We loved Helen Mirren as the brave Detective Jane Tennison in the original TV series, but now we’re getting to see how her character started with ITV Choice’s new prequel to the drama.
- It’s adapted from Lynda La Plante’s bestselling novel, Tennison that was first published in 2015.
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- It stars Stefanie Martini (best known for her roles in Doctor Thorne and Emerald City) as the young Woman Police Constable Jane Tennison. Stefanie says it’s crazy to be playing such a famous role and that she’s avoiding thinking about it too much or else she might have a small mental breakdown.
Here she is with her happy cast-mates…
- The six‐part drama charts the rise of the novice police woman as she assists in her first murder investigation, revealing her first steps towards becoming the complex and formidable character, played by Helen Mirren, that viewers have come to know from the original Prime Suspect series.
- Adapted for TV by Glen Laker (who co-wrote Vera), the series is set in north east London in the seventies, at a time when woman police constables are slowly being integrated into the police force. Among them is 22‐year‐old Jane, a naïve yet determined probationary officer learning the ropes in a world where high‐ranking police officers are notoriously chauvinistic. Working alongside her superior, DI Bradfield (Sam Reid), Tennison is thrown in at the deep end on her first case, experiencing London’s criminal ganglands first hand and witnessing the devastating effects that such crimes have.
- The prequel celebrates seven series of the award-winning iconic police drama, Prime Suspect, which is currently being aired on ITV Choice.
Prime Suspect: Tennison premieres on ITV Choice, DStv 123 on Thursday 6 April at 8pm
By features writer, Stephanie van der Plank
