Tonight, Sunday 8 March, at 9.30pm on Rai 1 the lights will come back on Imma Tataranni – Deputy Prosecutor 5. Still leading the scene is Vanessa Scalera, the face and soul of a character who has become a symbol of determination, sharp irony and infallible memory. The series, based on the novels by Mariolina Venezia, returns with four new prime time shows that promise to raise the emotional bar. Not just court cases, but an immersion into the cracks of the private life of a woman who has never been afraid to expose herself.
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A lonelier Imma, but no less combative
This fifth season opens on shaky ground. Imma has chosen to separate from Pietro, her daughter Valentina is now independent and the marriage is behind her. For the first time we see her truly deal with loneliness. Pietro, played by Massimiliano Gallo, changes course: he leaves the security of a permanent job to join a multinational company.
Offering him the opportunity is Edoardo Fossati, a young visionary manager played by Lodo Guenzi. An encounter that pushes Pietro to question himself again, but which exposes him to new fragilities. Imma, for her part, takes refuge in work. The cases in the episode tell of shattered families, broken bonds, lost identities. Stories that resonate with his.
A new prosecutor and old sparks
To complicate the balance comes the new chief prosecutor Altiero Galliano, face of Rocco Papaleo. A methodical man, lover of briefings and procedures, he can’t stand Imma’s independent nature. The comparison between the two is one of the most anticipated narrative drivers: rigor versus intuition, formality versus instinct.
But unexpected fragilities emerge beneath the surface, which Imma intercepts with her usual lucidity. Next to her remains Diana, the chancellor played by Barbara Ronchi, struggling with a path of personal growth that also involves a health problem. Their relationship strengthens, becoming one of the most solid emotional points of the series.
Matera, a living and pulsating scenography
The silent but essential protagonist is Matera. The thousand-year-old Sassi, the eighteenth-century Palazzo dell’Annunziata in Piazza Vittorio Veneto, via San Biagio: every corner contributes to building the visual identity of the fiction. Basilicata also extends beyond the city: Venosa, Melfi, the Vulture and the Monticchio lakes, scene of one of the most disturbing discoveries of the season.
Harsh landscapes, clear light, silences full of tension. Not simply background, but an integral part of the story. Filming, directed by Francesco Amato, took place between September and December 2025 for sixteen weeks, involving a large crew and consolidating a working group that the director himself defined as being in a “state of grace”.
Because Imma continues to work
The secret of Imma Tataranni – Deputy Prosecutor what makes it still very successful after four seasons remains the ability to intertwine crime, comedy and social reflection. We talk about the role of women, emotional crises, new forms of family, without losing pace or lightness.
In a crowded television landscape, the series maintains a precise figure: imperfect characters, brilliant dialogues, authentic conflicts. Imma is not a reassuring heroine, but a woman who makes mistakes, stumbles, gets angry and starts again. From tonight the public will find all this again. And perhaps something more: the awareness that even when reference points collapse, we can start again. With a determined step, unlikely heels and that unforgiving memory.
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