Prime Suspect
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Prime Suspect is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who rises to the rank of Detective Superintendent while confronting institutionalised sexism within the police force.
Plot
Prime Suspect focuses on a no-nonsense female Detective Chief Inspector (DCI), Jane Tennison (played by Helen Mirren), who is an officer in the Metropolitan Police, initially at the fictional Southampton Row police station.
The series follows her constant battles to prove herself within a male-dominated profession in which many of her colleagues are determined to see her fail, though she has the support of her boss, Detective Chief Superintendent Mike Kernan (John Benfield), and the loyalty of Detective Sergeant Richard Haskons (Richard Hawley).
In later series, Tennison is reassigned to rotating duties, including a vice squad in Soho and a gang squad in Manchester. She is promoted to Detective Superintendent in series 4 and retires from policing at the end of series 7.
Cast
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."
- 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)
