Prime Suspect (1991) (TV)

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Director:

Christopher Menaul

Writer:

Lynda La Plante (written by)

Release Date:

23 January 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A female police detective investigates a series of serial murders while dealing with sexist hostility from her male comrades.

Plot Keywords:

Tense | Murder Investigation | Intimacy | Private Detective | Women

Awards:

11 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Helen Mirren	...	DCI Jane Tennison
Tom Bell	...	DS Bill Otley
John Benfield	...	DCS Michael Kernan
John Bowe	...	George Marlow
Zoë Wanamaker	...	Moyra Henson
Bryan Pringle	...	Felix Norman
Tom Wilkinson	...	Peter Rawlins
John Forgeham	...	DCI John Shefford
Gary Whelan	...	DS Terry Amson
Jack Ellis	...	DI Tony Muddyman
Craig Fairbrass	...	D.I. Frank Burkin
Ian Fitzgibbon	...	DC Jones
Mossie Smith	...	WPC Maureen Havers
Philip Wright	...	DC Lillie
Andrew Tiernan	...	DC Rosper
Richard Hawley	...	DC Haskons
Mark Spalding	...	DC Oakhill
Tom Bowles	...	DC Avison
Dave Bond	...	DS Eastel
Seamus O'Neill	...	DC Caplan
Marcus Romer	...	DI Caldicott
Terry Taplin	...	Cmdr. Trayner
Maxine Audley	...	Mrs. Marlow
Rosy Clayton	...	Carol
Gareth Tudor Price	...	Willy Chang
Andrew Abrahams	...	Tilly
Susan Brown	...	Linda
Jessica Turner	...	Pam
Rod Arthur	...	Sgt. Tomlins
Fionnuala Ellwood	...	Joyce
James Snell	...	Arnold Upcher
Julian Firth	...	Mr. Shrapnel
Maria Mescki	...	Lab Assistant
Ruskin Moya	...	Annette Frisby (as Moyra Ruskin)
Martin Reeve	...	Lab Assistant
Malcolm Freeman	...	Biker
Phil Hearne	...	Painter
John Ireland	...	Lab Assistant
Doug Fisher	...	Edward Harvey
Francesca Ryan	...	Marianne
Ian Hastings	...	Reg McKinney
Renny Krupinski	...	Clerk of Court
Jeremy Warder	...	Joey
Angela Bruce	...	Helen Masters
Michael Fleming	...	Major Howard
Daphne Neville	...	Mrs. Howard
Sara Thurston	...	Mother (as Sarah Thurston)
Ralph Fiennes	...	Michael
Jimmy Hibbert	...	Reporter
Julie Sumnall	...	Karen
Wilfred Harrison	...	Mr. Tennison
Noel Dyson	...	Mrs. Tennison
Owen Aaronovitch	...	Tony
Anna Savva	...	Mrs. Salbanna
Malcolm Raeburn	...	Insp. Sleeth
Peter Dennis	...	Toastmaster
Anthony Havering	...	Barman
Mark Anthony Newman	...	DS Lambton
Brian Hayes	...	TV Presenter
Sandra Butterworth	...	WPC 'Karen'
Vincent Pickering	...	Witness
Bryonie Pritchard	...	WPC Southwood
Barbara Dryhurst	...	WPC Raeburn
Anthony Schaeffer	...	Uniformed Officer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tegan Summer	...	Witness
Jonathan Bridge	...	Boxing Hall extra (uncredited)
Barry Purves	...	Boxing Hall extra (uncredited)

Directed by
Christopher Menaul

Writing credits
Lynda La Plante		(written by)

Produced by
Sally Head	....	executive producer
Don Leaver	....	producer

Original Music by
Stephen Warbeck

Cinematography by
Ken Morgan

Film Editing by
Edward Mansell

Casting by
Doreen Jones

Production Design by
Roy Stonehouse

Art Direction by
Tom Brown

Costume Design by
Sheelagh Killeen

Makeup Department
Tracey Dilley	....	makeup assistant
Jane Hatch	....	makeup artist
Michael Moustafi	....	key makeup artist
Michael Moustafi	....	special makeup effects artist
Sian Richards	....	prosthetic makeup artist
Colin Ware	....	prosthetic fabricator
Colin Ware	....	prosthetic makeup artist

Production Management
David Meddick	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tania Norman	....	second assistant director
David Weir	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Trevor Devoy	....	production buyer
Chris Stephenson	....	design assistant
Peter Terry	....	graphic designer

Sound Department
Ray French	....	sound mixer
Paul Griffiths-Davies	....	dubbing editor
Ian Hills	....	boom operator
David Rees	....	dubbing editor
John Rutherford	....	dubbing editor
Brian Saunders	....	dubbing mixer
Lionel Strutt	....	adr mixer
Simon Walton	....	dubbing editor
John Whitworth	....	sound re-recording mixer

Stunts
Peter Brayham	....	fights

Camera and Electrical Department
David Bell	....	focus puller
John Camp	....	gaffer
Bob Gregory	....	grip
Graham Hazard	....	focus puller
Howard Somers	....	camera operator
Alf Tramontin	....	Steadicam operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Anthony Black	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Jackie Ophir	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Wayne Docksey	....	animal master
Craig McNeil	....	production executive
Lynne Merriott	....	location manager
Hilda Miller	....	continuity
Hilda Miller	....	production assistant
Tony Mills	....	chargehand asm
Anya Noakes	....	unit publicist
Jenny Sheridan	....	script associate
Sue Whitley	....	coordinator

Production Companies

• Granada Television

Distributors

• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1992) (USA) (TV)
• 2 Entertain (1998) (UK) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Castle Vision (1996) (UK) (VHS)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• ITV DVD (2006) (UK) (DVD)
• Independent Television (ITV) (1991) (UK) (TV)
• Memphis Belle (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Video Treasures (video)
• WGBH

Also Known As:

Mobil Masterpiece Theatre: Prime Suspect (USA) (pre-release title)
Prime Suspect 1
Prime Suspect 1: A Price to Pay (Europe) (DVD title)

Runtime:

207 min (2 parts)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:18 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Victoria Baths, Hathersage Road, Longsight, Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK

Company:

Granada Television

Trivia:

Lynda La Plante made this film after watching reality-TV crime shows. After calling Scotland Yard and learning that there were only four female DCIs, she interviewed one of them (Jackie Malton), who impressed her so much that La Plante decided to base the plot on Malton's experiences during her career.

Quotes:

[talking about a murdered woman in a reconstruction on the TV]
Pam: She was a pretty girl.
Mrs. Tennison: That's not the real girl. That's someone dressed up to look like her.
Mr. Tennison: They can't have the real girl, woman, because she's dead!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Drama Connections: Prime Suspect (#1.6)" (2005)

Intelligent, political, and mercurial

A common problem with great British series is that as time passes, rather than become better they lose their steam or atypicality. By the time Prime Suspect 4 came about, but for the rare scene it had become virtually identical to a common copper flick.

The first series, concerning the serial killings attributed to George Marlow (With accomplices), is the most complex and riveting, more so than even Cracker's first series. I have seen the episodes through their completion on several rotations and am still finding subtle aspects of character and plot. Helen is integral and can portray a paradoxical human in every episode consistently. Almost as integral is Marlow who can just about convince you that he's innocent -- but not quite, not in the right way.

In the Prime Suspect world, everything is politics. La Plante examines the seperate realms of politics and how they interact; this is what makes up most of the running time and all of my interest. Physical details and clue tables are pushed to the side to examine one person's brain, how it reacts to the world, and how the world reacts to it. Politics, Jane, that's what it's all about.