HELEN MIRREN - PRIME SUSPECT WRITER LA PLANTE AWARDED CBE

PRIME SUSPECT WRITER LA PLANTE AWARDED CBE

Lynda La Plante, who is best known for writing the hit TV series Prime Suspect, has been awarded a CBE at Buckingham Palace.

La Plante, 62, was rewarded for her services to literature, drama and charity after years of work as a writer and an actress.

After appearing in several popular series, including Bergerac, the Sweeney and Minder, she took to penning her own projects, which are among the most beloved in British TV history.

Prime Suspect, starring Dame Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison, remains one of the most-watched dramas, while she also wrote Trial and Retribution as well as collaborating on a number of film projects.

La Plante describing receiving the honour as her "proudest moment".

She continued: "I'd always written but never contemplated it as a career, then one day I said, 'can I have a go at this?'

"I think now with this honour I will be able to do a lot more [charity work], people will take it much more seriously and I just hope this new year will prove I can do a lot more."