetlejuice'' (1988), '' Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), '' The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993 ...

, adapted from Sondheim's musical. It features

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Awa ...

as Sweeney Todd, Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett,

Alan Rickman Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his deep, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and became a member of the Royal Shakesp ...

as Judge Turpin,

Jamie Campbell Bower James Metcalfe Campbell Bower (born 22 November 1988) is an English actor and singer. He made his feature film debut in 2007 with a supporting role in '' Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street''. He went on to feature in '' The Twiligh ...

as Anthony, and Ed Sanders as Toby. The movie received two

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

s – one for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical (Johnny Depp), and one for Best Picture, Comedy or Musical. The movie was also nominated for three

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

s, winning for Art Direction.

Music

* "Sweeney Todd, The Barber", a song which assumes its audience knows the stage version and claims that such a character existed in real life. Stanley Holloway, who recorded it in 1956, attributed it to

R. P. Weston Robert Patrick Weston ( Harris; 7 March 1878 – 6 November 1936) was an English songwriter. He was responsible for many successful songs and comic monologues between the 1900s and 1930s, mostly written in collaboration with other writers, notab ...

, a songwriter active from 1906 to 1934. * "Sweeney Todd" by

Brotha Lynch Hung Kevin Danell Mann (born January 10, 1970), better known by his stage name Brotha Lynch Hung, is an American rapper, songwriter and record producer from Sacramento, California who has been described as "the creator of horrorcore rap." He is al ...

, a song about a modern-day murderer who takes the character's name and

modus operandi A ''modus operandi'' (often shortened to M.O.) is someone's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also more generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode (or manner) of o ...

. * ''TODD. Act 1. Feast of Blood'' (TODD. Акт 1. Праздник крови 2011) and ''TODD. Act 2. At the Edge'' (TODD. Акт 2. На краю 2012), two albums by Korol' i Shut, a horror punk band from

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. * "Demon Sweeney Todd," a song by British heavy metal band

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

on their 2009 studio album '' Into the Labyrinth''. * "Floyd The Barber," a song by

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of ...

band

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colomb ...

on their 1989 album ''

Bleach Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...

'', features a scenario in which

Floyd Lawson Floyd Lawson (Floyd the Barber) is a fictional character on the American sitcom ''The Andy Griffith Show.'' Floyd was primarily portrayed by actor Howard McNear. Character overview Floyd the Barber was the slow-paced, somewhat absent-minded bar ...

, the barber from ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American sitcom, situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in colo ...

'', becomes a murderer stylized after Sweeney Todd. * Sweeney Todd was a Canadian rock music band of the late 1970s featuring Nick Gilder, and later

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

on lead vocals.

Radio and audio plays

* In 1932,

recorded on Regal Zonophone Records an abridged version of the Sweeney Todd story based on his famous stage performance; this version was re-released during 2013 digitally along with a similarly abridged recorded version for Regal Zonophone of his stage performance in '' Maria Marten, or The Murder in the Red Barn''. * "The Strange Case of the Demon Barber" (January 8, 1946), an adaptation of the Sweeney Todd story featured in an episode of the radio drama ''

The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ''The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' is a radio drama series which aired in the USA from 1939 to 1950, it ran for 374 episodes, with many of the later episodes considered lost media. The series was based on the Sherlock Holmes stories by Ar ...

''. In this interpretation, an actor playing the character on stage begins to believe he is committing similar murders while sleepwalking, while

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

and Dr. Watson uncover evidence that may prove his sanity. * In 1947, the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governmen ...

's '' CBC Stage Series'' broadcast a radio adaptation by

Ronald Hambleton Ronald Hambleton (June 9, 1917 – April 10, 2015) was an English-born Canadian broadcaster and music critic. Biography Hambleton was born on June 9, 1917, in Preston, Lancashire, England. He came to Vancouver at 7. He left school in his mid-tee ...

of the George Dibdin Pitt play featuring Mavor Moore as Todd,

Jane Mallett Jane Mallett (April 17, 1899 – April 14, 1984) was a Canadian actress. She was born as Jean Dawson Keenleyside in London, Ontario, Canada. Career Her films included ''Love at First Sight'' with Dan Aykroyd, ''The Sweet and the Bitter'', ''Th ...

as Mrs. Lovett,

John Drainie John Robert Roy Drainie (April 1, 1916 – October 30, 1966) was a Canadian actor and television presenter, who was called "the greatest radio actor in the world" by Orson Welles. Drainie was most famous in Canada for two long-running roles: the ...

as Tobias,

Lloyd Bochner Lloyd Wolfe Bochner (July 29, 1924 – October 29, 2005) was a Canadian actor. He appeared in many Canadian and Hollywood productions between the 1950s and 1990s, including the films ''Point Blank'' (1967), '' The Detective'' (1968), '' The ...

as Mark Ingestrie,

Bernard Braden Bernard Chastey Braden (16 May 1916 – 2 February 1993) was a Canadian-born British actor and comedian, who is best known for his appearances in UK television and radio shows. Life Braden was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and educate ...

as Jarvis Williams, Lister Sinclair as The Guide and Arden Kaye as Johanna Oakley. The production was directed by Andrew Allan, with original music composed by

Lucio Agostini Lucio Agostini (Fano, Italy, 30 December 1913 – Toronto, 15 February 1996) was an Italian-born composer, arranger, and conductor who established his career in Canada. Life At age three, Agostini moved with his family to Montreal, Quebec, Ca ...

