Main cast

• Helen Mirren as Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison, initially of Southampton Row Police Station in Central London, later Detective Superintendent in series 4. Mirren has described Tennison as "extremely directed, ambitious, talented and very uncompromising. Therefore she is deeply frustrated by her job; the way her sex is a barrier."^[1]
• John Benfield as Detective Superintendent Michael Kernan (series 1–4), Tennison's supervisor, later Detective Chief Superintendent
• Richard Hawley as Detective Constable Richard Haskons (series 1–4), later Detective Sergeant and Detective Inspector
• Tom Bell as Detective Sergeant Bill Otley (series 1, 3, 7)
• Jack Ellis as Detective Inspector Tony Muddyman (series 1–2, 4)
• Craig Fairbrass as Detective Inspector Frank Burkin (series 1–2)
• Mossie Smith as Constable Maureen Havers (series 1, 4)
• Ian Fitzgibbon as Detective Constable Jones (series 1–2)
• Philip Wright as Detective Constable Lillie (series 1–3)
• Andrew Tiernan as Detective Constable Rosper (series 1–2)
• Gary Whelan as Detective Sergeant Terry Amson (series 1)
• Stephen Boxer as Detective Chief Inspector Thorndike, later Detective Superintendent (series 2–4)
• Stafford Gordon as Commander Traynor (series 2–4)
• Mark Strong as Detective Inspector Larry Hall (series 3, 6), later Detective Chief Superintendent in series 6
• Robert Pugh as Detective Sergeant Alun Simms (series 6–7)

Supporting cast, including notable guest stars

Themes

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, such as institutional racism in Prime Suspect 2 or child sexual abuse and prostitution in Prime Suspect 3, but they continue to demonstrate the determination of some of Tennison's male peers and those in upper echelons to see her fail.

Tennison's difficulty in achieving a balance between her work and her life outside the job, and her difficulty in maintaining stable relationships, are recurring themes within the series. Towards the end of Prime Suspect 3 she arranges to have her pregnancy terminated. As the series progresses, she increasingly relies on alcohol to help her cope. This culminates in the final episode of the series in her attending meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, where she finally acknowledges and confronts her addiction.

Setting

Prime Suspect is set mostly in London and surrounding areas, but series 5 is set in Manchester.

Production

Every series of Prime Suspect except series 4 follows a single case and runs around 31⁄2 hours (excluding commercials). It has usually been shown in two or four parts. Prime Suspect 4 is an exception at slightly over five hours, with three separate cases.

The first five series were produced annually from 1991 to 1996, until Mirren left the role, supposedly to avoid typecasting (according to a PBS interview). She returned to play the character in 2003 and again in 2006.

Prime Suspect was produced by Granada Television for the ITV network. Series four to seven were co-produced by WGBH Boston for its Masterpiece Mystery anthology series.

Music

The first five series were scored by the Academy Award-winning composer Stephen Warbeck, who was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for Prime Suspect series one. Rob Lane composed the music for Series 6. Nicholas Hooper won a BAFTA TV Award for his score for Series 7.

Awards and nominations

Prime Suspect won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Drama Serial over G.B.H. in 1991.^[3] Afterwards, four of the seven voting members of the jury raised a discrepancy to jury chairperson Irene Shubik,^[4] and later signed a public statement declaring that they had voted for G.B.H. to win.^[3] BAFTA Chairman Richard Price stated that the ballot papers passed on to him by Shubik had shown four votes for Prime Suspect and three for G.B.H.^[3] Price claimed that the ballot papers could not be recounted as they had subsequently been destroyed.^[4] Prime Suspect won Best Drama Serial once more for series three, and was nominated four other times.^[5] The series won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries three times, and was nominated twice more.^[6]

Mirren won three BAFTA TV Awards for Best Actress for the role, and has been nominated three other times.^[5] She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie twice, with four additional nominations.^[6]

Prime Suspect 3 was awarded a Peabody Award in 1993 for its realistic scenes and dialogue.^[7][8] Writer/creator Lynda La Plante received an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for series one in the category of Best TV Feature or Miniseries. The following year, Allan Cubitt won in the same category for series two. Prime Suspect was later nominated for series three and six.^[9]

Influence on other programmes

Many observers have viewed Prime Suspect as the inspiration for female characters in U.S. TV series, particularly noting strong similarities between this series in general—and the character of Jane Tennison in particular—and the later American series The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick in the role of Deputy Chief of Police Brenda Leigh Johnson. Critics noted the similarities between the series in a stronger way during the first seasons of The Closer, with one 2006 article in USA Today calling The Closer "an unofficial Americanization" of the British series,^[14] and a later reviewer noting that, "When The Closer was first shown, critics were quick to compare it to Prime Suspect...[and] there's something in that...."^[15]

In interviews Sedgwick has acknowledged that The Closer owes "a debt" to Prime Suspect, and that her admiration for that show and for Mirren were factors that first interested her in the role.^[16] According to Sedgwick, Prime Suspect was one of the shows that "paved the way" for The Closer,^[17] and her manager got her interested in the series by saying that it was "a little bit like Prime Suspect."^[18][19] Sedgwick is quoted as saying that the Tennison character did become her inspiration in some ways for her portrayal of Brenda Leigh Johnson.^[20]

Reviewers in U.S. papers, including the Christian Science Monitor, have noted that The Closer, while not a direct remake of the British series, "owes" much to it,^[21] or that it "echoes many of the elements" of it.^[22] One The New York Times article refers to The Closer as a "direct descendant" of Prime Suspect, although less hard-hitting than the original:

There is one show, however, that is a direct descendant, however different its tone might be: The Closer, on which Kyra Sedgwick’s Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson obsesses over her cases, tramples feelings and battles the old-boy network. Her vice, however, is candy; no booze or one-night stands. If you want the hard stuff, you need to head back to Prime Suspect.^[23]

Other reviewers have also made the point that the differences between Tennison and Johnson are as important as their similarities:

But then there's the locker-room pissiness of her [Johnson's] all-male department, which she navigates like an estrogen version of Prime Suspect's Jane Tennison. (That's not a running gag error, either: Sedgwick plays Johnson as if her toughness, intelligence and wit blossomed naturally from her Southern femininity, whereas Helen Mirren plays the dogged Tennison as if womanhood were a liability.)^[24]

NBC picked up an adaptation of the British series for the 2011–2012 season.^[25] It was taken off the schedule after 13 episodes were produced.^[26]

Spoofs

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.

Dead Ringers featured a parody with Queen Elizabeth II in the lead role, as a reaction to Helen Mirren's portrayal of her in the 2006 film The Queen.