Prime Suspect 3
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
[Part One]As Vera Reynolds (Peter Capaldi) performs at a gay cabaret, we see pictures of Martin Fletcher (Danny Dyer) being chased by James Jackson (David Thewlis) and of fire breaking out at the flat where Colin Jenkins (Greg Saunders) is sleeping, all characters who we will learn more about later. As Bill Otley (Tom Bell) and other police arrive at the scene and start the investigation, we also see Jake Hunter (Michael Shannon), an American, giving a talk on serial killers as promotion for his book on the subject. Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) is in the audience, and when they drive off to a hotel together we learn that they were lovers many years ago and have recently started seeing each other again even though Hunter is now married. Hunter is going on a book tour and wants her to come with him, but she is starting a new job and rejects him, just as she rejected him many years ago.At a police station we see the vice squad waiting for their new chief inspector, and we hear Superintendent Halliday (Struan Rodger) speaking on the phone with Commander Chiswick (Terrence Hardiman). Tennison arrives late on her first day, and Sergeant Otley and other staff have already begun the day's work. Halliday instructs her to focus her efforts on Operation Contract, a long-running programme to clean up vice crimes that failed under Tennison's predecessor. Tennison calls her team together to learn about their progress and the connection of the recent fire to the vice squad. When Otley is late for the meeting she calls him into her office and demands his full cooperation in spite of their history.Jane meets with Jake Hunter at the first class lounge at the train station shortly before he is scheduled to leave. He wants to convince her that they should be together, but she says they should not see each other again. Instead, she asks his opinion on the case. Meanwhile, the dead boy from the fire has been identified as Colin Jenkins, a possible prostitute also known as Connie. Otley visits a local advice centre run by an Edward Parker-Jones (Ciarán Hinds) to speak to some of the young boys who might have known Connie. One of the boys he talks to is Martin Fletcher.At a dinner for retiring deputy commissioner John Kennington (Terence Harvey) we hear Chiswick and Halliday talking about sweeping things under the carpet and keeping them there. Also present is Superintendent Kernan (John Benfield), Jane Tennison's former boss, who gives a speech for the retiree. We also see a Judge Syers (Lewis Jones), first at the dinner, then at the night club Bowery Roof, where he first talks to drag performer Vera Reynolds, then to some other men in suits about the death of Colin Jenkins, which they seem very worried about.That same night Otley and another officer, Larry Hall (Mark Strong), bring in Martin Fletcher for questioning. The next day a complaint is filed by a social worker because Martin is only 14 years old and was questioned without a lawyer present. Tennison gives them hell about it, but it also becomes clear that Martin could be a good witness against James Jackson, a local thug who lures young boys and girls into organized prostitution, and who the vice squad has hitherto been unable to bring to court. Apparently, Jackson had been looking for Connie on the night of the fire and beat up Martin trying to find him.Tennison visits the scene of the crime, and the tech team concludes that the fire was not accidental. Remains of money and some paper and photographs have been found on the burnt body. Chiswick comes to see Halliday in his office, urging him to make sure Tennison hands over the case to the homicide department rather than investigate it herself.Tennison and Otley interview Vera Reynolds; it was her flat that burned with Connie inside. She tells them what she knows about Connie, which isn't much. It is indicated that Tennison has received information from her in earlier cases. The police also bring in Martin Fletcher again; he retracts his previous statement about Jackson and refuses to help. Jackson, on his side, denies any involvement in Connie's murder or Martin's bruises and provides an alibi for the night of the murder.Halliday tries to get Tennison to give up the case, but she convinces him that she should keep going. She then overhears him on the phone explaining to somebody how it would seem suspicious to remove her from the case now. Commander Chiswick soon turns up with several officers assigned as backup for the murder investigation, including Detective Inspector Brian Dalton (Andrew Woodall).The police try to confirm Jackson's alibi, which depends on several street kids as well as centre manager Parker-Jones. Otley brings Dalton along to some street-kid hangouts, and Dalton behaves more confrontationally than Otley likes. One kid, Billy Matthews (Andrew Dicks), bites Dalton in the hand. Jane Tennison visits Edward Parker-Jones to learn more about the night in question, and he confirms Jackson's alibi in detail.Back at the police station we see Brian Dalton in Halliday's office. Halliday is telling him the direction he wants the investigation to take, and it becomes clear that Dalton is not an ordinary investigator. Added to the team are also investigators Lillie (Philip Wright) and Haskons (Richard Hawley), both Tennison's former colleagues, as well as Ray Hebdon (Mark Drewry). Tennison begins to suspect that something is up when a cassette tape goes missing from her office, and she is suspicious of Dalton. However, she is sympathetic towards him when she finds out that the kid who bit him has AIDS and she tells him to get tested. She also asks her own doctor (Eric Deacon) about the risks of HIV infection when she is there for some routine tests. Meanwhile, fag jokes are the order of the day at the station.That same day, Martin Fletcher is found dead from alcohol and drug poisoning. We also see Jackson pick up another boy, Alan Thorpe (Richard Cadman), in his car; Alan later turns up bruised and battered. Tennison meets Halliday in his office, and he tells her to stay away from Edward Parker-Jones. She also goes to see the social worker, Margaret Speel (Alyson Spiro), who had met with Martin the day before. Tennison learns from Hall that the department had also been warned about staying clear of Parker-Jones back when her predecessor, Lyall, was still in charge. Otley calls Lyall to get some information. Lillie and Haskons go to the studio of a photographer, Mark Lewis (Steven Crossley), who does model shots for teens; at first he is very helpful, but then they discover a cabinet full of video tapes including one with Connie, and they find Lewis trying to destroy evidence. They watch the videos of Connie and interrogate Mark Lewis about his business, and he tells them about when he filmed Connie and about the older man who had accompanied him. Billy Matthews appears on one of the videos; the police go to interview him, but find him weak and ill and have to take him to hospital.A journalist named Jessica Smithy (Kelly Hunter), who has been calling the station for days, turns up at Tennison's home with a microphone and camera. It turns out Smithy also has information about the case as she had interviewed Connie, who had agreed to give the names of men he had performed sexual favours for, including a member of parliament and a high-ranking police officer. Meanwhile, the squad go to search Mark Lewis's studio and home, but they have already been emptied of evidence. Tennison complains to Halliday and Chiswick that her investigation is being tampered with, but when she leaves Chiswick expresses concern that Tennison is shedding too much light on the case. The squad listens to Smithy's tapes and interrogates her; they do not learn the names of Connie's clients, but they do learn that Edward Parker-Jones was aware that Connie was about to reveal their names to Smithy. Tennison has also discovered that Parker-Jones' credentials are less than he makes them up to be; the university he has a degree from doesn't even exist.Jane Tennison goes to see the doctor again. He has the results of her tests, and he tells her that she is pregnant.[Part Two]At the police station, Tennison has a staff meeting. Otley has dug up that an Edward Parker has been investigated for crimes against minors in other parts of the country years ago. Tennison says she'll take the trip to interview the accusers. When Ray Hebdon shows himself unusually knowledgeable about the local gay scene he admits that he is a homosexual. Tennison shows him confidence, but most of his colleagues shun him. Dalton seems most stunned by the revelation, and he and Hebdon have a confrontation. Meanwhile, Tennison speaks to Halliday, who tells her to charge Jackson rather than spend time on Parker-Jones and more elaborate theories.The squad track Jackson down and tail him to a house where they also find Billy Matthews, who has checked himself out of hospital. Tennison and Dalton travel to Manchester and talk to a young man called Anthony (Jonny Lee Miller), who tell them about the sexual abuse he suffered by Parker-Jones as a kid, and also by a police officer when he tried to report it. Tennison also meets with David Lyall (Christopher Fairbank), her predecessor, who gives her additional information. Back in London, Lillie and Haskons go undercover at the Bowery Roof Club in drag. This upsets Vera, who fears for the consequences. In the street, she is approached by an angry Jackson, but convinces him that she is not to blame. Instead, he seeks out the two drag police officers and attacks them, but they overpower him and bring him in.Otley gets some of the street kids to point out a house where kids were brought to make films and perform sexual favours. It belongs to retired deputy commissioner Kennington. In Cardiff, Tennison interviews Jason (James Frain), another victim of Parker-Jones's, who has suffered mentally from the years of abuse. When Tennison and Dalton leave the estate where he lives he jumps from several floors up and injures himself severely. Later, Tennison asks Dalton straight up about his loyalties, and Dalton confesses that he is to report to Chiswick whenever Tennison's investigation crosses an ongoing investigation of blackmail connected to John Kennington's possible links to a paedophile ring.Tennison also finds out that Jason's social worker in Cardiff was the same as Martin Fletcher's in London, Margaret Speel. They interview her, and she confirms that she has had a longstanding relationship with Parker-Jones, which may have cluttered her judgement. Back at the station, Halliday is angered by recent events and yells at the squad. Tennison and Dalton go to the home of John Kennington and ask him questions about the murder, but he refuses to answer. Tennison also drops by to see Mike Kernan, who tells her that she is unlikely to get anywhere with a case against Kennington. She also asks him about a job opening as superintendent and implies that she would be interested.Back at the office, Dalton apologizes about his role in the investigation and becomes emotional when he tells her how much he fears that he might be HIV positive. Otley tells Tennison that he's brought Parker-Jones in for questioning. She would have preferred to wait, but interrogates him as well as Jackson while the unit are busy breaking their alibis and uncovering new