Lynda La Plante

In Prime Suspect , and DCI Jane Tennison, Lynda La Plante created a brilliant vision of a woman in a man's workplace. The detective, brought to life by Helen Mirren in the ITV drama that started in 1991, is the perfect anti-heroine: tougher and cleverer than her male bosses, she battles sexism at every turn to prove herself. Her sacrifice is her personal life – resolutely single, with a growing addiction to alcohol, everything else suffers because of her dedication to her work. It proved that successful TV series could have a female lead, and set the template for crime dramas. Criticised for sticking too closely to her winning formula – she also gave us Janet McTeer in The Governor, set in the prison service, and a young female detective in Above Suspicion – La Plante, 68, remains a rare female television writer regarded as a bankable name.