In a proposed deal with ITV, Mirren will be paid £750,000 to star in a new two-part Prime Suspect. The deal will make her the first woman to be the best-paid actor on television, putting her ahead of Jason, Martin Clunes and James Nesbitt.
The new Prime Suspect, to be shown next year, will be the last in the popular drama featuring Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison. “Helen is very big indeed, so good for her to get such a deal,” said David Aukin, the former head of Film Four.
“A long-running series like Prime Suspect has a pattern of getting an extremely decent-sized audience, so ITV knows it will do well again. All the more so as there will inevitably be a cliffhanger about what happens to Tennison at the end.”
When Mirren last did Prime Suspect in 2003 she earned £500,000 — £125,000 an hour. The rate for the new four-hour drama will be about £187,500 an hour, a pay rise of 50%.
The last Prime Suspect, which was about Tennison feeling her age and featured murder among Bosnian immigrants, drew an audience of 11m — the network’s largest for a single play or series for that year.
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Mirren, who first played Tennison in 1991, when the character was a Detective Chief Inspector, was initially wary about going back to the role. She has been won over partly by the money, but also because she was delighted by the size of the audience and the acclaim for the 2003 Prime Suspect.
Jason is the next highest-paid star. For his new series of A Touch of Frost, to be shown on ITV this autumn, he will be paid £150,000 per screen hour.
Clunes, who has appeared in two recent ITV drama successes, Doc Martin and William and Mary, receives about £110,000 per hour. Other actors in the big-pay league include Nesbitt, who is still probably best known for Cold Feet, and Robson Green, who had a hit last December with ITV’s single play Christmas Lights.
Mirren made her name at the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late 1960s, where she was known as “the sex queen of Stratford”. She has also had a successful career in the cinema, appearing in The Long Good Friday, Gosford Park and Calendar Girls.
ITV executives will next month announce a string of new dramas. They hope they will help win back viewers and critical acclaim after the criticism of reality shows such as Celebrity Wrestling and Celebrity Love Island.
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The new programmes include Caroline Quentin in Footprints in the Snow, based on a true story of a woman severely injured in a car crash; Robert Lindsay in Jericho, a 1950s detective drama; and Robert Carlyle in Class of ’76, which focuses on a group of characters who were at school together.
ITV is also planning another Cracker next year, with Robbie Coltrane returning as the police psychologist for the first time since 1996.
“I’m glad ITV seems to putting more into drama again,” said Charles Finch, one of Britain’s leading agents for actors. “As for Mirren, Prime Suspect is really all down to her. She’s the show. What still surprises me is how British TV does not seem to really appreciate that it’s the lead actor who should make the show. This is far better understood in America.”
Actors from ER or The West Wing can make £15m over a series while the stars of Friends received £700,000 for a 30- minute episode.
“In the UK, the entertainment people get more than the TV actors,” said Finch. “It’s the other way round in the US.”
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It is thought that ITV’s Simon Cowell is the highest-paid presenter, earning about £10m a year. Ant and Dec are believed to earn about £5m a year, as does Chris Tarrant.
Sir Trevor McDonald earns about £1m a year for ITV news and Tonight with Trevor McDonald while Jon Snow is paid about £450,000 by Channel 4.
However, these pay cheques are dwarfed by Hollywood earnings. Tom Cruise is in line to earn about £100m from War of the Worlds. He will receive 10% of box-office takings and a percentage on all DVD sales. IT’S luvvly jubbly for Dame Helen Mirren. She has overtaken the Only Fools and Horses star Sir David Jason to become British television’s best-paid actor, earning more than £185,000 for each hour on screen.
In a proposed deal with ITV, Mirren will be paid £750,000 to star in a new two-part Prime Suspect. The deal will make her the first woman to be the best-paid actor on television, putting her ahead of Jason, Martin Clunes and James Nesbitt.
The new Prime Suspect, to be shown next year, will be the last in the popular drama featuring Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison. “Helen is very big indeed, so good for her to get such a deal,” said David Aukin, the former head of Film Four.
Advertisement
“A long-running series like Prime Suspect has a pattern of getting an extremely decent-sized audience, so ITV knows it will do well again. All the more so as there will inevitably be a cliffhanger about what happens to Tennison at the end.”
When Mirren last did Prime Suspect in 2003 she earned £500,000 — £125,000 an hour. The rate for the new four-hour drama will be about £187,500 an hour, a pay rise of 50%.
The last Prime Suspect, which was about Tennison feeling her age and featured murder among Bosnian immigrants, drew an audience of 11m — the network’s largest for a single play or series for that year.
Mirren, who first played Tennison in 1991, when the character was a Detective Chief Inspector, was initially wary about going back to the role. She has been won over partly by the money, but also because she was delighted by the size of the audience and the acclaim for the 2003 Prime Suspect.
Jason is the next highest-paid star. For his new series of A Touch of Frost, to be shown on ITV this autumn, he will be paid £150,000 per screen hour.
Advertisement
Clunes, who has appeared in two recent ITV drama successes, Doc Martin and William and Mary, receives about £110,000 per hour. Other actors in the big-pay league include Nesbitt, who is still probably best known for Cold Feet, and Robson Green, who had a hit last December with ITV’s single play Christmas Lights.
Mirren made her name at the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late 1960s, where she was known as “the sex queen of Stratford”. She has also had a successful career in the cinema, appearing in The Long Good Friday, Gosford Park and Calendar Girls.
ITV executives will next month announce a string of new dramas. They hope they will help win back viewers and critical acclaim after the criticism of reality shows such as Celebrity Wrestling and Celebrity Love Island.
The new programmes include Caroline Quentin in Footprints in the Snow, based on a true story of a woman severely injured in a car crash; Robert Lindsay in Jericho, a 1950s detective drama; and Robert Carlyle in Class of ’76, which focuses on a group of characters who were at school together.
ITV is also planning another Cracker next year, with Robbie Coltrane returning as the police psychologist for the first time since 1996.
“I’m glad ITV seems to putting more into drama again,” said Charles Finch, one of Britain’s leading agents for actors. “As for Mirren, Prime Suspect is really all down to her. She’s the show. What still surprises me is how British TV does not seem to really appreciate that it’s the lead actor who should make the show. This is far better understood in America.”
Actors from ER or The West Wing can make £15m over a series while the stars of Friends received £700,000 for a 30- minute episode.
“In the UK, the entertainment people get more than the TV actors,” said Finch. “It’s the other way round in the US.”
It is thought that ITV’s Simon Cowell is the highest-paid presenter, earning about £10m a year. Ant and Dec are believed to earn about £5m a year, as does Chris Tarrant.
Sir Trevor McDonald earns about £1m a year for ITV news and Tonight with Trevor McDonald while Jon Snow is paid about £450,000 by Channel 4.
However, these pay cheques are dwarfed by Hollywood earnings. Tom Cruise is in line to earn about £100m from War of the Worlds. He will receive 10% of box-office takings and a percentage on all DVD sales.