details. The next day Tennison is called to a meeting with Halliday and Chiswick, who demands that she drop her investigation of Parker-Jones. She refuses, but she does agree to leave John Kennington out of it in return for being put forward for the superintendent position.Tennison interviews Vera Reynolds again, promising that Jackson will go to jail for a long time. This time she tells her about Connie and how he tried to blackmail Kennington and sell his story to the papers. Connie got Martin Fletcher to steal photos and documents from Jackson. Tennison again interrogates Jackson, who claims it was Parker-Jones who wanted to get back the evidence from Connie. Meanwhile, Margaret Speel goes to see Edward Parker-Jones and yells at him about what he's done. Later, the police are called to the Kennington house where John Kennington is dead. Mrs. Kennington (Rowena Cooper) tells Tennison that he shot himself that morning after a phone call from Edward Parker-Jones.In her office, Jane calls her doctor. She arranges to have her pregnancy terminated. She cries.Tennison calls in Vera for questioning again, angry with her: Jackson has claimed to have seen Vera at the advice center on the night of the murder, and Vera confirms it. She also tells Tennison that Connie was not alone when Vera left him at the flat that night, a journalist was there. Vera returned home to pick up something she had forgotten and discovered Connie showing the journalist Vera's photo album. After the journalist left, this made Vera so angry that she hit Connie with an ashtray, thinking she killed him. When Vera told Parker-Jones and asked him to call an ambulance, he said he would take care of everything. Vera tells Tennison she was too afraid of going to prison to tell her the truth sooner. When Vera goes to the lavatory she cuts her wrists; she is taken to hospital, but it is never confirmed if she survives.Tennison talks to Jessica Smithy, who had withheld the information that she was in the flat on the night of the murder, but now confirms the story. The squad go to the advice centre to pick up Edward Parker-Jones once again, and Tennison interrogates him. She shatters his alibi and establishes that due to a delay on ambulances it would have been possible for him to call emergency and then go to set Connie and the flat on fire before the ambulance arrived. But she doesn't succeed in getting a confession, and with no hard evidence she has to let him go.Superintendent Halliday tells Tennison she has the new job. Jessica Smithy returns with some pictures Tennison had instructed her to bring in. Tennison decides that it would be unforgivable if Parker-Jones were allowed to continue his work with children. She gives Smithy a file of Colin Jenkins's case so she can write the story.

Review: Like the others, it's gritty, engaging and engrossing..
Prime Suspect 3 is probably the grittiest of the Prime Suspects, in my opinion.
While "The Lost Child" is disturbing, and Prime Suspect 1 is heartbreaking, Prime Suspects 3 delves into an examination of the world of London "rentboys," young male prostitutes hired mainly by other men.
This may be the one which deals most sensitively with the ever-present personal life conflicts of DCI Tennison's co-workers and cohorts, and it doesn't hold back on letting us know just how intense some of those personal issues are.
The cast is huge, the murder itself unbelievably complex, and the resolution is probably the most jarring of any of the movies' last fifteen minutes (always the best part of any murder mystery).
Helen Mirren is DCI Tennison to a tee, and of the Prime Suspects, this might well be my favorite..
Stunning performance by Mirren and cast.
The director did a superb job pulling PS 3 together.
There are many twists and turns and unexpected endings.
This shows the fullness of human nature in graphic, dark but jarring peeks into a modern police investigation.
It also is a thought provoking portrayal of how powerless we often are to bring about meaningful change in erasing the root causes of such crimes from our communities.The interjection of the investigation teams personal and sexual lives adds to the drama and richness of PS 3.
The beginnings of life, childhood interrupted and the degradation of some of humanity is well portrayed.
The dialogue is often excellent and you have to listen to some of the questioning sessions carefully to pick up nuances that become important later.
The resolution is not as expected leaving the audience with a lot to think about about the rent boy issue today.Mirren again bucks the system and the old boy network.
the crusty Sergeant Bill Otley also surprises -- sometimes hard and occasionally "soft" when faced with the grit and horror of the crimes they are investigating.There is no sugar coating hear.
Highly recommended..
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.
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..
Helen Mirren lead.
DCI Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) breaks up with her boyfriend Jake Hunter.
He's married and an author of a serial killer book.
She's starting a new job and finds old nemesis Sgt. Bill Otley (Tom Bell).
They investigate an arson-murder involving underage rent-boys and a cross-dressing cabaret.
Thuggish James Jackson (David Thewlis) is the prime suspect.
Edward Parker-Jones (Ciarán Hinds) is the club owner.
The clientele and police involvement threaten to be a scandal.Helen Mirren is the lead.
This show can never be bad with her driving the boat.
This time Otley is back but he's somewhat domesticated.
The vicious sexism is no longer there.
The case is lascivious and dirty.
This is solid TV police drama but nothing compared to series 1 part 1..
