Skip to content
mono.logo

PRIME TIME CLASSIC

prime_suspect1

There has been much talk about the reinvention of television during the past few years with the rise of HBO and high quality-TV series such as The Wire, The Sopranos or West Wing, that fully used the potential of a narrative that could stretch over weeks and months, taking their time to develop multi-layered characters and plots. However, of course this is not necessarily new, with predecessors such as, for instance, the highly acclaimed British police drama Prime Suspect which was launched by ITV in 1991 and ran for 7 seasons until 2006 (with long breaks in between). The series is largely centered on a riveting Helen Mirren in the main role as an ambitious and ambiguous female detective struggling with sexism, prejudice and political intrigues in the police force, while having to deal with cases exposing the dark side of British society – ranging from racism to paedophilia. Prime Suspect is equally gripping as 24, as complex and gritty as The Wire and has with Helen Mirren a main character that is still waiting to be matched. Highly recommended for a long winter.