ITV has released a one-minute preview for new crime drama Prime Suspect: 1973.

The prequel to Prime Suspect stars Stefanie Martini (Doctor Thorne, Endeavour) as the young incarnation of Helen Mirren’s iconic character Jane Tennison.

Martini is joined by Blake Harrison (Dad’s Army, The Inbetweeners) and Sam Reid (Belle, The Riot Club) as Jane’s superiors DCI Len Bradfield and DS Spencer Gibbs in the six-part series, which follows Tennison at the beginning of her career, revealing why she became such a complex and formidable character in the Metropolitan Police.

Originally titled Tennison when the series was announced in 2015, Prime Suspect: 1973 is expected to begin on ITV next month.

Watch the trailer…

The official synopsis for Prime Suspect: 1973 reads: “It’s Hackney in the 1970s, and women police constables are being uneasily ‘integrated’ into the force. We’re introduced to 22-year-old Jane, a probationary officer in a world where high-ranking police officers were 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.”

Alun Armstrong (New Tricks), Ruth Sheen (Inside No.9), Lex Shrapnel (Medici: Masters of Florence) and Jay Taylor (Promise) will play crime family members Clifford, Renee, John and David Bentley.

The cast also includes Jessica Gunning (Fortitude) as fellow WPC Kath Morgan and Andrew Brooke (Da Vinci’s Demons) as Jane’s senior officer Sergeant Harris, with Nick Sidi (DCI Banks) and Geraldine Somerville (New Tricks) as Jane’s parents, and Rosie Day (Cuffs) as Jane’s sister Pam.

Buy the complete original Prime Suspect series box set on Amazon here.

Starring Dame Helen Mirren as DCI Tennison, Prime Suspect launched on ITV in 1991 and ran for seven seasons until 2006.

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