Watch Prime Suspect: The Lost Child For Free

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Absolutely brilliant

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) has been newly promoted to Superintendent. She has a short unknown hospitalization. The first case is an abducted baby. Somebody knocked Susan Covington unconscious and stole her baby Vicki. Chris Hughes becomes the prime suspect but Anne Sutherland provides him with an alibi. The case hits home for Tennison. Mistakes by subordinates puts Anne and her family in danger.The Prime Suspect episodes get shortened from its four hour TV running time in half. It's much more of a TV police procedural and it works better as such. It doesn't feel stretched out. Helen Mirren is great as usual. There is less filler which results in a higher intensity although the final twist is easily foreseen.

"Prime Suspect 4" continues the exploits of the inscrutable and dogged seeker of truth and justice, Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison; the first of three miniseries (PS4, PS5, & PS6) with the notable absence of founding writer Lynda La Plante from the credits. Imbued with the same gritty reality of the first three series, the second three series pit Tennison against the forces of evil while coping with middle age, loneliness, indiscretions, a host of personal and professional problems, and resolutions which are sometimes less than ideal. PS4 conjures two stories while PS5 & PS6 are single episodes each which find Tennison seeking justice on behalf of the brutally wronged while waging war against institutions which are willing to sacrifice the interests of her victims for those of a greater good. In other words, to prevail, Tennison must overcome both evil and good forces, something which makes the always gray scenarios of the PS series yet grayer and the Tennison wars as much a matter of principle as of finding murderers. Very good stuff which only gets better from series to series. (B+)

Prime Suspect 4 marks a departure for the series. Gone is series writer and creator Lynda La Plante. The other major change is the format; this series consists of three unrelated episodes, with some unifying characteristics.Spoilers: When we last saw DCI Tennison, she had failed to gather enough evidence to convict Edward Parker-Jones of the death of Colin "Conny" Jenkins and for running a pedophile ring; but, she gained a measure of justice by subtly providing a journalist the opportunity to reveal the story. She was able to extort a promise of promotion from her superiors, if she solved the case and gained a conviction. She earns her promotion to Detective Superintendent, even though she doesn't obtain a conviction. She also finds that she is pregnant with the child of a former lover, a married man. After the horrors she has witnessed and learned, she decides to terminate the pregnancy. This episode opens with Tennison having her abortion. She wants to quickly return to work so she doesn't have to confront her emotions. Unfortunately, her first case involves the apparent abduction of an infant. Tennison becomes increasingly desperate to recover the child; and when it is found dead, to bring the killer to justice. Although the previous series involved the dangers of pedophiles preying on kids on the street and in state institutions, this series confronts the harsher reality of a pedophile in a domestic situation. Tennison's prime suspect is a pedophile who was released after serving his sentence and undergoing treatment. Like most offenders, he was the product of abuse himself. At points he seems like he is truly trying to live a normal and healthy life; and at others, his actions are suspicious. To add to the mix, one of Tennison's detectives seems obsessed with this case. He nearly causes the suspect's death and sets into motion events which lead to his escape and taking of hostages. Tennison discovers that her officer was also the survivor of abuse, although his life took a more positive path. While Tennison attempts to resolve the hostage situation, without loss of life, she uncovers the truth of what happened to the infant victim. The siege ends safely, but Tennison has faced her own loss and had a glimpse of what life could have been like had she chosen to carry out her pregnancy. In the end, she doesn't know if she is better or worse off. The performances are good, as always, and the writing, although not La Plante's, holds up well. As always, issues are presented without providing easy solutions, much like life.A special note for Star Wars fans; check out Anthony Daniels, sans C3PO costume, as a pathologist. He demonstrates far greater skill than he was allowed to show in the other films.

As the superb `Prime Suspect' series reaches part four there is no loss of momentum at all, this in itself a considerable achievement.' Prime Suspect IV: The Lost Child' has the solid supporting cast that we take for granted in these British dramas but of course the beautiful Helen Mirren easily dominates; our eyes never leave her while she's on-screen.The search for the lost child of the title leads Superintendent Jane Tennison's CID team to a prime suspect who turns out to be a convicted pedophile now living with a single mother and her two young daughters. The insight we are given into the workings of his mind is one of the emotional highlights of this mini-series but it may be too strong for many stomachs.The action sequences are brilliantly handled with the hand-held camera thrusting us right into the middle of the excitement and there's gripping tension during the climactic siege.Altogether this is another magnificent police procedural drama.