Prime Suspect

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Prime Suspect

Prime Suspect 1 titles
Format Police procedural
Created by Lynda La Plante
Starring Helen Mirren
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of series 7
Production
Producer(s) Granada Television/ ITV Productions
Broadcast
Original channel ITV
Original run 1991-04-07 – 2006
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Prime Suspect is a highly acclaimed British police procedural television drama series made by Granada Television for the ITV network in the 1990s and 2000s. The screenplays for the first and third serials (and the story for the second) were written by Lynda La Plante, and in 1993 she received an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for her work. The following year, Allan Cubitt's screenplay for Prime Suspect 2 brought the series a second Edgar.

Helen Mirren portrays no-nonsense female Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Jane Tennison (later promoted to Detective Superintendent), surviving and thriving in a male-dominated profession. The character was said to be based on Jackie Malton, who acted as an advisor to the authors.

The programme was part of a trend for programmes/films with women both in leading roles and holding senior authority positions. One UK television example is MIT, a spinoff from The Bill on ITV.

The first series features sexism in the workplace as a significant subplot and a barrier to the investigation. Sequels have tended to downplay this theme, relying on straight procedure or on other subplots - for example, institutional racism in Prime Suspect 2, paedophilia, child abuse, and prostitution in Prime Suspect 3. Tennison's difficulty in achieving a balance between her work and her life outside the job, and her difficulty in maintaining stable relationships, are a recurring issue within the series. At the close of Prime Suspect 3 she arranges to have her pregnancy terminated. As the series progresses, she increasingly relies upon alcohol to help her cope; this culminates in the final episode of the series in her visit to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, where she finally acknowledges and confronts her addiction.

Prime Suspect's format is multiple episodes: each case runs around 3½ hours (excluding commercials) usually aired in two parts or four parts. Prime Suspect 4 was an exception at 4½ hours in three separate cases.

The first five series were produced at a steady pace of one every eighteen months, until Helen Mirren left the role to avoid typecasting (according to a PBS interview). She returned to the character after a seven-year gap.

Prime Suspect: The Final Act was an ITV and WGBH co-production. Part one first aired (preview) in the UK on 15 October 2006 and in the U.S. on 12 November 2006 on the PBS program Masterpiece Theatre with Mirren starring opposite Tom Bell, Gary Lewis, Stephen Tompkinson and Laura Greenwood.

Contents

Helen Mirren (left) with Laura Greenwood in Prime Suspect: The Final Act, 2006.
Helen Mirren (left) with Laura Greenwood in
Prime Suspect: The Final Act, 2006.
  • Prime Suspect (aired Apr 7, 1991 UK) (1992 US) (207 min) IMDb Profile
  • Prime Suspect 2 (aired Dec 15, 1992 UK) (1993 US) (203 min) IMDb Profile
  • Prime Suspect 3 (Part 1 aired Dec 19, & part 2 aired Dec 20 1993 UK) (1994 US) (207 min) IMDb Profile
  • Prime Suspect 4 (1995 UK, 1995 & 1996 US)
    The Lost Child (aired Apr 30, 1995) (101 min) IMDb Profile
    Inner Circles (aired May 7, 1995) (102 min) IMDb Profile
    Scent of Darkness (aired May 15, 1995) (105 min) IMDb Profile
  • Prime Suspect 5: Errors of Judgment (aired October 20 1996 UK) (1997 US) (200 min) IMDb Profile
  • Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness (Part 1 aired Nov 9, & part 2 aired Nov 10 2003 UK) (2004 US) (200 min) IMDb Profile
  • Prime Suspect: The Final Act (Part 1 aired Oct 15, & part 2 aired Oct 22 2006, UK) (2007 US) (200 min) IMDb Profile

In 1997 a short spoof episode, Prime Cracker, was produced for the BBC's biennial Red Nose Day charity telethon in aid of Comic Relief. A crossover with ITV stablemate crime drama Cracker, the spoof starred Mirren and Cracker lead Robbie Coltrane as their characters from the respective series, sending-up the perceived ultra seriousness of both shows.

  • Emmy Award: Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries, (Helen Mirren)

  • BAFTA TV Award: Best Original TV Music, (Nicholas Hooper)
  • Emmy Award: Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or Movie (Helen Mirren)
  • Emmy Award: Outstanding Writing - Miniseries or Movie
  • Emmy Award: Outstanding Directing - Miniseries or Movie

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Suspect"
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