Not everything we love the first time we see it holds up over time. But I recently rewatched an ITV series I first enjoyed when it debuted in 1991 and it was every bit as suspenseful, and compelling as I remembered: Prime Suspect.
The first episode introduces us to Jane Tennison, one of British television’s immortal characters. Played by the estimable Dame Helen Mirren, at the opening of the series Tennison is a Detective Chief Inspector who is crushed against the glass ceiling. Neither the men above and below her in the hierarchy take her seriously, so much so that when a male DCI suddenly is unable to continue a murder investigation, she still has to fight her skeptical boss (John Benfield) not to be skipped over in favor of a male investigator from outside the nick.
On its face, the case she is assigned to crack looks a straightforward investigation of a prostitute murdered by a punter. When Tennison begins to suspect that there is more here than meets the eye, her male colleagues resist her conclusions. She is particularly challenged, undermined and mocked by Detective Sergeant Utley (a very credible Tom Bell), who at first seems motivated only by misogyny but things become more complex from there. As Tennison works relentlessly to solve the case and win over her male doubters, her romantic relationship with a divorced father (a pre-fame Tom Wilkinson) begins to suffer.
Prime Suspect is the work of many talented people, but its greatness derives mainly from two phenomenally talented women, namely Mirren and writer Lynda La Plante. Mirren shows enormous range as she brings across Tennison’s toughness, intelligence, ambition, vulnerability and isolation. Tennison is a flawed person, but Mirren makes you pull for her with all your might.
This is also a credit a course to La Plante, who created the character (based on real-life copper Jackie Malton) and the grim and twisty mystery that Tennison tries to solve. La Plante’s script is painfully realistic about what it’s like for the first women who venture into all-male preserves. Notably, she is too talented a writer to give us a Hollywoodized fairy tale of policework adopting a female-friendly work culture to accommodate Tenison. Rather, what happens over the course of the story is that Tennison becomes more like the men around her: ruthless, hard-bitten, neglectful of family and most crucially a heavy boozer (which takes an increasing toll in future episodes). La Plante knows that big organizations change the individuals within them far more the reverse. The development of that theme over the series is one of many reasons why Prime Suspect is widely regarded as a classic of British television.
p.s. This review focuses on the debut episode, but the series ultimately produced 6 more episodes over the next 15 years. All of the follow-up episodes are very good, with my favorite being The Scent of Darkness. In contrast, the spin-off 2017 prequel can’t hold a candle to the original.
p.p.s. Look fast for a pre-fame Ralph Fiennes as an ex-boyfriend of the deceased.
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