Review of Prime Suspect 4: Scent of Darkness

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. Instead of one story spanning three and a half hours, the fourth series has three feature length episodes (running for one hour and forty two minutes each), with each episode featuring a different storyline.

In "Scent of Darkness", Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison investigates a murder that bears a striking resemblance to the grisly murders committed by serial killer George Marlow, who Tennison convicted of six murders in the first series. This similarity sows a serious doubt in the minds of several officer, who begin to question whether or not Tennison has the right man behind bars. These doubts are reinforced when a second victim is found. Taken off the case, Tennison fights to prove that George Marlow was correctly convicted amid increasing doubts from within.

Video

The video is presented in the 4:3 full-frame as originally broadcast on British television. The image is free from dirt, but a little grainy, but as with the previous discs in Series 4 is a big improvement on the first three series of Prime Suspect.

Prime Suspect always has been a series made with movie production values, and this third series is, like its predecessor, is superbly filmed. The hard edge of the visuals has however been toned down considerably, resulting in a fifteen certificate instead of the eighteen certificate that the first three series carried. This results in visuals that have far less impact, as the series concentrates on the investigation instead.

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

The first three instalments of Prime Suspect were outstanding, and the standard slipped slightly with the first episode of the fourth, however, Prime Suspect got back on track with "Inner Circles", which was riveting from start to finish. Similarly "Scent of Darkness" is a superb episode, which links back into the first instalment of series - which luckily I watched a few days ago.

Once again the superb cast deliver top-notch performances and the storyline and script maintained my interest throughout. My only grumble is that the actor who plays George Marlow in this episode is not the same (and not as good) as the one who played the original killer.

There are no extras on the disc, and the reduced running time makes the disc less value for money that the previous three - perhaps putting series four out as a two-disc set for twenty pounds would have been a better idea.

However, it is still recommended.