Watch Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness For Free

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Det. Supt. Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) is 54 and being pushed to retire. A woman is found tortured and killed in a basement. Tennison pushes aside subordinate DCI Simon Finch to head the investigation. With former flame Robert West's help, she dives into the murky history of the Balkan war. The victim and her sister Jasmina Belkic are illegal Bosnian Muslim immigrants. Finch suspects Jasmina's petty criminal Kasim and his connections in the underworld. Tennison zeroes in on Serb security guard Duscan Zigic as the prime suspect. His lawyer brings in Milan Lukic to translate. Jasmina reveals a connection a decade earlier during the war.It's seven years since series five. This one is a three hour two-parter. The production is one step up from the earlier series. Even the autopsy looks better. Helen Mirren continues to shine as Tennison. The story is able to take a couple of turns in the second part to keep the interest. They're not shocking or out of left field but they are interesting. This is one of the better procedurals in the Prime Suspect franchise.

Spoilers all the way through.If you're like me, you read the reviews only after seeing the movie or program. If I really enjoyed it, I then check the reaction of others - a sharing of the exhilaration. The other reviews here are excellent and reflect my own views.This is a role in which Helen Mirren has done consummate justice (yeah, yeah, the wordplay is intentional…): as 'nancinger' aptly says in her review, 'she's as hard as nails on the surface and as crumpled up as ever on the inside.' And tougher than Dirty Harry.The suspense is palpable. The race against time in the hospital against a murderer, and we really don't know how it will turn out, keeps us on the edge of our seats. But there's suspense in the interrogations, too. Do you, as I do, try to anticipate the questions, try to out-cool the 'interrogatee'? When I'm stumped, Tennison comes through, though not without a sideways glance, a bit of a pause to think. There's suspense in the politics, in how Tennison has to negotiate the labyrinthine obstacles her own department puts in her way, how she has to guess at her own people's agendas, how she has to manage them, offend them yet keep their loyalties, there's suspense as to who will stab her in the back and who will pull through for her.Some of the devices are obvious, some less so, but they're effective. We see cleaning women often enough to think 'enough, already, I get the point!!!', Tennison reaching out for her father, then pulling her hand back, but most effective is the light shining through a bullet hole onto her eye at the scene of the massacre, recalling her earlier eye exam from its perpetrator – very effective indeed. (And I must give kudos to Oleg Menshikov for his outstanding performance as a charismatic psychopath.)When Tennison first visited her father, I was worried it would be filler, but it turned out to be essential. A later visit was a wonderful paean to this great TV detective, a rousing peroration that explains, by one who should know, what makes Tennison tick and what she should do. Mix in the hesitation with the hand and we see the twin manifestations of her hardness and her 'crumpledness' in the same scene.It is inevitable that when I pop in the DVD to watch a new Prime Suspect series, I will watch it through in one sitting, three hours, four hours be damned... A superlative show.

Just finished watching #6 which was screened in two parts this week on SVT1. Was on the edge of my seat for both episodes.Mirren is, as always, a joy to watch. This riveting story is blessed with a great ending. It felt really good after this one. Quite a lot of thriller/police dramas end without one feeling that justice has been meted out. Here, the main antagonists get their just desserts. And I mean everybody. Especially the woman from the secret service. That look she gives her man at the end is priceless.Beautifully shot and nicely scored. A great bit of telly to be sure. Top marks here!

Helen Mirren is back as Superintendent Jane Tennison, and she's back in London. We don't know how she transferred back, after her previous stint in Manchester, but seven years have gone by. Now, Tennison has reached the 30 year mark in her career and is facing retirement. Her superiors would like nothing better if she did and her subordinates are itching to move ahead. Some, like Chief Superintendent Larry Hall, last seen as DI Larry Hall in Prime Suspect 3, have passed her by. Tennison is feeling a bit insecure and takes over an investigation from a subordinate to prove to herself that she's still got the touch.Spoilers: The case Tennison commandeers involves the brutal torture and murder of a young Bosnian immigrant. She narrows down the suspects to a Serbian security guard, thanks to input form the dead woman's sister. It seems they were witnesses to a massacre during the war, 10 years before, and this man let them escape alive. However, he has alibis that prove true.Tennison begins looking elsewhere and discovers that the interpreter brought in to help the suspect and police seems to have a connection to the suspect, aside from their nationality. In the interim, the sister is executed by the recently released suspect. Thanks to a tip off, the police capture him alive. He admits to both murders, even though evidence proves he couldn't have murdered the first woman.Tennison defies her superiors and travels to Bosnia to uncover the truth about the past massacre and the true identity of the interpreter. She returns to London, ready to arrest the man, when the government comes calling. It seems that this man is a mole, infiltrating the Serbian community to expose bigger war criminals. The government is aware of his past and is covering for him. Tennison is threatened with serious repercussions if she pursues the case, using the information the government reveals.Tennison confides in her estranged father, who tells her that, although he hasn't seen eye-to-eye with her, he's always been proud that she has had convictions and knows she will do what is right. He proceeds to relate a tale to her, about his time as an ambulance driver in WWII and his introduction to Belsen Concentration Camp. Tennison resolves to bring this murderer to justice.Risking all, Tennison brings down the interpreter, exposing his true nature to his wife, the government agent, and to himself. If she's going to end her career, Tennison is going out fighting for what she believes in.Mirren is fantastic as ever. Tennison is filled with character flaws and Mirren seems to take pleasure in them. Tennison has championed women in the police force, but she shows resentment to a young officer who wants both a career and a family. Tennison had to scarifice family for the sake of her career. She is uncomfortable around her own father. She has to wear reading glasses, but doesn't want to update the prescription. She is still fighting the tobacco demon. Her relationships still end badly. However, her sense of justice is as strong as ever.Frank Finlay has a small, but pivotal role as Tennison's father. He can see the discomfort in his daughter and still can't relate to her. However, he is able to inspire her with his tale of horror from his youth. After coming face-to-face with the Holocaust, he never wanted to be involved in anything big again. He hid in his small world of job and family. But, her recognizes his daughter is different; she has to confront the evils of society. She won't hide. It would have been nice to see more of Finlay, but he makes the most of his small moments.All of the actor are first rate and the characters come alive. Even London is presented as a character in this piece. If there is a flaw, it's that little time is spent on Tennison's journey from the last series to this one. We never find out what happened after she uncovered her boss' complicity with the activities of "the Street." How did she get a posting back in London, after making enemies in very high places? It doesn't affect the story, but, for long-time viewers, it does hover in the back of your mind. Also, it seems a bit unlikely that Larry Hall would jump 3 grades in rank in 10 years. I'm no expert, but it would seem that there would be a minimum time in rank before an officer would be eligible for promotion. Hall could have had connections, but they weren't evident in the third series. Again, it is a minor point.Catch this one; you'll be glad you did.