MASTERPIECE THEATRE: PRIME SUSPECT 4: INNER CIRCLES (TV)
Summary
One in this ongoing series of dramas presented under the umbrella of "Masterpiece Theatre." This program presents the second stand-alone episode in the fourth edition of "Prime Suspect." In this installment, set in contemporary London, recently promoted Superintendent Jane Tennison is put in charge of investigating the death of local country club manager Denis Carradine. As the episode opens in a small London suburb, a neighborhood watch discovers a pair of youthful vagrants fooling around in Carradine's house. After getting the youngsters to flee the house, they apprehend one of them, Sheila Bower. Then, the police enter to find Carradine dead, strung up by some electrical flex. Tennison is put on the case, being joined by longtime colleague Detective Inspector Richard Haskons, as well as Detective Sergeant Booth, Detective Chief Bakari, and Detective Sergeant Cromwell. Meanwhile, Carradine's aged mother Olive is informed that her son is dead. Tennison immediately treats the case as drug- or possibly sex-related. Tennison and Bakari interrogate Bower, eventually getting her to reveal her counterpart, Micky Thomas. Then, Detective Chief Inspector Raymond enters into the investigation, immediately clashing with Tennison. Cromwell and Bakari visit the Huntington Country Club where they meet with James Greenlees, the club's managing director, trying to build a profile of Carradine and learn of his financial situation. Greenlees is also surprised to learn that Tennison, not his old pal Raymond, is in charge of the investigation. Meanwhile, Tennison and Haskons observe the forensics examination at the crime scene. Later, police surround the rundown housing project where Thomas lives and, after a chase, cause him to run into traffic, where he's struck by a car and later dies. Afterward, Greenlees -- revealing that he's also chairman of the Police Consultative Committee -- visits the station, trying to explain how the relationship between the police and the community should work. Tennison is forced to tell Cromwell and Bakari that they will behave in a different manner under her watch, as opposed to Raymond's. Then, Booth briefly meets with Carradine's solicitor, Maria Henry, later running into her daughter Polly. That night, Tennison heads to the local pub for a drink, getting "a word of advice" from the resentful Raymond. He then visits the country club, observing the goings-on amongst members such as Maria, boozing Paul Endicott, and his wife Lynne, as well as their sheepish, stuttering son, the club's bartender Hamish. Eventually, the pathologist reveals that whoever strangled Carradine was trying to make it appear as if it was a case of autoerotic asphyxiation. Later, Tennison meets with Detective Chief Superintendent Kernan, who details that there will be an inquiry into Thomas's death. Tennison also reveals that she believes that neither Thomas nor Bower murdered Carradine, and she wants her detective team to find the real culprit. However, Tennison and Cromwell still have to handle Bower, trying to help her not get railroaded by the bloodthirsty locals. Cromwell later tells Tennison that she will struggle to perform the investigation she desires, as Greenlees and his cronies will try to prevent it. Afterward, Cromwell meets with Maria, wondering why Carradine had placed some of his money in a Panamanian company. Tennison eventually learns that Carradine was fired from the club for embezzling funds. Meanwhile, Bakari and Booth speak with Hamish, eventually getting him to reveal how poorly the club treated Carradine. At the same time, Polly -- a friend of Hamish's -- goes looking to buy drugs from the mysterious Geoff Brennan. Later, Tennison and Haskons visit the rundown estate, Burdett House, to which Carradine may have had a connection. Afterward, they meet with Maria, where they wonder why Carradine called her three times on the day he was murdered. That night, Carradine's car is torched as it sits outside Maria's house. Soon, Tennison has figured out that Carradine -- along with some others -- was putting money into the Burdett House in order to purchase it. Tennison visits with Maria, curious why Carradine's now-incinerated car was parked in front of her house in the first place, thinking the divorcŽe knows more