Product Details

• Actors: Helen Mirren, Colin Salmon, John Benfield, Jack Ellis (III), Craig Fairbrass
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• DVD Release Date: August 5, 1998
• Run Time: 230 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304911602
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #250,636 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Prime Suspect 2" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In the first Prime Suspect, Helen Mirren's ballsy woman Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennyson battled the boys club and their sexist barbs to prove herself in a chauvinist department. In Prime Suspect 2, she's assigned to head a racially charged murder investigation in a largely African/Caribbean neighborhood. It's politics as usual in the image-conscious organization, so the superintendent adds to the team black Detective Robert Oswalde (Colin Salma), a sharp but hot-headed investigator who has just broken off an affair with Tennyson. Now Tennyson grapples with her own conflicted feelings while fighting political and public-relations battles both in the media and within the police system itself in the midst of investigating the labyrinthine case. Between the scant clues left to sift, a prime suspect on the verge of death himself, and divisions in her own team that result in a devastating death, Tennyson soon begins to suspect she's been hung out to dry by the department. Screenwriter Allan Cubitt dives into the murky waters of volatile racial and social relations to create an even more complex and compelling mystery in Tennyson's second appearance, and Mirren rises to the challenge to explore the contradictions of an uncompromising cop in a compromising position. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prime Suspect 2, January 13, 2001

By 

Beth Scalet (Kansas City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prime Suspect 2 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is quite probably the best episode in what is already a very fine British detective series. Jane Tennyson is played by Helen Mirren, who gives a brilliant performance as the complex, extremely capable investigator whose personal life is rather messy and who continually struggles to be accepted by her male colleagues. This episode also explores the tense racial situation that has developed in London with the arrival of thousands of Caribbean immigrants. Colin Salmon is beautiful to look at and also gives an outstanding performance. If you've seen any of the other episodes and liked them, or if you like other BBC mysteries like Silent Witness or Inspector Frost, this is a must-have.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great series, great acting, great writing, January 3, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Prime Suspect 2 (DVD)

Superb series, well written. Helen Mirren is a miracle.

At last, the whole series has been reissued on DVD. Worth the investment...unlike most TV shows on DVD (hello, HBO and Fox?)

Beware of the old DVDs floating around from the original PBS presentations in the early 1990s. Strong language was dubbed over, rather poorly.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing Police Drama/Character Study from England, April 1, 2001

By 

Robert Huggins (Suburban Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prime Suspect 2 (DVD)

Helen Mirren returns in the second go-round of "Prime Suspect". The story is a superb "who dunnit" with outstanding writing and acting all the way around. In addition to being a great crime solving drama, "Prime Suspect 2" succeeds as a character study of a middle-aged, professional woman who has sacrificed much of her personal life to rise among the ranks of the police force.

The rating gets only 4 stars rather than 5 for Anchor Bay's DVD treatment. Normally they have done a great job with their releases, but "Prime Suspect 2" is, unfortuantely, not among their best. I'm not sure about the source material that was available to them, but the picture doesn't appear to be as crisp as one would expect from a DVD, particularly for material that was produced in 1993. You must also flip the disk over . . . it's presented in two parts, just as it was released on PBS in America. This release also replaces some minor profanity with toned-down language. Save for 20 chapter breaks (10 on each side) and English subtitles, there are no extras on this DVD. Still, the story and characterizations merit a view.