Prime Suspect: The Lost Child

After having seen The Lost Child for quite a number of times since its release in 1995, and having read the reader's comments (mostly about Jane Tennison's background and Helen Mirren's superb role in it), it strikes me more than ever that no comments are made upon the brilliant role Robert Glenister is playing as Chris Hughes. Even after 10 years it is still one of the most credible ways of portraying the complex personality of a child abuser, carrying the weight of his own past.Watching the episode for the full one and a half hour makes you constantly switch between feelings of love and hate for this guy, in which the hate prevails because of the gravity of his actions. I have seen more brilliant roles of my favorite actor, but this one never fails to make the largest impression possible to me. Helen Mirren would never shine without these wonderful actors next to her. Praise for Robert Glenister!

Having loved the first three 'Prime Suspect' series, when seeing all the episodes and series over-time since reviewing the first instalment a year ago, expectations were understandably very high. They were met with 'The Lost Child' but not quite surpassed.

'The Lost Child' is very good, terrific in its best moments and almost all elements are spot-on, just not quite as good as the first three series before it. It introduced quite a few changes in format, including Lynda La Plante not being involved and the lengths of the episodes being shorter, for the fourth series (of which 'The Lost Child' is part of) it was three cases clocking in around just over five hours overall for 'Prime Suspect IV' rather than one case split into two halves like in the first three 'Prime Suspect' series.

On the most part, the changes worked well. Parts of the story do feel slightly on the rushed side with the shorter length and while the climax was very powerful the final twist was not particularly a surprise. With that being said, it was somewhat of a good thing for the pacing to be tighter and not have quite as much filler (in no way intended to knock the first three series, just a comparative observation).

It is stylishly and cleverly filmed, with slick editing and atmospheric lighting, and there is a consistently wonderful atmosphere throughout. It is very gritty, if not quite as dark as 'Prime Suspect III', and effectively claustrophobic and even though the pacing is tighter it is also still deliberate. It is very hard to forget the music score too. The scripting, like its predecessor, is some of the best there is of any mystery/detective drama, being superbly constructed and intelligent.

Story-telling is very compelling and twisty, with an atmosphere that is gritty and harrowing but also intricate and honest. It is a complex story that keeps one guessing right up to the end while also being easy to follow. Tennison's personal life is balanced very well.

Jane Tennison continues to be an interesting character, the character and the depiction of the police force was very ahead of the time back in the 90s and holds much fascination now even if not so novel.

Helen Mirren gives a typically magnificent performance in the lead. Close behind her is a brilliant performance from Robert Glenister (it is agreed that his performance has inexplicably not been mentioned enough here), one that is chilling but very conflicted.

Altogether, harrowing and often terrific if a slight step down from what came before. 9/10 Bethany Cox

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.

I, and my wife, have become 100% addicted to "Prime Suspect". We rent them, 3 at a time, from NetFlix.

This is the best police series I have seen.

But --- The "Lost Child" episode my have been the end of my addiction. Maybe it's because the creator and writer of the series, Lynda La Plante, was not part of the "Lost Child" episode. I don't know.

Now I seem to have lost interest - because in this episode, Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison is doing the exactly same thing as she did in all of the previous episodes, i.e. Running the show. For example, I don't recall any of the other Superintendents (Tennison's immediate boss)in any previous episodes, being so involved in the hour-to-hour, day-to-day, ordering the other D.C.'s about and such about, in nearly every scene.

I loved the series because it was so real. It is not so real (to me) anymore. In real life law enforcement, when a person is promoted to a higher position they do not go to work every day and do the job they have before they got promoted. I was in law enforcement and the Criminal Justice system for over 20 years and never saw this happen.

My wife still is fanatically loyal to the series, but I am going to try and sneak in different Netflix movies every now and then. lol.

I didn't expect to see Helen Mirren over-acting in so many scenes, but the time constraints (1hr 40) meant the director packed in every reaction he/she could think of..

The great thing about Prime Suspect is the time given to develop both the stories and the characters. Such time gives the actors an opportunity to show their skill, but in this episode there is a lot of crap acting - too rushed and overly dramatic.

The detective work is also a bit too contrived - it's all too quick and easy.

Parts 1-3 are superb, and I am pleased to see that 5 is back to the length needed for quality TV.

I recommend skipping this episode.