than she is telling. Later, Haskons speaks with Greenlees, who claims that Carradine was a homosexual who needed extra money to pay for "services" at gay clubs. Then, Tennison and Cromwell visit the Endicott home, curious if Paul -- the chief planning officer in the sale of the Burdett House -- was aware that Carradine was involved with the development company that bought it. They question Paul as to why he set the asking price so low and how Maria might be involved in the affair. That night, at a raucous council meeting, Greenlees claims that the politicians and media are whipping up a "witchhunt" toward him and his group. After the fracas makes it into the paper, Kernan nearly replaces Tennison on the case with Raymond. Later, Polly comes into the police station, bloodied and beaten, claiming Brennan did it to her to get back at her mother -- one of his former lovers. She also reveals that Maria and Paul are having an affair. Making the connection between Maria and Brennan, Tennison immediately makes Brennan the prime suspect in Carradine's murder. However, once the police arrive at Brennan's place, they find him dead. The building's manager relates that a man and woman -- matching the description of Maria and Paul -- had been seen there earlier in the day. Tennison and Cromwell call Maria into the station where they question her yet again on the Burdett House's sale, thinking she used her inside information -- due to her affair with Paul -- to aid in an illegal sale. They also reveal to her that Brennan was the man that set fire to Carradine's car. Tennison believes that Maria and Paul conspired to have Carradine murdered, by Brennan, to cover up their tracks. When Paul is brought in for questioning, he claims that he was not involved with Maria in the conspiracy and murders, and that the council was soon to exonerate him. Now Maria is forced to scramble to deny the charges. Then, a bloodied Hamish is brought into the station, claiming that he was the one that killed Brennan, thinking he had raped Polly. Tennison tells him that Maria manipulated him into believing that Polly was raped. Unable to get Maria to crack, Tennison is forced to use Polly to finally expose the culprit. Includes promo.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: February 11, 1996 Sunday 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:48:42
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:77495
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: She Made It Collection (Lynda La Plante); Drama, mystery/suspense
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1971-
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Promos - "Much Ado About Nothing"
CREDITS
- Rebecca Eaton … Executive Producer
- Sally Head … Executive Producer
- Steven Ashley … Senior Producer
- Paul Marcus … Producer
- Sarah Pia Anderson … Director
- Eric Deacon … Writer
- Meredith Oakes … Based on a story by
- Stephen Warbeck … Music by
- Russell Baker … Host
- Helen Mirren … Cast, Jane Tennison
- Tom Russell … Cast, Geoff Brennan
- James Laurenson … Cast, Paul Endicott
- Helene Kvale … Cast, Lynne Endicott
- Jill Baker … Cast, Maria Henry
- Kelly Reilly … Cast, Polly Henry
- Gareth Forwood … Cast, Denis Carradine
- Anthony Bate … Cast, James Greenlees
- Phillada Sewell … Cast, Olive Carradine
- Jonathan Copestake … Cast, Micky Thomas
- Julie Rice … Cast, Sheila Bower
- Roger Milner … Cast, Norman
- Tony Spooner … Cast, Alan
- Hamish McColl … Cast, Young neighbor
- Sam Rumbelow … Cast, Wilson
- Ralph Arliss … Cast, Raymond
- Sophie Stanton … Cast, Cromwell
- Thomas Craig … Cast, Booth
- Christopher John Hale … Cast, Bakari
- Steve Knowles … Cast, Desk Sergeant
- James Kerr … Cast, Lee
- Richard Hawley … Cast, Richard Haskons
- Albert Welling … Cast, Club Manager
- Nick Patrick … Cast, Hamish Endicott
- Malcolm Scates … Cast, Forensic Scientist
- Armen Gregory … Cast, Scenes of Crime Officer
- Ian Flintoff … Cast, Mallory
- Anthony Daniels … Cast, Pathologist
- John Benfield … Cast, Tom Kernan
- Martin Matthews … Cast, Tory Councillor
- Daphne Goddard … Cast, First Woman at Meeting
- Marilyn Finlay … Cast, Second Woman at Meeting
- Alan Perrin … Cast, Derek Palmer
- Kenneth Hadley … Cast, Opposition Speaker
- Alex Hall … Cast, Opposition Councillor
- Myles Hoyle … Cast, Mr. Brant
- Michael Stainton … Cast, George