Primed for Action

Stefanie Martini stars as a young Jane Tennison tackling her first murder case in the hard-hitting crime drama prequel

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Prime Suspect’s tough-talking, hard-drinking Jane Tennison, played by Helen Mirren, is one of the most iconic TV detectives of all time, thanks to her sharp intuition, her car crash of a private life, and her determined battle to reach the top in the face of rampant sexism.

Now, ITV’s Prime Suspect 1973 prequel features Tennison, played by Stefanie Martini, starting out her career as a 22-year-old probationary Woman Police Constable (WPC) in Hackney, east London.

‘People have always loved the character because Jane’s a strong woman and very real – she’s flawed and she can be unlikable and cut-throat,’ says Martini, 26, who is best-known for her role in period drama Doctor Thorne, and currently appears in 5STAR’s Emerald City.

‘But in this story, she has just started in the police force. Even though she has to make cups of tea and do admin, she wants to do her job as well as possible. But she doesn’t quite have the experience and knowledge you see in the later portrayal of the character.’

No Plain Jane

However, fans of the original series will see hints of the formidable but fragile woman she will become.