MINISERIES PREMIERE: In the original series of
Prime Suspect mysteries, Helen Mirren played Jane Tennison, a British detective whose investigative instincts and interrogation skills were equally exceptional – yet whose treatment by her peers and superiors, and even those she investigated, was riddled with misogyny and other measures of disrespect. How Tennison dealt with and rose above all that, despite some of her own very human flaws, was what made
Prime Suspect, and in particular Mirren’s career-enhancing portrayal, so indelible. Beginning tonight, PBS imports a new series in which we see Tennison at the very beginning of her police career, in a new prequel miniseries set in 1973, and starring Stefanie Martini as young Tennison. We learn, very quickly, why Tennison distrusts most men, and also why she has an affinity for a certain liquor. Martini is good, but it’s the script, more than the performance, that most makes this prequel worth watching.
To read and hear my full review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, visit the Fresh Air website. Check local listings. And to read a full review here on TVWW, go to
David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.