Prime Suspect 5: Errors of Judgement (1996)

As good a show these days as it was back in 1996.Always interesting to see what the actors are doing these days.Not just the main cast but the minor players as well.All cast are on top form with stand out performances from Steve Macintosh ,David O Hara, Julia Lane and the ever dependable Helen Mirren .A great script but with a grubby feel of city life with a realistic look at the drug scene. Really enjoyed it again even after eighteen years as it has dated very little.I bought the box set from Amazon and this is by far the best story line from the entire set. 8/10

Prime Suspect 4 was a bit of a mixed bag so it is great to report that PS5 is of a very high standard.Having blotted her copybook with the top brass in the Metropolitan Police force DCI Tennison finds herself in Manchester and before long is trying to solve a gangland murder in a flat complex. Suspects are hard to come by but she is convinced a local drug baron is involved somehow.I prefer the longer format as it allows some lengthy scenes where Tennison and her team of detectives try to get information from a suspect or a witness. Tennison is well able to play good cop and bad cop, sometimes in the same interview! She is also not afraid to show her sympathy for innocent victims and their families and her contempt for the criminal and the corrupt. She also has to deal with the varied personalities of her new team of detectives.Top quality criminal drama yet again from the Prime Suspect series.

Did all the reviewers watch this movie? Normally this series is exceptional. The acting is first rate and is here also.Jane Tennison is demoted and goes to a district away from London and encounters a murder almost immediately. She is put in charge and meets the usual standoffish bunch of detectives who don't like outsiders and apparently have heard of her reputation of not sitting still (very sexist). She doesn't care and charges into the investigation.The plot involves a drug kingpin who also murders whoever stands in his way. A thoroughly despicable character who toys with the police and is always one step ahead of them. This plot is quite well done until the last 30 minutes or so. Talk about frustrating! Tennison knows there is a mole in the department and when she finds out who it is she sets up an interview with a witness knowing full well that the police department leak will give the info to The Street (the villain), who will of course then go after the witness's girlfriend.It's frustrating to watch as you realize that no police were posted to the girlfriend's house to watch her. So the villain goes and gets her and terrorizes her and is eventually saved. How hard would it have been to post a unmarked car or something like that? Sorry but the previous 4 installments were topnotch and this one was too until the wheels fell off.

Most of the Prime Suspect Series are gritty but this one is the most intense. The nothing to lose attitude of the "bad guys" added with the subtle defeatist attitude of the detective team brings this movie to almost a horror boiling point.Of course Superintendent Jane Tennison doesn't know or have such problem. Even in this new assignment and new culture Tennison is her usual "get the bad guy at all cost" self. It's a must see but you might not want to watch it alone.