Prime Suspect Executive Producer: Timoney Doesn't Have Her Rougher Edges Smoothed Off

Maria Bello | Photo Credits: Patrick Harbron/NBC
Maria Bello | Photo Credits: Patrick Harbron/NBC

None of the female cops inhabiting the current TV landscape may be quite as unapologetically outspoken and abrasive as Jane Timoney on Prime Suspect.

"She's a tough New York broad," executive producer Sarah Aubrey tells TVGuide.com. "She doesn't have a lot of her rougher edges smoothed off and that works for her in her own way. It's fascinating to watch a character say everything you're thinking and not really care about the consequences."

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Maria Bello stars in the remake of the British series with Helen Mirren. In the premiere, the lead detective in the precinct suddenly dies and Timoney wastes no time asking for his job. The move doesn't sit well with her colleagues.

"You'll slowly start to see that she develops a mutual respect and with some of them and camaraderie, but the ultimate satisfaction is not so that they're all holding hands skipping off into the sunset," Aubrey says."They don't like each other, but they're working together now."

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While the series will stick to the case-of-the-week theme, viewers will also go home with Timoney each week and watch her work on her relationship with boyfriend Matt (Kenny Johnson), who has a son.

"Jane really wants to have a grounded, connected adult relationship," Aubrey says. "We've alluded that she had an affair with a married cop [to be played by Peter Berg] who was not her boss, but her superior. As a result, she thinks, 'I can't just keep being this detached and a lone wolf.' This relationship with Matt and, by extension, his child is an attempt at having a family and a normal life. The reality is what she thinks she wants and what she actually wants is not in sync and we're going to explore the consequences of that as she struggles with that over the next couple of episodes."

Although a procedural, Aubrey says it's Bello's personality that will keep people wanting to see more. "She is a very surprising character," she says. "People are used to a certain way of cops acting in these shows and the fun of it is that she keeps you on your toes. You're delighted, surprised, annoyed, but very engaged."

Prime Suspect airs Thursdays at 10/9c on NBC.