ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 9, 1997 TAG: 9702070037
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: TOM SHALES
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: TOM SHALES
``Leave It to Jane.'' That was the advice contained in the title of an ancient Broadway musical. It could also serve as a kind of theme for ``Prime Suspect,'' the top-drawer, high-class series of crime dramas from England that detail the adventures of Jane Tennison, cranky police detective.
She may be glum, but she gets the job done.
``Errors of Judgment,'' the latest chapter in the Tennison saga, premieres on PBS's ``Masterpiece Theatre'' tonight at 9 (on WBRA-Channel 15). It's a grim and absorbing two-parter that concludes the following Sunday. Like Tennison herself, the new installment commands respect and attention. It's absolutely riveting.
As with previous ``Prime Suspects,'' this one manages to be heart-pounding and heartbreaking at the same time. The suspense and tension are merciless, but so is the bleakness of the milieu in which Tennison operates. In this case it's an impoverished neighborhood where a vicious crime lord commands an army made up partly of very young soldiers.
A teen-ager is murdered in one scene by another boy of about the same age. Street crime is a major problem. Indeed, the big boss, whose real name is Clive Norton, prefers being known as ``The Street.'' Obviously this is one of the big fish whom Tennison will be trying to fry.
Helen Mirren's portrayal of Tennison is the thing that keeps the drama going even during mild lulls or repetitious sequences. It's a performance that gets better with age. Mirren is always on her toes. You could easily argue that she is too great an actress to do a cop show. What happened was, the producers and writers created a cop show worthy of her, and a cop worthy of her, too.
As ``Errors of Judgment'' begins, Tennison has been reassigned from London to Manchester, where a police captain brags that violent crime has actually been ``contained'' within a specific area. Of course, within that area, life and drugs are cheap. Tennison doesn't like the notion of tolerating such conditions. But darned if she doesn't hop into bed with the captain.
In the morning, he tells her she was ``electrifying'' in the sack. This, however, is left to our imaginations. We don't see what goes on. Which is probably just as well.
It becomes apparent that somebody in the department is leaking information to the crime boss, and writer Greg Andrews skillfully offers us several possibilities to keep us guessing. One of the likelier suspects, if not the prime suspect, is a tight-lipped detective named Rankine (David O'Hara). Talk about taciturn. Rankine is one of the taciturniest characters ever.
Partly because she is an outsider and partly because she is a woman, Rankine doesn't take Tennison seriously at first. But when he arrives late for a morning meeting, she lets him have it: ``Rankine, when I say 6 o'clock ... I don't mean 8 o'clock. However, I will take your apology for granted as I can't actually be bothered to sit and listen to it.''
Nobody delivers devastating rejoinders like Tennison. Or Mirren.
Others working with, or perhaps against, Tennison include a tall likable detective named Henry (John Brobbey) and another woman in the department, Claire Devanney (Julia Lane), whose father's life of crime leads Tennison to suspect her as the saboteur. But is she?
Andrews and director Philip Davis contrived a rather traditional showdown ending for the drama, but, as usual, even if the bad guy is caught, Tennison is given cause to stay worried about the sorry state of the world.
All the actors, especially Steven MacKintosh as The Street, do outstanding jobs (and the multiracial casting is refreshingly matter-of-fact), but it's hard to imagine an actor alive who can steal a scene from Mirren. Leave it to Jane, indeed.
If you liked the other ``Prime Suspect'' dramas, you'll love this one. It's as simple as that.
- Washington Post Writers Group
LENGTH: Medium: 75 linesby CNB