Prime Suspect: 7 - the Final Act [DVD]

"Prime Suspect-The Final Act" is the seventh and as the title implies the last Prime Suspect (At least starring the estimable Helen Mirren). It continues and then brings to a conclusion the career of one the most resonant and iconic female characters in TV history. And it doesn't find her in particularly fine fettle.

This episode (shown over two 2 hour instalments originally on ITV) is written by Frank Deasy, not Linda LaPlante, and finds Jane Tennison nearing retirement and descending into alcoholism. The murder of a fourteen year old schoolgirl Sallie sturdy( Maxine Barton) once again brings Tennison into conflict with her superiors and the victims father (Tony Lewis) but more poignantly brings out her long submerged maternal instincts when she forms a bond with the victims best friend Penny (Laura Greenwood). Meanwhile her father (Frank Finlay) is dying of cancer and She also bumps into her old nemesis Bill Otley (Tom Bell) and they begin a process of reconciliation before Otley is shot by suspect for the murder of Sallie. Inexorably suspicion falls on Sean (Stephen Tomkinson) the father of Penny and headmaster of the school the girls attended before the rug is pulled from under the audience's expectations for the climax.

Mirren is again quite outstanding, allowing a vulnerability and defiant nobility into her portrayal. Tennison has always been so busy fighting all the prejudices embroiled in her profession this side of her character has never surfaced before and Mirren plays it with such lightness of touch and empathy that it's almost mesmerising to watch. An absolute master class in acting. The relationship with Penny is beautifully rendered also and high praise must go to young Laura Greenwood for her perceptive blend of youthful defiance and vulnerability.

Prime Suspect has gone from a superb original procedural drama to incorporate some of the more clichéd devices of generic cop shows, and the "Final Act" is no exception. It drags the investigation out way too long but this is a narrative scheme so the audience can further explore Tennisons history and how the current investigation brings it into conflict with the present.

Since Prime Suspect conceded that the sexist, Machiavellian scheming of jealous male colleagues was a little old hat it has integrated a more socio-political element and this final episode seems to be saying we are raising a generation of young people who cannot communicate unless it's through some device. The scenes in the youth club where the teenagers are bored and insolent when one on one in conservation but suddenly become animated and talkative when using their mobiles cleverly exploits society's growing suspicion that today's youth are disenfranchised and taciturn , an alien species.

Ultimately two things stayed with me after this. The unusually sly line where Tennison responds to an officer calling her M, am with "Don't call me Ma, am, I'm not the bloody Queen " (Mirren has , of course recently played the Queen to great acclaim ) and the final shots of her leaving work for ever .Her own leaving party carrying on with out her , the strains of celebration receding after her, cleverly mirroring the characters trait of just getting the job and moving on , though of course there is now no other jobs .Case closed ....for ever.

Recently screened on PBS to much acclaim is Prime Suspect 7 really going to be Jane Tennison's final act? Or will Jane perhaps be bought out of retirement sometime soon? The pundits and even Helen Mirren herself say no, and that this is definitely Jane's last foray into the underbelly of London's crime scene. But I think not, one thing is for sure, Jane will definitely be back.

In this last chapter we meet a beaten-down, cynical and desperately lonely Jane Tennison, whose impending retirement and restlessness is exacerbated by her love of drink. The Detective Inspector has devoted for life to rooting out the bad guys, but now in her sixties, without a partner and childless and alienated from her family - with her father (Frank Finlay) dying of cancer - life has become a time of reckoning.

She had devoted her life to this work at a tremendous personal cost and now through the through the misty miasma of a hangover, which Tennison nurses with vodka before driving off to work, she leads an investigation into the disappearance of Sally, a 14-year-old girl. When her body is eventually discovered and it is learned that she was pregnant, suspicion immediately falls on her black boyfriend, and then on her devoted father Tony (Gary Lewis).

Perhaps it is only Penny (Laura Greenwood) Sally's best friend who can unlock the key to what happened to the girl. As the investigation continues and Jane and her colleagues work to identify their prime suspect, it soon becomes evident that Sally had an inappropriate relationship with Penny's father Sean (Stephen Tomkinson), who also happens to be a headmaster at one of the local schools.

Jane must conduct her search for Sally's killer whilst also trying to keep her desperate need for alcohol hidden. When the emotional fallout from the murder eventually starts to take its toll on the distrustful and world-weary detective, Jane lets her guard down and is inexplicably drawn to Penny, as this wayward girl begins to capture the order woman's heart.

Jane is certainly living on the edge here, she desperately wants to close this case, but she's too obsessed with battling her own demons. In one instance, during Jane's first interrogation scene, the initial suspect points out that Tennison reeks of alcohol, and her boss later asks her to use up her remaining leave and seek treatment.

Ms. Mirren imbues her character with such a dangerous beauty that it is impossible not to be flawed by the betrayal. Facing a reluctant retirement, Jane is resolutely mocking, troubled and self-destructive, yet always appealing and oddly heroic, rising to the occasion just when you think there is no more fight left in her.

Mirren has indeed made her Jane Tennison exasperating, larger-than-life and intimately human, and there hasn't been a moment when Mirren is not thrilling to watch on screen. Director Philip Martin instills this episode with a type of foreboding and gritty realism, and without a doubt, the streets and council estates and parks of London are the extra characters in the story. But make no mistake; this is Helen Mirren's show as she makes this character her own.

In this final installment Jane is forced to ask the question "why" - were all of her life's sacrifices really worth it? Why did she give up so much to do this often unappreciated and agonizing job? Thanks to Mirren's restrained, controlled and totally compelling performance, the answer is an unambiguous and unequivocal, yes. Mike Leonard December 06.

The series: Prime Suspect" has of course been hugely popular and for good reason. The quality of the scripts and story lines have always been excellent and Helen Mirren - well what can one say that hasn't been said before about this stunning actress.

But this episode exceeds all of this.

The story line and the acting had me gasping for breath. It is so moving, so genuine that frankly, anything else doesn't rate against it.

High quality TV is rare enough these days. This however is the exception. It's hard to imagine a TV program that could be better than this one.

Essential viewing.