DVD Review: Prime Suspect - The Complete Collection

Created by Lynda La Plante, Prime Suspect is the award-winning British television crime series starting Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, a Metropolitan police officer who struggles with criminals, sexist co-workers, and her own self-defeating actions. She's a very compelling character that's allowed to be flawed and is one of the most intriguing female characters to appear on television. It aired on ITV in Britain and PBS in the United States. Prime Suspect - The Complete Collection compiles all the previous DVD releases and repackages them with new covers inside a slipcase.

Series 1 (1991) – DCI Tennison finally gets a murder case after years of being passed over. The male officers resent her, especially when she finds their work is not only subpar but may hint at a cover-up. Finally given the chance to prove herself causes Tennison to be so focused and obsessed she neglects her boyfriend (Tom Wilkinson).

Series 2 (1992) – Tennison has to deal with racial issues when a murder she is assigned takes her into London's Afro-Caribbean community. She is paired with Sgt. Robert Oswalde (Colin Salmon), a black detective with whom she previously had an affair. If the liaison became known, it could cause trouble at work.

Series 3 (1993) – Tennison now finds herself a member of the vice squad after the results of the previous series. The murder of a young male prostitute leads her into the grim world of child prostitution and pornography. Her superiors don't make her job easier when they have someone spy on her and she has to get creative to see justice served. Tennison also has to deal with a very traumatic personal matter. It's the darkest series of them all.

Series 4 (1995) – There a few changes from the previous series in this installment. La Plante is no longer involved, Tennison has been promoted to Detective Superintendent, and there are three separate cases. Directed by John Madden, The Lost Child works an abducted toddler case and personal matters from Series 3 bleed over and affect her handling of it. The murder of a country-club manager in Inner Circles pits rich against poor while revealing a political scandal. Scent of Darkness is a very good one for fans as it revisits Series 1. Suspicions are raised that Tennison may have arrested the wrong man on her first case after a series of murders with a familiar modus operandi.

Article Author: Gordon S. Miller

Gordon S. Miller is the artist formerly known as El Bicho, the nom de plume he used when he first began reviewing movies online for The Masked Movie Snobs in 2003. Before that year was out, he became that site's publisher. …

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