Prime Suspect - The Complete Collection [DVD]

This is the complete collection of the Prime Suspect TV series starring Helen Mirren. The episodes are not split into parts, meaning that some of the discs are over 3 hours long, however if you need a break just press stop and most DVD players will resume from the last played time. Each episode is a standalone 'who dunnit' and it very realistic as the programme shows the detectives investigating red herrings as well as the real culprit. Helen Mirren is truly terrific throughout as the formidable DCI Jane Tennison. In the early episodes she has to deal with a very male dominated environment and earn respect. Every episode will keep you guessing on the culprit. The only drawbacks in my opinion is that some parts of the programme look dated and smoking and drinking feature quite prominently. However if you want a British crime drama that is well acted and has plenty to keep you guessing then I highly recommend this. Five stars.

In November 2016 after 10 years of asking we finally had Sky Q installed! Signed up to the Box Set package. Which is where we rediscovered just how brilliant Prime Suspect is.Annoyingly we had series 1 downloaded on the box months ago, somehow we never got around to watching it. When we finally did, just our luck the series was set for removal the next day! Thank heavens for Amazon, we are now watching at leisure.Helen Mirren is outstanding! There are so many well known actors in this series and the plots are absorbing and hard hitting too. There's a real mix of realism and reminiscences when you watch this.On one hand you are watching a show from the early 1990s onwards and you see the Cars, the fashion, the technology and the way policing was done (even though it is fictitious) it does at times feel like fly on the wall stuff.On the flip side we see drama that is top notch, timeless and still relevant. At times the story is brutal and unflinching. A woman who has her eyes firmly set on breaking the mould. Succeeding in a very male dominated job. Series 1 especially exposes us to blatant sexism. Series 2 blatant racism etc etc. I won't spoil the plot! All this while solving a savage, violent, murder case with all it's perversity, plot twists and dead ends.The DVD differs slightly from how Prime Suspect was originally broadcast. Each series in TV format had 2 episodes, shown over 2 nights. The DVD shows the 2 episodes as a whole single episode clocking in at over 3 hours. The exception is series 4 running across 3 discs.I don't think it says in the description:Disc 1 - Series 1 (2 parts as a whole episode)Disc 2 - Series 2 (2 parts as a whole episode)Disc 3 - Series 3 (2 parts as a whole episode)Disc 4 - Series 4: The Lost ChildDisc 5 - Series 4: Inner CirclesDisc 6 - Series 4: Scent Of DarknessDisc 7 - Series 5: Errors Of JudgementDisc 8 - Series 6: The Last WitnessDisc 9 - Series 7: The Final ActDisc 10 - The Final Act: Behind The ScenesAll in, that's just a whisker short of 24 hours solid viewing. A drama that grabs you from the first few minutes and keeps you hooked even if you're being thrown upside down, turned inside out, unceremoniously shoved in a washing machine and stuck on fast spin. It's very addictive.The best episodes are written by the creator Lynda La Plante. I love the fact the DVD production hasn't restored this to Super HHHD. It adds to the atmosphere.

This series is the epitome of what a good cop series should be about. An in-depth investigation, showing the failures as well as the successes, showing times when the police can so easily be knocked off the scent by what appears to be a good lead but most of all:- a really top quality actor/actress in the lead role, supported by other great performances.Helen Mirren's character has all of our insecurities but also has something we all wish for - a true inner strength. From the first story, where she is almost fighting against her own team to find the guilty party, right through to the final episode at the end of her career, the character development is second to none. There have been a great number of long running cop shows including Frost (UK) and Columbo (US) but none have such a character development as this.When you compare the '18' certificate of this series to the '18' certificate of, say, "The Sopranos" (one of my other favourite series), the latter is full of very vicious killings and almost continuous (and on occasion very crude) swearing. Prime Suspect is different, it's an '18' because there is alcoholism, in-depth details of murder, abortion and the like but never "in-your-face" violence or foul language. Good acting, good storylines and good productions don't need it. This is an '18' solely because of the story content.If ever there was a series that deserved more than 5 stars, this is it.Very, very highly recommended.

Most enjoyable, but the last two discs did not have English subtitles, which spoiled my enjoyment of the full series. Being hard of hearing subtitles are,a must for me.

I have wanted to purchase Prime Suspect for a while now,and every since it was stated somewhere that it would eventually come out on a DVD box set i decided i wanted to buy it.Prime suspect The complete collection has all the series on 9 DVDSs and additional bonus DVD which takes you behind the scenes and the series.When Prime suspect was first on television i only saw the first two or 3 series of it so to my surprised i was able to actually catch up with the remainder Prime Suspects.The Main character DCI Jane Tennison is played by Oscar winner Helen Mirren who plays her character with some gutso and professionalism amongst her male police officer collageues.The First Prime Suspect is where this police character starts off,shes in a male dominated police station who never really gets her cases she wants because the main police boss doesnt feel shes capable of heading up a serious police investigation especially headup a murder squad and as the TV drama series plays out,gets her chance to do this just by chance.I wouldnt like to spoil what happens especially if you havnt seen Prime Suspect before but if you have and are avid fan of dramas that are written by novelist Lynda La Plante then i would defiantly recommend having this DVD Boxset amongst your dvd collection.