Why a raging La Plante had to walk away from ITV

Lynda La PLanTe hasn’t forgiven ITV for freezing her out of last year’s prequel to Prime Suspect, the novelist’s most famous creation.

‘It was probably the closest I came to having a nervous breakdown. It broke my heart. I’ve never been treated so rudely,’ she says.

TV bosses ignored La Plante’s plotlines and casting recommendations for Prime Suspect 1973, which starred Stefanie martini as the young Jane Tennison, the role made famous by Helen mirren.

‘The rage syndrome is hard to deal with when you are insulted at every level, when every actor you bring in is dismissed, every director you suggest isn’t even considered. I hated it. I just had to walk away.’

La Plante had a much happier experience with director Steve mcQueen, whose movie of her thriller Widows is shortly to open.

They met at a Buckingham Palace reception. ‘He came up and said he’d been a fan since he was 13 and wanted to make a movie of Widows. He said he’d been obsessed with it.

‘Obviously, there’s your Oscarwinner for 12 years a Slave, so I said: “Of course!” ’