Prime Suspect - The Complete Collection

Created by Lynda La Plante, Prime Suspect is the award-winning British television crime series starting Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, a Metropolitan police officer who struggles with criminals, sexist co-workers, and her own self-defeating actions. She's a very compelling character that's allowed to be flawed and is one of the most intriguing female characters to appear on television. It aired on ITV in Britain and PBS in the United States. Prime Suspect - The Complete Collection compiles all the previous DVD releases and repackages them with new covers inside a slipcase.

Series 1 (1991) – DCI Tennison finally gets a murder case after years of being passed over. The male officers resent her, especially when she finds their work is not only subpar but may hint at a cover-up. Finally given the chance to prove herself causes Tennison to be so focused and obsessed she neglects her boyfriend (Tom Wilkinson).

Series 2 (1992) – Tennison has to deal with racial issues when a murder she is assigned takes her into London's Afro-Caribbean community. She is paired with Sgt. Robert Oswalde (Colin Salmon), a black detective with whom she previously had an affair. If the liaison became known, it could cause trouble at work.

Series 3 (1993) – Tennison now finds herself a member of the vice squad after the results of the previous series. The murder of a young male prostitute leads her into the grim world of child prostitution and pornography. Her superiors don't make her job easier when they have someone spy on her and she has to get creative to see justice served. Tennison also has to deal with a very traumatic personal matter. It's the darkest series of them all.

Series 4 (1995) – There a few changes from the previous series in this installment. La Plante is no longer involved, Tennison has been promoted to Detective Superintendent, and there are three separate cases. Directed by John Madden, The Lost Child works an abducted toddler case and personal matters from Series 3 bleed over and affect her handling of it. The murder of a country-club manager in Inner Circles pits rich against poor while revealing a political scandal. Scent of Darkness is a very good one for fans as it revisits Series 1. Suspicions are raised that Tennison may have arrested the wrong man on her first case after a series of murders with a familiar modus operandi.

Series 5: Errors of Judgement (1996) – Tennison has been reassigned to Manchester and catches a murder she believes a local gangster is responsible for but he always remains one step ahead of her investigation. She makes poor decisions involving the case and a co-worker, both of which could spell trouble for her career.

Series 6: The Last Witness (2003) – After a seven-year absence, Tennison returned to the airwaves and London. Suggestions of retirement abound from colleagues as she takes on a case involving the murder of an immigrant that has roots in the Bosnian war. British government officials try to get her to stop the investigation but she plows ahead, choosing justice over her career.

Series 7: The Final Act (2006) – Tennison has one last big case before her retirement. Her personal life complicates things as she comes to grips with a lot of personal issues such as dealing with her dying father and admitting to herself she is an alcoholic. This series was previously reviewed here.

Over the course of its run, Prime Suspect is a better character study than a police procedural not to slight the latter. As good as the stories are to varying degrees, watching Mirren breathe life into Tennison as the character deals with her issues is much more captivating than solving the mysteries. It's no surprise she won Emmys and BAFTAs for her performances.

Prime Suspect - The Complete Collection received no technical upgrades. The video on Series 1-5 is 4:3 fullscreen while the remaining series are 16:9 widescreen. The audio on Series 1-3 is mono while the remaining series are stereo. There are no new extras created for this release either, so this isn’t for fans that have already purchased some or all of the series DVDs. Instead, the set is for fans that enjoy crime dramas and smart television, and they would do well in picking up.

Life on Mars: Series 2 (UK)

The second and final series continues with Sam Tyler (John Simm) trapped in 1973 after being hit by a car in 2006 and answers the question he asks in the opening credits, "Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time?" Although there is some minor misdirection along the way, the creators tip their hand throughout, but the resolution of the series is ultimately unsatisfying.

During the second series, Life on Mars remains a very good police procedural and there are interesting ideas worked out from the premise. In "Episode 1," Tyler tries to put away casino owner Tony Crane because he will one day be a murderer. Things get especially complicated when Tyler sees visions of what he thinks is Crane trying to kill him while he is in a coma in 2006.

Tyler meets other people from his modern-day life: his mentor, Glen Fletcher, as he deals with becoming the first black detective on the force; his Aunt Heather during an investigation of a serial killer; and the mother of his girlfriend Maya, who is considering having an abortion, while Tyler has visions that Maya is giving up on him in the hospital. These are all nice character moments as we see the relationships from different perspectives of time.

DCI Frank Morgan (Ralph Brown) arrives in "Episode 7" to conduct an investigation when DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) is accused of killing a man and has no memory of what happened due to his drinking. Morgan seems aware of Tyler's predicament and in "Episode 8" convinces him that taking Hunt down will return him home. Tyler receives messages through devices about a tumor that needs to be removed in 2006, paralleling his situation with the police force in 1973. He is almost certain he has to destroy his current life to return to his former/future, but these people are so real to him, he doesn’t know if he can. Also, Morgan, who Tyler hears has the same name as his doctor, presents a fourth, plausible scenario, making Tyler doubt his understanding of what is happening.

[Spoiler: Since the ending is where the series fell short, there's no way to discuss what the creative team did wrong without revealing it. Skip to the last paragraph, if you don't want to find out.]

I enjoyed the writing up until the resolution, although it seemed like it had to be a coma the entire time as I guessed in my review of the first series, and the misdirection of Tyler being mad comes off forced upon reflection. However, by trying to end on a positive note, the creative team throws logic out the window and does a disservice to themselves and the viewer by blurring the series' mythology.

After turning his back on his friends while they are in trouble, Tyler comes out of his coma, although that doesn't discount the fact that he may have traveled back in time. Tyler finds his modern life unsatisfying, so he throws himself off a building, which allows him to return to 1973 and save his friends. While it's great to see the gang back together, there's no real explanation of what happened. How could he return to 1973 by killing himself, and why would he think that he could, if that were his plan, because that's not how he got there? Being in a coma and being dead isn't the same thing, yet now his imagination and the afterlife are the same thing? The creative team copped out to create a happy ending.

[End Spoiler]

The set comes with bonus features of behind-the-scenes looks at episodes "3," "5," and "7;" a tour of the CID set; and Tufty's cameo. "The Return of Life on Mars" (45 min) and "The End of Life on Mars" (28 min) contains interviews with the cast and crew as they talk about proceeding with the second series as well as wrapping it up. Everyone seems content as the creators explain what and why they did what they did, but none of them take into account what little sense it makes.