A Rumination on DCI Jane Tennison ‹ CrimeReads

In less talented hands, Tennison could have been a superficial and unconvincing character. With her booze and her chain smoking, her dysfunctional personal relationships and her obsession with her work, she could have been little more than a simple gender-reversal: your typical grizzled male detective slipped into silk blouses and sensible heels. But the magic of Prime Suspect lies in the alchemy between the character, conceived by series creator and writer Lynda LaPlante, and Mirren's own charisma, which gives Tennison verve and nuance. Tennison's tough-minded doggedness and Mirren's sexy irreverence and subtle fragilities remake the kind of role normally played by a man. They make a dynamic and unforgettable character that allows the show to explore and challenge the gendered norms of the police procedural. Over seven series (of two episodes each), Prime Suspect draws a gripping and thoughtful portrait of Tennison-how her toughness and softness, her skill and her compulsions, are all shaped by her place as a woman in a man's game.