Prime Suspect (1991): Helen Mirren, Sexism & the Drama That Changed TV Crime

To watch the first series of Prime Suspect discussed in this episode, click here to watch on YouTube

Grab your notebook, light another cigarette and prepare for some extremely grim early-90s police station décor, because this week we're investigating one of the most acclaimed British crime dramas ever made: Prime Suspect.

First broadcast on ITV in 1991, Prime Suspect gave Helen Mirren one of her defining roles as DCI Jane Tennison, an ambitious, formidable detective trying to solve a brutal murder while surrounded by male colleagues who seem almost as determined to undermine her as they are to catch the killer.

We revisit the first series, where Tennison finally gets her chance to lead a major murder investigation after the original senior detective suddenly dies. Unfortunately, inheriting the case also means inheriting a squad of deeply unimpressed men, led by DS Ottley, who respond to having a female boss with sexism, obstruction and some good old-fashioned workplace sabotage.

At the centre of the investigation is George Marlowe, an apparently respectable family man whose private life brings him into contact with sex workers. As the evidence mounts, we explore how the drama plays with the idea of the seemingly harmless "nice guy" while also examining the appalling attitudes faced by the women involved in the case.

But Prime Suspect isn't simply a murder mystery. We look at the sexism surrounding Tennison, the misogyny directed towards sex workers, the pressures her career places on her relationship, and the extraordinary forensic detail that helped make the programme feel so different from the cosy television detective dramas that had come before.

In Culture Corner, we're travelling back to 1991 to revisit the year's biggest-selling albums and look at the women who had already been solving crimes on British television—from Juliet Bravo and The Gentle Touch to the wonderfully glossy C.A.T.S. Eyes. So just how revolutionary was Jane Tennison?

We also explore Prime Suspect's extraordinary legacy, its awards and reputation for realism, and the influence it had on the crime dramas that followed.

More than 30 years later, Helen Mirren's Tennison remains complicated, difficult, brilliant and utterly compelling. The hairstyles may have changed, the offices are considerably less smoky, but some of the workplace politics feel rather less historical than we'd like.

Join us as we reopen the case and discover why Prime Suspect still deserves its place among the great British television dramas.

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