Lynda La Plante

Lynda La Plante is Britains most successful and well known screenwriter and the first woman to win the prestigious Dennis Potter writers award. Attracting millions of viewers, the popular and critical success of La Plantes work is central to understanding changes that shook the UK television industry in the late twentieth century. This critical introduction, the first account of her work, focuses on three innovative serials: Widows (ITV, 1983), Prime Suspect (ITV 1991) and Trial and Retribution (ITV 1997).

In each chapter questions of gender and genre, acting and stardom and authorship and value are mapped against the changing relationship between women and the television industry. The final chapter traces La Plantes metamorphosis from just a writer for hire to the astute businesswoman she has become through a focus on the trans-national appeal of dramas such as Killer Net (C4 1997) and Bella Mafia (CBS 1997).