Review of Prime Suspect 5: Errors Of Judgement

Introduction

British television has a proud history of delivering high quality serious Police drama - both in series form like the critically acclaimed (and simply brilliant) Between the Lines and in mini-series form like Cracker and Prime Suspect. The latter two ITV produced shows have recently been released on DVD, with each of the seven and ten respective episodes available as single discs or box sets. Each box set contains the same discs as the individual releases, repackaged in a fold-out slipcase. The discs themselves are identical.

After the critical acclaim lauded upon the first three Prime Suspect series, made in 1991, 1992 and 1993, the series made a slight format change for the fourth series, broadcast in 1995 but series five reverts to the three hour format.

In "Errors of Judgement", Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison has moved to a new job in Manchester, a new city, a new team, same old crime. This time out a shooting leads Tennison into the Manchester underworld, with a mysterious character known as "The Street" seemingly the key to the investigation.

Video

The video is presented in the 4:3 full-frame as originally broadcast on British television. The image is free from dirt and grain, and being the latest instalment of the series has the best picture quality of the seven episodes released.

Prime Suspect always has been a series made with movie production values, and this third series is, like its predecessors, is superbly filmed. Once again, the hard edge of the visuals in the first three series has been toned down considerably, resulting in a fifteen certificate instead of the eighteen certificate that three episodes received. This results in visuals that have far less impact, as the series concentrates on the investigation instead, although the move to Manchester makes the scenery a little different to the previous six discs.

Audio

The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, which is shame because a full 5.1 channel remix would have given the soundtrack the bite to match the visuals - something that would have increased the impact of the series even further.

As it stands, the Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack is more than adequate and delivers solid vocals and a reasonable reproduction of the series` score and sound effects.

Features

Sadly, the disc is totally devoid of extras, featuring only a static menu offering "Play" and "Chapter Selection".

Conclusion

"Prime Suspect 5 - Errors of Judgement" maintains the very high standard of Prime Suspect and is a fitting current end to the series.

Once again the superb cast deliver top-notch performances and the storyline and script maintained my interest throughout and I found the three hours to be totally riveting.

There are no extras on the disc, but over three hours of top-notch entertainment for ten pounds is excellent value for money.

Recommended.