Lynda La Plante plots Prime Suspect sequel

UK author and screenwriter Lynda La Plante is writing a prequel to Prime Suspect to mark the show’s 25th anniversary.

A book will be published in 2015 and the TV adaptation will air in 2016, to centre around DCI Jane Tennison joining the force in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

Dame Helen Mirren played Tennison for seven series in the 1980s and ’90s, but La Plante told the BBC she doubted the actress would return.

“I would love to even approach her to consider it but I feel she has carved out such an impressive career,” she said.

“I really doubt she would want to go back.

“When you first meet her (Tennison) in the early 90s, she is a very complex character, but what made her so?” she added in a press release.

“Nobody knows what drove her to become a DCI or want to join the police force in the first place.”

The writer told John Wilson that she “had no-one in mind yet” for the role of the young DCI.

“It will be a great search (given) Helen Mirren’s iconic performance,” she said.

Last year La Plante was made an honorary fellow of the UK’s Forensic Science Society for her authenticity and attention to detail in her books and TV series.