. * In 1994, the 1993 National Theatre production was adapted and recorded for radio and broadcast on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

with

Denis Quilley Denis Clifford Quilley, OBE (26 December 1927 – 5 October 2003) was an English actor and singer. From a family with no theatrical connections, Quilley was determined from an early age to become an actor. He was taken on by the Birmingham Re ...

as Todd and Julia McKenzie as Mrs. Lovett. * The second episode of the BBC Radio comedy series ''1835'', entitled "Haircut, Sir?" (broadcast in 2004) portrayed aristocrat Viscount Belport and his servant Ned ( Jason Done) joining Sir Robert Peel's police force and encountering demon barber Sweeney Todd on their first case. * ''Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls: An Audio Melodrama in Three Despicable Acts'' (2007), an audio play by Yuri Rasovsky, won three 2008

Audie Award The Audie Awards (, rhymes with "gaudy"; abbreviated from ''audiobook''), or simply the Audies, are awards for achievement in spoken word, particularly audiobook narration and audiodrama performance, published in the United States of America. They ...

s for best audio drama, best original work, and achievement in production. * In March 2021,

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

broadcast ''Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls'', a two-part adaptation by Archie Scottney of the Prest novel/serial, directed by Rosalind Ayres and with Martin Jarvis as Sweeney Todd,

Joanne Whalley Joanne Whalley (born 25 August 1961) is an English actress who began her career in 1974. She has appeared primarily on television, but also in nearly 30 feature films, including '' Dance with a Stranger'' (1985), ''Willow'' (1988), ''Scandal'' ( ...

as Mrs. Lovett, Rufus Sewell as Colonel Jeffries,

Moira Quirk Moira Shannon Quirk (born October 30, 1968 in Rutland, England) is an English actress and comedian. As an audiobook narrator, she has won four Audie Awards. Personal life and education Quirk was born on October 30, 1968 in Rutland, England ...

as Joanna and Ian Ogilvy as Major Bounce.

Television

* "Sweeney Todd" (1970), an episode of the ITV series '' Mystery and Imagination'' featuring

Freddie Jones Frederick Charles Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (12 September 1927 – 9 July 2019) was an English actor who had an extensive career in television, theatre and cinema productions for a ...

as Sweeney Todd and

Heather Canning Heather Joan Canning (5 January 1933 – 30 May 1996) was an English actress, who is best known for her television roles. She played Isabel Rockmetteller in "The Full House", the second episode of the third series of the 1990s British come ...

as Nellie Lovett. In this adaptation, written by Vincent Tilsey and directed by Reginald Collin, the title character is portrayed as insane rather than evil. Lewis Fiander played Mark Ingesterie with

Mel Martin Mel Martin (born March 1947) is an English actress. Early life Her father was the artist Frank Vernon Martin, who died in 2005. Career Her breakthrough role was as the star of LWT's ''Love For Lydia'' (1977), adapted from the novel by H E B ...

as the heroine Charlotte and Len Jones as Tobias. * ''Sweeney Todd'' (1973), an hour-long TV production by the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...

series ''The Purple Playhouse'' with Barry Morse as Todd. This was again Pitt's version of the play. * ''Teeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Quarter Street'' was a musical comedy skit performed on ''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, ser ...

'' with

Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promine ...

as the pint-sized half-brother of Sweeney Todd and

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and '' Open All Hours''. ...

as Mrs. Lovett. They revive the arrangement that Lovett had with Todd, and nearly get away with it until some clumsiness on Teeny's part reveals to a room full of police the chute down to the kitchen. * '' The Tale of Sweeney Todd'' (1998), directed by

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger (; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Midnight Cowboy'', and was nominated for the same award for two other films ('' Darling'' an ...

, a made-for-television version first broadcast by the Showtime network, featuring

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and tw ...

as Sweeney Todd,

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...

as Mrs. Lovett, and

Campbell Scott Campbell Scott (born July 19, 1961) is an American actor, producer and director. His roles include Steve Dunne in '' Singles'', Mark Usher in '' House of Cards'', Joseph Tobin in ''Damages'', and Richard Parker in '' The Amazing Spider-Man'' an ...

as Ben Carlyle, a police inspector; commissioned by

British Sky Broadcasting Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

for which

received a

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to me ...

