Occasionally, television dramas come along that are so very, very good they leave their audiences stunned, having taken them to places they would never normally think of going. This new episode of Prime Suspect, entitled The Lat Witness, is one of those dramas. There is little else that's come even close to it this year for sheer originality and breadth of vision. It's an awful lot more than just another TV cop show from a long-running "franchise".
The Last Witnes is straight out of the top drawer, with a marvellous script of subtelty and complexity by Peter Berry. Beautifully acted and directed, it's a tense, disturbing and gripping four hours that grabs the attention and refuses to let go.
Helen Mirren is magnificent as Det Supt Jane Tennison, one of our greatest television detectives, who is such a joy to watch because she's flawed, fallible and completely human. Tennison has now reached retirement age (no one ever mentions retirement in TV detective dramas, even when officers have gone way beyond their time, do they, Jack Frost?), but she does not want to go, desite some not-too-subtle-pressure from her bosses.
As a means of proving that she's still on the ball, Tennison rashly takes over a potentially complicated and difficult murder investigation from a much younger, fast-tracked male colleague. The body of a woman has been found in a derelict London building. There is evidence that she has been tortured and has died a terrifying, lonely death.
And here is where Prime Suspect breaks away from every other lesser detective drama that uses the murders of women as little more than easy plot points. Very quickly, Tennison and her team uncover a world that exists largely out of the sight of most, a world inhabited by shadows, ghosts from the past, and unimaginable fear. The result is a drama of real depth, and one that explores some of the most disturbing events in recent history.
After the appalling final moments of the opening episode in this terrific two-part story, The Last Witness, Det Supt Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) is more focused than ever on proving that her prime suspect has committed hideous crimes. But there are others who think they can divert her from her course. Tennison quickly finds herself up against some powerful, shadowy figures when her investigations lead her to reach into the recent past to examine terrible atrocities.
There are so many things going on here in Peter Berry's complex, but never needlessly complicated, script. Layer after layer is stripped away as we are all forced to confront shameful events.
Every minute counts, and every role is telling - from that of the excellent Robert Pugh as Tennison's bluff sergeant sidekick, to Frank Finlay as her ageing father. Prepare for frequent harrowing images that are as shocking as they are necessary to portray. But you should be left moved and saddened, rather than repelled, by what in inferior dramas could be gratuitous.

Submitted by Juliet