Prime Suspect 3 (1993)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Simply A Masterpiece

Good concept, poorly executed.

A different way of telling a story

Absolutely loved the first 'Prime Suspect' series. It was to me some of the best television to grace my television set. 'Prime Suspect II' was every bit as good, the two are about equal in terms of quality, for the same reasons as before.'Prime Suspect III' was watched with high expectations when seeing all the 'Prime Suspect' series over-time since reviewing the first series last year. Those expectations were not just met but also surpassed. It has all the things that made the previous two 'Prime Suspect' series so great, and stands out even more because of the characterisation which was even richer and because of the story and its heavier themes than before.It is stylishly and cleverly filmed, with slick editing and atmospheric lighting, and there is a consistently wonderful atmosphere throughout. It is a dark and gritty atmosphere, 'Prime Suspect' in general is both those things story-wise and visually but 'Prime Suspect III' is one of the stronger examples, while also being effectively claustrophobic. It is very hard to forget the music score too. The scripting, like its predecessor, is some of the best there is of any mystery/detective drama, being superbly constructed and intelligent.The story is 'Prime Suspect' at its darkest, most hard-hitting and grittiest for the intense subject matter alone, but in some ways also at its most honest, intricate and emotional. It is a complex story that keeps one guessing right up to the end while also being easy to follow. The interrogation scenes are some of the most harrowing of the whole 'Prime Suspect' franchise, both intensely shocking and even brings tears to the eyes.Jane Tennison continues to be an interesting character, the character and the depiction of the police force was very ahead of the time back in the 90s and holds much fascination now even if not so novel.Helen Mirren gives a typically magnificent performance in the lead, and she has one of her best supporting casts of all the 'Prime Suspect' series that include Peter Capaldi and Mark Strong in early roles and a standout turn from Tom Bell as oily Sergeant Otley. Excelling also are David Thewlis, who has never been more thuggish, and Ciaran Hinds at his most mysterious.In conclusion, along with the previous two 'Prime Suspect' series, 'Prime Suspect III' is the franchise at its best. 10/10 Bethany Cox

I'm running out of superlatives for the Prime Suspect series. Series 3 is another gripping crime drama, this time set against the background of the world of London rent boys. Despite it's lengthy we were tempted to watch in one sitting, though we didn't quite manage it! The highlights this time are long scenes showing DCI Tennison interviews witnesses and suspects. This shows Helen Mirren at her finest, portraying an intelligent police detective who knows exactly how to structure an interview to get the truth from people.The theme of police corruption also looms large right from the very start. Glimpses of Tennison's rather sad personal life are also shown.She's still off the ciggies though!

Everything everyone is saying about this one is true. One thing to add: it's a lot for a single sitting. It runs almost four hours. People couldn't have had an option when it was transmitted on telly - they had to wait for the subsequent episodes - but when you rent or purchase it now you can't be forced into that option - and you'll find it nigh on impossible to break things off at the hour or two hour mark - it's just too good as everyone says.Perhaps the best news is that Lynda La Plante is back. Episode two wasn't bad - but it wasn't La Plante's writing and it didn't have her magical hand on it. This one does. It's as if she took all the stuff she found out worked in the first episode, concentrated it, and flung it back. Everything is deeper, grittier, gorier.There are seven huge episodes in this opus, all told twenty two hours of viewing. So to single out any one episode and say it's 'best' is going to be difficult, but taking only the first three it's not hard to see which excel more than others, and this one has to rank right at the very top.

At first, we had a hard time understanding the accents, but by the second episode we caught up and enjoyed it a great deal. Then again, we were watching a home-taped VHS copy, so the sound was a little muted.The acting and the writing were excellent.