Best Actor nomination for his portrayal of the title role. * ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert'' (2001), a filmed concert version of Sondheim's musical, featuring George Hearn as Sweeney Todd/Benjamin Barker,

Patti LuPone Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theater. She has won three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, two Grammy Awards, and was a 2006 inductee to the American Theater Hall of F ...

as Mrs. Lovett, Timothy Nolen as Judge Turpin, and

Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received multiple accolades throughout ...

as Tobias. A new version of this production was broadcast in September 2014, this time with

Bryn Terfel Sir Bryn Terfel Jones, (; born 9 November 1965) (known professionally as Bryn Terfel) is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly '' Figaro'', '' Leporello'' and '' ...

as Todd,

Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...

as Mrs. Lovett, and

Philip Quast Philip Mark Quast (born 30 July 1957) is an Australian actor and singer. He has won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical three times, making him the first actor to have three wins in that category. He is perhaps best known f ...

as Judge Turpin. * ''Sweeney Todd'' (2006), a BBC television drama version with a screenplay written by Joshua St Johnston and featuring

Ray Winstone Raymond Andrew Winstone (; born 19 February 1957) is an English television, stage and film actor with a career spanning five decades. Having worked with many prominent directors, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Winstone is perha ...

in the title role and

Essie Davis Esther Davis (born 19 January 1970) is an Australian actress and singer, best known for her roles as Phryne Fisher in ''Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'' and its film adaptation, '' Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears'', and as Amelia Vanek in '' T ...

as Mrs. Lovett. In this version, Todd's murderous ways are the result of physical (possibly sexual) cruelty and assault while imprisoned as a child in Newgate Gaol for a crime committed by his father who had escaped; at the movie's conclusion, while in a cell in Newgate and shaving himself on the morning of his execution, he deliberately slashes his own throat rather than be hanged. * "Oh My, Meat Pie" (2008), an episode of the

Cooking Channel Cooking Channel is an American basic cable channel owned by Food Network, a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (69%) and Nexstar Media Group (31%). The channel is a spin-off of Food Network, broadcasting ...

series '' Good Eats'', which inserts the inventor of shepherd's pie into the world of ''Sweeney Todd'' in a historical recounting of the original recipe of the dish. * "

Andy's Play "Andy's Play" is the third episode of the seventh season of the American comedy television series ''The Office'', and the show's 129th episode overall. Written by Charlie Grandy and directed by John Stuart Scott, the episode aired on NBC in the ...

" (2010), the 129th episode of ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original ser ...

'' series, with Andy Bernard (

Ed Helms Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's '' The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sitcom '' The Off ...

) singing and acting in a production of ''Sweeney Todd''. It was broadcast originally by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

on October 7, 2010.

In comics

* The character of Sweeney Todd is presented as a villain in

Marc Andreyko Marc Andreyko (born 20 June 1970) is a comic book writer and screenwriter, best known for the true crime series '' Torso'' he co-wrote with Brian Michael Bendis and for co-creating the character Kate Spencer for DC Comics. Career Marc Andreyk ...

's '' Manhunter'' series, wherein he appears as a ghost which possesses men (causing them to resemble him) and murders women. A supporting character,

Obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements such as silicon ...

, is shown to be a fan of Sondheim's musical. *

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gra ...

and Michael Zulli were to have created a Sweeney Todd adaptation for Taboo, published by Steve Bissette and Tundra, but only completed a prologue. *

Classical Comics Classical Comics is a British publisher of graphic novel adaptations of the great works of literature, including Shakespeare, Charlotte Brontë and Dickens. Overview All of the volumes will be published as graphic novels. Art is being provide ...

, a UK publisher creating graphic novel adaptations of classical literature, has produced a full colour, 176-page paperback, ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (2010), with script adaptation by Sean M. Wilson, linework by Declan Shalvey; colouring by Jason Cardy & Kat Nicholson, and lettering by Jim Campbell.

In rhyming slang

rhyming slang Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhymi ...

, Sweeney Todd is the Flying Squad (a branch of the UK's Metropolitan Police), which inspired the television series ''

The Sweeney ''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 Insp ...

''.

References

External links

''The String of Pearls''
etext of the 1846/47 penny dreadful that first featured Sweeney Todd * https://veermag.com/2022/03/sweeney-selina-and-the-antiheroic-tim-burton-revolutionary
Listen to ''CBC Stage 47'': "Sweeney Todd" with Maver Moore

BBC Radio 4 Extra – 1835: 2. "Haircut, Sir?"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Sweeney Characters in Sweeney Todd Fictional hairdressers Fictional cannibals Fictional murdered people Fictional people from London Fictional people from the 19th-century Fictional serial killers Fictional uxoricides Literary characters introduced in 1846 Male literary villains Male horror film villains Male film villains Urban legends