Prime Suspect poster

Prime Suspect

★ 8.3 11K votes 1991–1991 1 season · 2 episodes Ended ITV1
Strong female leadA complex woman drives the story.This show: 10/10Female perspectiveWomen's experience as the defining lens.This show: 9/10Detective mysteryCrime-solving from the investigator's side of the table.This show: 9/10GrittyRaw, unglamorous realism in both look and subject matter.This show: 8/10British TVThe British television sensibility: tone, restraint and format traditions.This show: 8/10NaturalisticUnderstated, lifelike performances and look.This show: 7/10WorkplaceThe job and its social ecosystem as the stage.This show: 7/10Social commentaryDeliberate critique of how society works.This show: 7/10
Rate this series
Starring
Helen MirrenJohn BenfieldTom BellCraig FairbrassJack EllisMossie Smith
Starring
Helen MirrenJohn BenfieldTom BellCraig FairbrassJack EllisMossie Smith
Ratings per Episode
246810
Votes per Episode
0200400600800

Prime Suspect Episode Ratings Heatmap

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S18.18.18.2

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About

"A woman proving herself while catching a killer"

Jane Tennison, a Detective Chief Inspector, takes over a stalled murder investigation and quickly suspects the male-dominated squad she inherited would rather see her fail than solve the case. As she digs into a killer's pattern, she has to fight her own colleagues almost as hard as the crime itself. The tone is grim, procedural, and slow-burning, carried almost entirely by Helen Mirren's steely, controlled performance and a script that treats police sexism as seriously as the murder plot.

Watch it for

Helen Mirren's commanding performance as a detective battling both a killer and her own department.

Maybe skip if

you want fast-paced action rather than a slow, procedural character study.

Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.

All Seasons

▼
Season 11991
8.11K23h 27m
EpTitleRatingYoursVotesRuntime
▶1Price to Pay: Part 18.1
653104 min
▶2Price to Pay: Part 28.2
560103 min

Full Cast & Crew

Cast

Helen Mirren DCI Jane Tennison
John Benfield DSU Michael Kernan
Tom Bell DS Bill Otley
Craig Fairbrass DI Frank Burkin
Jack Ellis DI Tony Muddyman
Mossie Smith WPC Maureen Havers
Ian Fitzgibbon DC Jones
John Bowe George Marlow
Andrew Tiernan DC Rosper
Zoë Wanamaker Moyra Henson

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