The real Prime Suspect
Jackie Malton, the police officer who inspired DCI Jane Tennison in the popular TV show, is the host of a new crime series…
When it first aired on ITV in 1991, Prime Suspect was a huge hit, hailed not only for its gritty storylines but also for tackling the issue of sexism in the police force. Even now, nearly three decades later, it hasn’t lost its appeal.
However, what many people don’t realise is that the main character, DCI Jane Tennison, played by Dame Helen Mirren, was inspired by a real female officer, Jackie Malton, and her extensive experience in the force.
Now, Jackie has made the move from backstage to front of camera and is presenting a new crime series, The Real Prime Suspect.
From Robert Napper, the serial killer who carried out at least 70 rapes and sexual
assaults, to Louise Woodward, a teenage au pair found guilty of the involuntary manslaughter of the eightmonth-old in her care, and Peter Tobin, a convicted serial killer and sex offender, the series examines 10 historic criminal cases, and traces how the investigating officers came to identify the ‘prime suspect’.
‘I’ve always been fascinated by crime and I thought this show was a fantastic opportunity,’ says Jackie. ‘It promised to have lots of integrity and show the good work of the police – and it allowed me to speak to everyone who contributed to the cases, all of whom were at the top of their game.’
And, when she says she’s always been fascinated by crime, Jackie isn’t exaggerating. It was as a teenager that she first considered joining the police, after realising she was gay.
‘I’m a product of the Fifties, when women didn’t go to work the same way we do now,’ she said. ‘They got married, stayed at home… that wasn’t going to happen for me. I had to have a career.’
Jackie started off in the Leicestershire Constabulary in 1970 – five years before the Sex Discrimination Act.
‘I went in as a police cadet and there was a separation of women’s tasks and roles,’ the 68-year-old remembers. ‘I worked fewer hours and was used when they wanted to use me.’
However, this didn’t deter Jackie, who moved to the Metropolitan Police in 1979 and then to the Flying Squad, a notoriously tough team dedicated to serious crime, in 1981, where she was the only female officer. There, life was challenging.
‘There was one man in particular who made my life hell,’ Jackie remembers. ‘The others seemed to think I was in the way. Because I was a woman, they thought they’d have to look after me. It was tough having to put up with their antics, really tough, but I was determined to stick it out.’
And it wasn’t only her colleagues who tested her.
‘ We were dealing with professional armed robbers, very experienced criminals. They’d gone through the system, if you like,’ Jackie explains. ‘They’d started offending at a young age and became armed robbers. They may have been uneducated, but they
were highly intelligent.’
So, how did she move from tracking down clues to television? ‘Oh, that’s an easy question,’ Jackie says, smiling. ‘By that point, I was Detective Chief Inspector at Hammersmith. I got a call from a male colleague who said author and screenwriter Lynda La Plante was looking for a DCI to help with the TV series, Prime Suspect. There were only three female DCIs at the time, so he’d told Lynda to speak to me.’
Jackie went to meet Lynda, read the script and agreed to help on police procedure.
‘I didn’t really think anything about it,’ Jackie admits. ‘ We’d helped [to advise on police drama]
The Bill before and, to me, I was just helping an author with a script. Although, I always say it was like going for therapy when I went to speak to Lynda. She never took a note – she just sat there and soaked it all up.’
Jackie stayed involved during filming and met Helen Mirren, who she describes as ‘phenomenal’ and ‘a gift’ to the show.
Even then, no one knew just how big Prime Suspect would prove to be; but it was an instant success, wowing both the public and police professionals alike with its authenticity.
Despite leaving the police force in 1997, Jackie has never strayed too far from her true passion. She has helped on other crime-related scripts, volunteers at a prison twice a week, achieved two masters’ degrees and is being awarded an honorary doctorate in criminology later this year.
But, when Jackie was approached to take part in The Real Prime Suspect, she initially turned it down.
‘I said I was too old, but the American producers said, “No, you’re like our Judge Judy,”’ Jackie laughs. ‘So I thought, well, these things are put in front of you for a reason, I may as well give it a whirl.’
As host, Jackie speaks to the numerous experts who were involved in solving the featured historic cases and explores how they found the right man (or woman) without the help of modern DNA and CCTV evidence – something she felt privileged to do.
‘I think we, the public, forget about the ripple effect of murder and how it impacts on so many people,’
she says. ‘Because, when I talked to the police officers and pathologists who are now retired, they can take off their masks. Because they couldn’t go to a murder scene and say, “Oh, my God, this is terrible.” You have to put your hat on and get on with it. It doesn’t stop you feeling it, but you compartmentalise it.
‘But when you take them back [in time] and they’re no longer that police professional, that gap allows them to get back in touch with their true feelings about it.
‘ We don’t see a lot of the darkness, or the shadows of people. Yes, you see elements of bad behaviour and read it in the press, but it doesn’t affect you. I don’t think there is any other profession that allows people to see life in the way that police officers see life.’
The Real Prime Suspect will premiere on CBS Reality on Tuesday 3 September at 10pm
‘There was one man in particular who made my life hell’