''Prime Suspect 1973'' (also known as ''Prime Suspect: Tennison'') is a

British television Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...

detective drama series starring

Stefanie Martini Stefanie Martini (born 6 October 1990) is an English actress, known for her leading role in ITV's 2017 production ''Prime Suspect 1973''. She also starred in ''Doctor Thorne'' (2016), ''Emerald City'' (2017), the 2017 film ''Crooked House'' and t ...

as the young Jane Tennison. It is a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term " ...

to the long-running ''

Prime Suspect ''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 ...

'' series that had starred

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...

. The series debuted on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

in the UK on 2 March 2017, comprising six episodes. In June 2017, it was confirmed there would be no second series.

Synopsis

Set in Hackney, the series depicts 22-year-old

Jane Tennison ''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 ...

(

) as she begins her career as a woman police constable (WPC) in 1973 with the

Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

. At a time when women were beginning to be gradually integrated into the police force, Tennison has to deal with sexism, as well as difficulties in her home life, as her family disapprove of her career choice. Under the guidance of DI Len Bradfield ( Sam Reid), the naive and inexperienced Tennison assists in investigating the murder of a young runaway, Julie-Ann Collins. Meanwhile, criminal Clifford Bentley (

Alun Armstrong Alan Armstrong, known professionally as Alun Armstrong, is an English actor. He grew up in County Durham in North East England, and first became interested in acting through Shakespeare productions at his grammar school. Since his career began ...

) is released from prison and, along with other members of his family, is planning a bank heist. Links to Collins's murder threaten to expose the Bentley family's plans.

Cast

Main cast

as WPC Jane Tennison * Sam Reid as DI Len Bradfield *

Blake Harrison Blake Harrison is an English actor, comedian and dancer. He is best known for playing Neil Sutherland in the BAFTA-winning E4 comedy ''The Inbetweeners'' and more recently as 'Medium' Dan, in the ITV sitcom Kate & Koji since 2020. Career H ...

as DS Spencer Gibbs *

as Clifford Bentley *

Ruth Sheen Ruth Sheen is an English actress. From the late 1980s, she has appeared in British television shows, films and plays. A participant in the films of Mike Leigh, she won the European Film Award for Best Actress for her performance as Shirley in Leigh ...

as Renee Bentley *

Jessica Gunning Jessica Gunning is an English television and theatre actress. She was educated at Holmfirth High School near Huddersfield before attending Rose Bruford College, graduating in 2007.

as WPC Kath Morgan *

Andrew Brooke Andrew Brooke is an English actor. He is best known for playing Ashley in the Channel 4 series '' PhoneShop'' for three series. He has appeared in the movies such as '' Sherlock Holmes'' in 2009, ''The Bank Job'' and '' Children of Men''. His ma ...

as Sergeant Jim Harris

Supporting cast

Nick Sidi Nick Sidi (born 22 February 1966) is an English people, English actor. He is the husband of Marianne Elliott (director), Marianne Elliott and son-in-law of actress Rosalind Knight. He often plays drama or comedy roles on television and frequent ...

as Andrew Tennison *

Geraldine Somerville Geraldine Margaret Agnew-Somerville (born 19 May 1967) is an Irish actress. She is known for her roles in the film ''Gosford Park'' (2001) and the ''Harry Potter'' film series (2001–2011). Her other roles have included ''My Week with Marily ...

as Joyce Tennison *

Geoffrey Streatfeild Geoffrey Streatfeild (born 1975) is an English actor in film, television, stage and radio. He is a member of the Streatfeild family. Career His notable film and TV roles include ''The Other Boleyn Girl'' and '' Kinky Boots''. He also appeare ...

as George Collins *

Nancy Carroll Nancy Carroll (born Ann Veronica Lahiff; November 19, 1903 – August 6, 1965) was an American actress. She started her career in Broadway musicals and then became an actress in sound films and was in many films from 1927 to 1938. She was t ...

