Doctor Thorne and Emerald City actress Stefanie Martini has been cast as the young Jane Tennison in ITV’s much-anticipated Prime Suspect prequel, Tennison.
The original Prime Suspect debuted in 1991 and starred Helen Mirren as a no-nonsense detective who has to survive the male-dominated world of the Metropolitan Police.
Centring on the 22-year-old Jane, Tennison will be set in Hackney in the 1970s, a time when women police constables are being uneasily ‘integrated’ into the force.
The probationary officer finds herself in a world where high-ranking police officers are notoriously chauvinistic, and the rules and regulations often bent.
Single-minded and ambitious, if a touch naïve, Jane’s dedicated and instinctive approach to her career is evident from the start.
Starting as a WPC on the beat, she is thrown in at the deep end, drawn into a brutal murder enquiry, and experiences first hand London’s violent criminal ganglands.
She works alongside senior investigating officer DCI Bradfield, and in her first murder case, sees the devastating effects violent crime has on the victim’s family, as well as experiencing tragic ramifications herself.
Martini will be joined in the drama, which is currently filming in London, by Inbetweeners star Blake Harrison and Sam Reid (Belle, The Riot Club), as DS Spencer Gibbs and DCI Len Bradfield respectively
ITV has also announced the casting of Alun Armstrong, Ruth Sheen, Lex Shrapnel and Jay Taylor as crime family members Clifford, Renee, John and David Bentley.