UK broadcaster ITV who produced the show hired digital specialists JCA to completely remaster all seven series.
Matt Bowman, Commercial Director, JCA, said: “Prime Suspect was an exciting project for the restoration team to work on, but it came with its challenges. The hundreds of hours stored on un-cut rushes reels needed conforming and eye matched to the SD TX master.
“Originally shot on 16mm and delivered in a number of formats, we had to handle the material with great care. By hand painting and applying grain treatments in a delicate manner, we managed to get an HD master of a similar quality to a 35mm film production, which is therefore suitable for HD transmission and Blu Ray distribution.”
The team used the ArriScan, Pandora Revolution, PF Clean, AfterFX, Relativity and infer-red dirt maps to ensure the film ran to the best of its ability. The four-month process captured seven series of the show that originally ran from 1991 to 2006.
Mark Stanborough, Senior Film Services Coordinator at ITV Studios, said: “Prime Suspect is widely regarded as one of the best television series of all time and we’re delighted to be able to offer it to international broadcasters in HD for the first time. We worked closely with JCA to make this a possibility and the results are stunning.”