as Mary Collins *

Rosie Day Rosie Jane Day is an English actress, director and writer. She is known for her roles as Mary Hawkins in the Starz series '' Outlander'' and Sarah Jessica Parker's daughter in the comedy film '' All Roads Lead to Rome''. She starred as Tina Pem ...

as Pam Tennison *

Lex Shrapnel Alexander Carey Shrapnel (born 6 October 1979) is an English actor and voice actor. Early life Shrapnel was born on 6 October 1979 in London, the second of three boys for actor John Shrapnel and Francesca Ann (née Bartley). He is the brother of ...

as John Bentley * Jay Taylor as David Bentley * Jacob James Beswick as Eddie Philips * Joshua Hill as DC Edwards *

Daniel Ezra Daniel Ezra (born 15 December 1991) is a British actor best known for his role as Spencer James on '' All American''. He is Early life Ezra was born in Birmingham, England. Both his paternal and maternal grandparents were from Jamaica. Growin ...

as DC Ashton *

Anthony Skordi Anthony George Skordi is a British-American actor. He is best known for his roles as Admiral Garrick Versio in '' Star Wars Battlefront II'', and The Dealer in the '' Hand of Fate'' series of games. In addition to his voiceover work in video game ...

as Silas Manatos * Tommy McDonnell as DC Hudson * Jordan Long as DS Lawrence

Episodes

Production

Development

The series is produced for

by Noho Film and Television, and was adapted by Glen Laker from the novel ''Tennison'', written by original series creator

Lynda La Plante Lynda La Plante, CBE (born Lynda Titchmarsh; 15 March 1943) is an English author, screenwriter and former actress, best known for writing the ''Prime Suspect'' television crime series. Early life Lynda La Plante was born Lynda Titchmarsh on ...

. Commissioned by ITV in June 2015 under the working title ''Tennison'', the series was set to be penned by LaPlante, who had also written the original ''Prime Suspect'' novels, and contributed to episodes of the long-running television series of the same name. The announcement of Martini as Jane Tennison, as well as further casting was announced in July 2016. In early 2016, La Plante pulled out of the project. '' Vera'' and '' Home Fires'' writer Glen Laker was drafted in to write the series.

Filming

Filming began in July 2016 in London.

Cancellation

In June 2017, ITV confirmed that the series had not been recommissioned, despite high ratings for the first series. The cause is reported to be creative differences between author Lynda LaPlante and ITV.

Broadcast

''Prime Suspect 1973'' first aired on 2 March 2017 on

. Internationally, broadcast under the title ''Prime Suspect: Tennison'', the series premiered in South Africa on 6 April 2017 on

ITV Choice ITV Choice (formerly Granada UKTV, Granada TV and ITV Granada) was an international cable and satellite television channel owned and operated by ITV plc. History The channel was launched in 1997 by Granada Media under the name Granada UKTV, ...

. The series premiered in the United States on 25 June 2017 on ''

Masterpiece Mystery ''Mystery!'' (also written ''MYSTERY!'') is a television anthology series produced by WGBH Boston for PBS in the United States. The series was created as a mystery, police and crime drama spin-off of the already established PBS show ''Masterpie ...

'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

, airing over three 90-minute instalments.

Reception

The series received mixed reviews from critics, achieving a 50% approval rating based on 12 reviews as aggregated on ''

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

''. Critics praised Stefanie Martini's performance and the period detail, in particular. Upon its broadcast in the United States, the ''Washington Post'' recommended it as "one of the best shows you’ll find on TV this summer", while the ''Los Angeles Times'' said that "''Tennison'' does not quite measure up to ''Prime Suspect.''" In contrast, ''Salon'' considered it fortunate that the series was forced into early retirement, and noted that this ''Tennison''

failed to focus on Tennison's character development with the same intensity as the "provocative... classic" original did with Helen Mirren's character.

References

External links

* {{Lynda La Plante 2017 British television series debuts 2017 British television series endings 2010s British crime television series 2010s British drama television series British crime drama television series British detective television series 2010s British television miniseries English-language television shows ITV television dramas Prequel television series Television series by ITV Studios Television series set in 1973 Television shows set in London