Prime Suspect: The Complete Collection

No dislikes; arrived on time in pristine condition to replace worn-out copies.

I've seen two seasons/series: 1 & 2 only. So I don't know if the quality will change in later seasons as sometimes happens in the USA shows when they replace the A List writers once an audience is hooked in. So far the show is amazing, fantastic, incredible.I haven't explored BBC crime dramas until Prime Suspect. I've discovered in this show writing that is some of the most clever and sensational I have come across anywhere, whether in TV or features.Being that it is a crime solver, I won't say anything that would possibly contain spoilers, tempting as it is, in order to make my points. But I will say the writing plays by the rules of Crime Mystery. Clues and hints are juicy and are dropped such that I found myself wracking my brain to solve the puzzle and bring justice to it all.We are given a fair amount of clues and leads facing the protagonists, and everything is colored by beautifully drawn colliding motivations. The film makers wove in some very clever scene and story movement. Throughout they played with my expectations mercilessly, yet masterfully.For sensitive viewers, there is some nudity and a goodly amount of sexual referencing, but it's the nature of the sub-genre and it's reasonably there for plot and character development. It is gritty. How the film makers were able to come that close to the edge and not be offensive (to me) is something of a magic trick and speaks highly of the production skills. My opinion is that it's not for kids on any level.There is a perfect hierarchy of characters, with Helen Mirren at the top, but this actress isn't imposing her stardom over the rest of the cast. She blends into the story beautifully, yet that makes her character more believable and all the more compelling. She's given great scenes to act, and she details her character with subtle mannerisms that add so much depth and realism. You can see Helen Mirren the person really gets the potential and depth of her scenes in the context of the story and serves it to us as well as any actor I have ever seen. The way she works her part with the other characters in context is almost like a dance, the rapport is so convincing.If you like this genre, watch Prime Suspect. I'm looking at the 7 seasons ticking away, and I know I'll be in a panic to find more shows at this level.

Set was purchased used at a great price and consisted of seven seasons. A season typically ran around 200 minutes with one storyline. Great writing and pace. Strong acting. All seasons had good subtitles except #7 which had none and I lost about 30% of the conversation because of the accents. Strongly recommended. I think this series captured, more than any other, the gritty world our police work in.

Fantastic stories. easy to follow one series to another. Like the personal side of key players.

If you're looking for something different in the police drama category... this is it. Completely unlike anything in the American cop show format, the first thing you'll notice is that these are all 1-hour-40-minute movie length features as opposed to the American format of 42-44 minutes. With only two of these features in each series broadcast a week apart as a part 1 / part 2, this must have been more like an annual event on British televison as opposed to a "season" on American TV. And what an event it must have been... wonderful story development with some really gritty subject matters, and Helen is marvelously brilliant in what could have been a very stereo-typed role. She plays it with a flawed humanity that is totally engrossing and even a little uncomfortable at times. There are also some fine performances by her fellow actors, particularly a couple of the "suspects". Very emotional and gripping. One other big difference from American cop shows... for the most part the officers are not armed and there was very little gunplay. This was at times a refreshing change and other times it was like "are you crazy going into that situatuion without a gun?!!" Just shows you what we Americans are conditioned to.Series 4 was the only one expanded to three parts (wish all them had been three), and there was a gap of seven years between Series 5 & 6, and three years between 6 and 7, the final one. A minor complaint: the outer box is on the flimsy side and mine arrived a bit damaged even though it was still shrink-wrapped.Highly, highly recommended.

Prime Suspect is a TV series, but it's not your regular TV show, this is for adults written by adults, no sugarcoated stuff here, sometimes dark, deep, real. Helen Mirren and the writers were able to create a character which is believable, genuine, forging her path in a sexist environment without recurring to the dumb modern narrative tricks. This is a real person, an excellent cop, great stories.The Bluray collection I purchased was used/openbox but it was really Like New, not even a scratch or dust..!

I loved Seasons 1-3 in the 90’s and I was glad to see the complete collection. Helen Mirren is fantastic as well as the rest of the cast. This show is somewhat dated but the stories were pretty gritty at the time. Now it’s like looking in on a time capsule of what sexism, trans prejudice, racism and xenophobia was like 20 years ago. That’s significant with the current headlines on these issues. Gives you a visual of why victims didn’t say anything 20 years ago. I think that’s why I like Jane Tennyson more than Sarah Lund (The Killing) or Saga Norén (The Bridge). Tennyson addresses the dysfunction outside of her (sexism) and how it gets her down (alcoholism). The new crime dramas act like sexism doesn’t exist at all rather the dysfunction is inside the female lead, Lund is emotionally distant and Norén has Asperger’s syndrome. If Tennyson were to have a real world “heir,” I’d say Danish PM Birgitte Nyborg (Borgen) though female leads on police dramas owe a huge debt to Prime Suspect. See it!!

