Prime Suspect 1973

Prime Suspect 1973 is a British television detective drama series starring Stefanie Martini as the young Jane Tennison. It is a prequel to the long-running Prime Suspect series that had starred Helen Mirren.
The series debuted on ITV in the UK on 2 March 2017, comprising six episodes. On 21 June 2017, it was confirmed there would be no second series.

Synopsis

Set in Hackney, the series depicts 22-year-old Jane Tennison as she begins her career as a woman police constable in 1973 with the Metropolitan Police Service. At a time when women were beginning to be gradually integrated into the police force, Tennison has to deal with sexism, as well as difficulties in her home life, as her family disapprove of her career choice.
Under the guidance of DI Len Bradfield, the naive and inexperienced Tennison assists in investigating the murder of a young runaway, Julie-Ann Collins. Meanwhile, criminal Clifford Bentley is released from prison and, along with other members of his family, is planning a bank heist. Links to Collins's murder threaten to expose the Bentley family's plans.

Cast

Main cast

Stefanie Martini as WPC Jane Tennison
Sam Reid as DI Len Bradfield
Blake Harrison as DS Spencer Gibbs
Alun Armstrong as Clifford Bentley
Ruth Sheen as Renee Bentley
Jessica Gunning as WPC Kath Morgan
Andrew Brooke as Sergeant Jim Harris
Supporting cast
Nick Sidi as Andrew Tennison
Geraldine Somerville as Joyce Tennison
Geoffrey Streatfeild as George Collins
Nancy Carroll as Mary Collins
Rosie Day as Pam Tennison
Lex Shrapnel as John Bentley
Jay Taylor as David Bentley
Jacob James Beswick as Eddie Philips
Joshua Hill as DC Edwards
Daniel Ezra as DC Ashton
Anthony Skordi as Silas Manatos
Tommy McDonnell as DC Hudson
Jordan Long as DS Lawrence
Episodes

Production

Development

The series is produced for ITV by Noho Film and Television, and was adapted by Glen Laker from the novel Tennison, written by original series creator Lynda La Plante. Commissioned by ITV in June 2015 under the working title Tennison, the series was set to be penned by LaPlante, who had also written the original Prime Suspect novels, and contributed to episodes of the long-running television series of the same name.
The announcement of Martini as Jane Tennison, as well as further casting was announced in July 2016. In early 2016, La Plante pulled out of the project. Vera and Home Fires writer Glen Laker was drafted in to write the series.

Filming

Filming began in July 2016 in London.

Cancellation

In June 2017, ITV confirmed that the series had not been recommissioned, despite high ratings for the first series. The cause is reported to be creative differences between author Lynda LaPlante and ITV.

Broadcast

Prime Suspect 1973 first aired on 2 March 2017 on ITV. Internationally, broadcast under the title Prime Suspect: Tennison, the series premiered in South Africa on 6 April 2017 on ITV Choice. The series premiered in the United States on 25 June 2017 on Masterpiece Mystery on PBS, airing over three 90-minute instalments.

Reception

The series received mixed reviews from critics, achieving a 50% approval rating based on 12 reviews as aggregated on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics praised Stefanie Martini's performance and the period detail, in particular. Upon its broadcast in the United States, the Washington Post recommended it as "one of the best shows you’ll find on TV this summer", while the Los Angeles Times said that "Tennison does not quite measure up to Prime Suspect." In contrast, Salon considered it fortunate that the series was forced into early retirement, and noted that this Tennison prequel failed to focus on Tennison's character development with the same intensity as the "provocative... classic" original did with Helen Mirren's character.