It starts with Jane Tennison, in her first week in the Police Force assisting the CID.because the Detective Inspector fancies her. In the first of the Helen Mirren series there were jibes abut her sleeping her way up the ranks and it appears there was some truth in it. It would have been far better if the first series at least, kept her away from murder investigations It does, however, have Alun Atmstrong, omne of our very best actors

Before I start, this review is solely for episode five. Up to this point, I'd give the series a ten but I was to some extent disappointed with this episode which is as far as the ABC here in Australia has got to. The story line is by and large good but there are a number of points that had me annoyed. The first was that Tennison did not need to give the lie she told as witness to O'Duncie's beating. She could easily have contradicted Flowers assertion that she witnessed the events merely by truthfully saying that she had already taken Flower down and that Flower could not have witnessed the beating. If she had to lie, she could have said she did not witness the events as she was walking back up at the time. I realise that this was a plot device to make her 'one of the team' but it seemed clumsy. Secondly, was when Ashton approached the neighbour as the crime was being committed. As he knew they were under surveillance from David Bentley he could have spoken to her then walked of with her thereby appearing to know each other and to remove her from the possibility of a violent outcome. Thirdly, when the police entered the bank why was there no officers entering through the cafe at the same time to prevent any escape that way. Lastly, why wait for them to start opening up the safety deposit boxes. Bradfield said that he wanted to wait until Bentley actually broke into the bank to make his arrest in order for him to get the maximum sentence. The officers could have been waiting in the vault or have the door ready to open and as soon as the gang entered the vault that would have been enough to arrest them. Waiting only makes the damage to the vault and it's contents worse for no possible benefit.

The original 'Prime Suspect', and its small set of sequels, were unusually good television detective dramas, starring the incomparable Helen Mirren as a hard-bitten female investigator. 'Prime Suspect 1973', a prequel, is not however nearly as good. There are several problems: the script is clumsy, the production screams '1973' at you so loudly you might consider this a piece of historical anthropology (instead of a drama where the differences between how we lived then and how we live now permeate the background without intruding on the centre stage); and above all else that Stefanie Martini (in the lead role) resembles a young Helen Mirren not one wit: neither for looks, voice, or crucially, for the character of the person she plays. Another, more technical difficulty, is that whereas the original was praised for its procedural accuracy, an ordinary WPC (as the character is in the prequel) has much less oversight of an investigation than the inspector leading it, so the plot has to perpetually struggle to put its character centre-stage. I'm sure there is a good story that could be told about the young Jane Tennison, especially given how well Mirren realised the later version; this, however, is sadly not it.

Prime Suspect with Helen Mirren was a fantastic Crime-drama Mystery and our New and somewhat improved Prime Suspect 1973 is a nice remake notwithstanding a few tweaks in production glitches and some much needed on-site investigators to help correct police procedure. Aside from some good acting and nice locations the memorable 1970's nostalgic bits and bob's thrown in was nicely done. 70's Music was good. A couple really nice characters were introduced and hopefully a new season will bring them into the fold making them more integral to the plot. A good example would be Sergeant Harris who indeed has great potential. I see better times ahead if it gets the support. One of the better Crime-dramas so far. More mystery would be a plus. Very Groovy.