Not seen this since it first aired and thoroughly enjoyed watching it again after all these years. Terrific script acted with perfection by the inimitable Helen Mirren.

First of all, if you love British mysteries, this is probably one of the top three ever made. Different people may argue which is best and I will leave them to it. The other two are the Morse/Endeavour series and the Touch of Frost mysteries. Helen Mirren is absolutely perfection in this role as Jane Tennison. She plays a hard-as-nails detective fighting her way to the top and up and down and up again. Her character is flawed, painfully ambitious, fraught with doubts and absolutely sure she knows best...and usually she does. It takes you all the way to her retirement, itself done in true Tennison fashion.These stories are not for the faint of heart, so if you are looking for a simple murder mystery of easy watching try the Midsomer Mysteries, or Father Brown series. It is often hard to watch the goings on in this series because it is true to life, life being cruel, hard, unforgiving, unrelenting and in some people's worlds just plain Hades. Fascinating and unforgettable like watching a disaster happening, this series gets you hooked. It forces you to think, feel the anguish and yet keep watching.A perfect series without flaw, this is a masterpiece of film making. A must for mystery lovers who like the raw, gritty substance of true-to-life stories, this is the apex of its kind. Buy it for yourself or for a gift.......but remember...not for the faint of heart. Highly recommended!

Die unterschiedlich langen Filme entsprechen der Komplexität der Fälle, die gelöst werden, was bei TV-Sendungen völlig unüblich ist. Faszinierend dabei ist die getreue Widergabe wirklicher Situationen mit all ihren Problemen. Dazu kommen die menschlichen Beziehungen zwischen den Ermittlern, die widerspiegeln, wie Helen Mirren als Frau, zunächst als Kollegin und später als "Chefin" im männlichen Team auf wenig Gegenliebe stößt, da ihre Karriere zu einem Zeitpunkt beginnt, als Frauen im gehobenen Dienst noch eine Seltenheit waren. Weil sich dieses Verhältnis mit der Zeit verändert, ist es wichtig sich die Filme in der richtigen Reihenfolge anzusehen. Die Besetzung ist hochrangig - ausgezeichnete Schauspieler, die Geschichten kann man regelrecht miterleben, mitbangen und sich mit freuen.An der Qualität der DVDs -über Computer abgespielt- ist m.E. nichts auszusetzen, mit Windows XP und VLC gab es keinerlei Probleme. Das einzige "Problem" ist, daß man am liebsten alle Filme auf einen Rutsch ansehen möchte - so wie man ein spannendes Buch nicht weglegen kann und dann die ganze Nacht durchliest, so kann es einem auch mit diesen Filmen ergehen. Helen Mirren ist dabei ausschlaggebend, weil man allzu gerne wissen möchte, ob sie sich durchsetzen kann und wie es mit ihrem persönlichen Einsatz weiter geht.Die einzelnen Fälle schildern jeweils eine unterschiedliche soziale Konstellation und greifen völlig verschiedene Problemkreise auf, die detailliert und nachvollziehbar geschildert werden, was diese Serie zu weit mehr macht als einer Krimiserie. Es sind schon eher kleine Studien unserer Gesellschaft. Nimmt man all dies zusammen, kann ich nur sagen: Es ist die beste Krimiserie, die ich je gesehen habe und ich werde sie mir mit Sicherheit nochmal ansehen, weil die enthaltenen komplexen gesellschaftlichen Betrachtungen zum Nachdenken anregen und weil man beim ersten Ansehen so manch wichtiges Detail übersehen mag, das man erst beim zweiten Mal richtig erfaßt.

Stupendous value for money. Brilliant acting and sound plots - hours of high-class telly escapism. It should be several times more expensive!

The incomparable Helen Mirren stars in the role of Jane Tennison, a woman of courage and vulnerability, intelligence and tenacity who has to battle against the entrenched misogynistic culture of the police while at the same trying to solve complex crimes often with little or no cooperation from her male colleagues who seem determined to make her look incompetent. This stellar performance by Dame Mirren is augmented by some of the finest actors in Britain in supporting roles: among them Ralph Fiennes and David Thewlis. The writing is superlative: crackling with tension as Jane battles the intransigence of her superiors (and her subordinates) as she tries to solve some baffling and complex cases. This dramatic series presents a remarkable character study as well as some of the finest crime drama you will ever see. No to be missed!!!