Sam Reid, Blake Harrison and Alun Armstrong star in Lynda La Plante drama

ITV has confirmed the casting for its upcoming six-part prequel to Prime Suspect, Tennison, as filming begins on location in London.

Stefanie Martini (Doctor Thorne) will lead the cast as a young Jane Tennison – originally made famous by Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect – alongside Sam Reid (The Riot Club) and Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners) as Jane’s superiors DCI Len Bradfield and DS Spencer Gibbs respectively.

Written by Prime Suspect creator Lynda La Plante, and based on her book Tennison, the series sees a 22 year-old Jane Tennison in 1970s Hackney at the beginning of her career, revealing why she became such a complex and formidable character in the Metropolitan Police.

Other casting includes Alun Armstrong (New Tricks), Ruth Sheen (Unforgotten), Lex Shrapnel (Medici: Masters of Florence) and Jay Taylor (Promise) are cast as crime family members Clifford, Renee, John and David Bentley.

Jessica Gunning (Fortitude) is also cast as fellow WPC Kath Morgan alongside Andrew Brooke (Da Vinci’s Demons) as Jane’s senior officer Sergeant Harris.

Nick Sidi (DCI Banks) and Geraldine Somerville (Silent Witness) are cast as Jane’s parents, Andrew and Joyce. Rosie Day (Outlander) will play Jane’s sister Pam.

Joshua Hill (Vera) will play DC Edwards, Daniel Ezra (Undercover) as DC Ashton, Tommy McDonnell (Jericho) as DC Hudson, and Jordan Long (Unforgotten) as DS Paul Lawrence.

Tennison is set to air late 2016. The producer is Rhonda Smith and the Director is David Caffrey.