While Peter Falk (Columbo), John Nettles (Midsomer Murders) and David Suchet (Agatha Christie’s Poirot) made for formidable TV detectives, times have changed and it is something writers are cognisant of when penning police dramas today.

With gritty male characters such as Vic Mackey (The Shield) and detectives John Munch (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) and Frank Pembleton (Homicide: Life on the Street) giving the genre a more hard-core face, their counterparts have to be on par.

And who better than Dame Helen Mirren to help bridge the sexist divide in Hollywood with her role as Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison in the UK version of Prime Suspect?

Don’t be fooled by that passé bob haircut and those sombre-hued suits: Tennison harbours a stoic resignation to nail her perp and that makes her a force to be reckoned with. And she has the Bafta and Emmy trophies to back up her stellar performances.

Aside from marvelling at Mirren’s true-to-life performance, you also applaud the writing team for giving her some of the most compelling – and sometimes disquieting – storylines.

In season one, Tennison led a case involving the rape-murder of a young woman. Although her chauvinistic male colleagues heckled her for a while, she earned their respect in solving the case.

Racial tension surfaced in the second instalment when she investigated a murder in the backyard of a home in an Afro-Caribbean neighbourhood.

Season three involved a child prostitution and pornography ring and the fourth series featured three disconnected stories centred on a child molester, a political scandal and a cold case that warrants a relook after Tennison’s team suspects a copycat killer may be on the loose.

While Tennison prides herself on maintaining a professional image, there are chinks in her armour that threaten to be her undoing.

In the fifth instalment, which won an Emmy for Outstanding Mini-Series, the stakes are raised when Tennison investigates the murder of a drug dealer in Manchester. All leads point to a local gang leader nicknamed The Street. But charging him requires a watertight case.

As an admirer of Mirren, I speak with conviction when I say that when you can give this “dame” a role, don’t be surprised when she holds you hostage with her arresting performance.

OTHER NOTABLE TV FEMALE DETECTIVES

• Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, played by Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer): while Brenda’s methods are questionable, she doesn’t take kindly when challenged by inept superiors. Bottom line: she gets her confession and closes her cases with the help of her team. When under pressure, nothing consoles her like her hidden stash of chocolates.

• Jane Rizzoli, played by Angie Hammon (Rizzoli & Isles): very protective of her best friend Dr Maura Isles, the dark-haired beauty – a bit of a tomboy – always keeps her emotions in check. This approach stems from her childhood taunting for being on the chubby side and, as an adult, a close call with a serial killer named Charles Hoyt. At the end of the day, her ability to remain aloof helps her see situations more clearly.

• Senior Special Agent Teresa Lisbon, played by Robin Tunney (The Mentalist): while she comes across as a hard-core person, it is just a facade. And it is something Patrick Jane, a consultant who works closely with Teresa, picks up. A by-the-book kind of person, Teresa knows how to delegate and when to take charge of a situation.

• Prime Suspect: Errors of Judgement airs on Sony Entertainment Television (DStv channel 113) on Mondays at 8.30pm.