Helen Mirren gives as good as she gets in Prime Suspect
Lynda LaPlante’s screenplays featuring Helen Mirren as gritty Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison were a huge hit, not least for breaking out of the male-dominated police drama mould.
In 1992, Mirren scooped the best TV actress award at the BAFTAS for her portrayal of the no-nonsense DCI after the first series captured her leading her first major murder investigation while dealing with sexism in the workplace. Not unlike The Wire, “the subtext for each individual drama in the series has some kind of social issue as its basis,” observes the Museum of Broadcast Communications.
Prime Suspect ran for a total of seven series, the final one capturing Tennison’s descent into alcoholism and her struggle to cope with her father’s death. The finale was seen by 7.2 million people. In September, it was announced that the show is to be remade in the US.