Few shows need less endorsement or introduction than the original Prime Suspect with Helen Mirren. First airing at the beginning of the '90s, and running through to 2006, the span of time will be immediately misleading to American audiences. The show ran as "series," which went from two to four hours, with great gaps between the airing of one series and the next. Playing more like installments of a movie series than anything American television will prepare one for, the show spans the majority of the career of its star, despite only involving less than a dozen cases in seven "series."
The show focuses on Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison (Mirren), and her effort to make her way through the male-dominated world that is the police force. Not only did the show take on the most serious of cases, but it gave us a character who was herself thoroughly flawed, and ultimately changed the landscape of police dramas, and influenced every worthwhile effort to come along since the mid-'90s.
Constantly battling cigarettes, sexism, and bad guys who are often too horrible to contemplate, Jane can't give up a case until she has everything tied up as neat as possible, and her own personality is often what most stands in her way.
The early series largely deal with the difficulties of being a cop in general, and the nearly impossible task of earning the respect of your fellow detectives, but the cases are also well-written, and lend their own drama to Jane's life. Few shows have so aptly demonstrated the fact that being a police detective is not a job you actually get to go home from.
As the "episodes" move on, Jane deals with politics, switches locations, and deals with her position in the force as much as with the case at hand. But, the show never bogs down in these details. Instead, it pushes 'with' them, and delivers the case-specific drama all the more effectually for having made Jane a real and complex character, and showcasing her actions, reactions, and attitudes as the result of her entire life.
Far from the police procedurals many may be used to, with largely bland, archetype and/or caricature detectives, who are at best a "kind of cop," as opposed to any truly specific person, Prime Suspect was far more about Jane herself than the cases she worked. Though a great many shows still work from an opposite perspective, whereby the cast is ultimately replaceable, however we may love them, Prime Suspect paved the way for steering away from that trend, and it is a trend that has continued to gain steam all the way to the new, American version of the very show itself.
Dark, gritty, and far more focused on how life for a detective actually plays out (at home, and on the often tedious job), the show still managed to put out some gripping cases, and gave them to you better than any show before or since.
Running through the series with the complete collection is actually a wonderfully unique viewing experience, and odd as it may sound, there's something about it that feels a bit like cheating. It's a very interesting overall ordeal to go through the full adventure as it was presented. It is perhaps in much the way that sitting down to watch all the Bond films one after the other might feel a bit strange. It's not exactly something that takes away from the show, but to go in a few days from the first crack at a case to moving toward retirement just isn't the same. Much as having this DVD collection is a treasure, those who watched the series during their original airings watched something slightly different than what you will be watching, and its a shame there is now way to share the watching of that thing.
At any rate, this amazing and historically relevant show is now available on DVD, and the collection should not be missed. It isn't especially loaded with bonuses (and it ought to be), but you do get a few good treats with it. A behind-the-scenes special runs for about an hour, and gives a nice portrayal of the many actors involved with the production over the years. A behind-the-scenes featurette for Series Six is a bit more interesting, even if it only plays half as long, largely as a result of the fact that the entire show is too much ground to adequately cover. There are also cast bios, and a photo gallery.
I'd easily give the show itself five stars, and the DVD release is pretty much worth that rating just because of the show as well. On the other hand, there might have been a little more zing involved, and I have to knock off a bit for the lack of flair that this show deserves.
Rating: 
Oscar® winner Helen Mirren is Detective Jane Tennison, "one of the great character creations of our time" (Washington Post), in a series that won more than 20 major international awards and raised the bar for police dramas. Tenacious, driven, and deeply flawed, Tennison rises through the ranks of Britain’s Metropolitan Police, solving horrific crimes while battling office sexism and her own demons. Set includes all 7 series of the Emmy®-winning crime drama seen on PBS. "A masterpiece"—USA Today. Approx. 25 hours on 9 DVDs. SDH subtitles (series 1–6), CC (series 7). For mature audiences.
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© 2011, Are You Screening?. All rights reserved. Reprinting without express permission of the author is prohibited.
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About Marc Eastman
Marc Eastman is the owner and operator of Are You Screening? and has been writing film reviews for over a decade, and several branches of the internet's film review world have seen his name. His reviews have brought him personal praise from the director of a major motion picture, and have been used as required reading in a course at a major University. These priceless rewards, along with just bags of cash, keep him from straying from freelance writing. He is also a member of The Broadcast Film Critics Association and The Broadcast Television Journalists Association.