So good..
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..
This one is also a keeper.
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. The darkest of the series..
Prime Suspect 3 is by far the darkest of the series.
It also marks the departure of series creator and writer Lynda La Plante.
The later series suffer from her absence.SPOILERS:  Helen Mirren returns as DCI Tennison, newly transferred to Vice.
She finds herself reunited with old nemesis Sgt. Bill Otley.
Otley still doesn't like her, but they forge a wary alliance to conduct an investigation into the death of a young male prostitute, which overlaps with an ongoing effort to clean up a problem with "rent boys", male child prostitutes.
The operations have been compromised at every turn and there are rumors of a cover-up.
Tennison comes across characters like Vera Reynolds, a female impersonator and friend of the murder victim; James Jackson, a pimp and dangerous predator; and Edward Parker-Jones, an apparent humanitarian administrator of a youth center, with a hidden, evil past.Tennison finds herself stonewalled at every turn and becomes suspicious of her superiors' motives.
She uncovers spies within her team and secrets upon secrets.The performances are spectacular.
Mirren is always good in these productions.
Tom Bell adds new dimension to the misogynist Otley.
He shows a humane side when he talks with the young exploited boys.
David Thewlis moves across the screen like a wolf among lambs; a flawless performance.
Peter Capaldi is riveting as the fragile and frightened Vera/Vernon Reynolds.The series examines the dark and sinister world of these young, exploited "rent boys".
Most are runaways, living on the streets.
It also examines the lives of homosexuals and the prejudices they often face; and, the courage it takes to live openly, as illustrated by an officer on Tennison's team.
It enters the horrid world of pedophiles and shows how they destroy innocent lives.
It also shows how many equate homosexuality with pedophilia, through the attitudes of many on the police force.
The series takes the courageous route by showing good and bad examples amongst the gay characters, and that the pedophiles are almost entirely heterosexual.Make no mistake, this series is depressing.
There is little satisfaction to be found in the end; except for the feeling that you have witnessed something honest and amazing.
The series provides no answers to the problems it shows, they are too complex.
But it does force you to think about them and make you care; and that is what great drama can do..
The Best of the Series.
"Keeper of Souls" is IMO the best of the Prime Suspect series because it's the darkest of the lot.
In the end, justice is only partly served by proxy - a muckraking, obnoxious journalist - and we don't even see it happening; we leave the plot as Tennyson, having failed to get a conviction from, or produce conclusive evidence on Parker-Jones (an excessively scary Ciaran Hinds) who is clearly guilty as charged, abandons the files in the interview room for the journalist to peruse and plunder.We have become used to crime stories without happy endings - most notably in the Law & Order series - but "Keeper of the Souls" is particularly disturbing because it deals with the organized abuse of children and a pedophile ring leading to Police HQ and hushed up by authority.However, the greatest feat is that the story - on such a bleak background - presents us with a string of extremely touching destinies; the drag artist who tries to help, but is too frightened to offer anything but vague clues that Tennyson is unable to decipher; the policeman who is placed on the squad to spy on Tennyson, but who switches allegiance after being bitten by an AIDS-infected boy, another policeman who earns Tennyson's respect by admitting in front of the team that he is gay, the two underage boys who die during the investigation, and, most notably, Tennyson suffering a 30 seconds breakdown after having decided to have her pregnancy terminated, thus giving up on having children altogether, a decision which will continue to haunt her throughout the series (until the final episode in which she befriends the 14-year-old Penny whom she sees as the daughter she might have had  only to find out that she is the killer Tennyson has been looking for).At the end of "Keeper," almost nothing is solved; we don't know if the bitten police spy (who turns out to be a good guy after all) has really contracted AIDS, and there is no legal prosecution of the killer, only an indication that he may be exposed in the press (and will probably not sue the paper for fear of further investigation, we must conclude).All of two unexpected star appearances flank Mirren: As the reluctant victim of abuse who refuses to testify in court we see Jonny Lee Miller just before he rose to stardom with "Trainspotting", and David Thewliss  fresh from "Naked"  appears as a terrifying hit-man..
Keeping up the high standard.
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!.
The "end" left me hanging"---!.
The 3rd of the series is very honest and full of emotional reaction to the life of all most everyone in the series.
But was very confused and at least wanted the "bad guy" to get pinched for the murder!
Thought I missed out on something.
It was like reading a mystery and then finding that the last chapter was missing.
But, beyond that, it truly was and is outstanding!
Good job all around!
Mirren is strong and yet we see a very touching side of her when it comes to a medical question.
The seediness of the whole "rent boy" world was well shown without pointing fingers or moral questions answered, which in all honesty is for better minds then wrote, acted and viewed this series.
Perhaps that is why, "the end" is, after all, correct for this look into what we outside see as an almost "unreal" world/way of life.