Vera (TV series)

Vera
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	Ann Cleeves
Starring	Brenda Blethyn David Leon Kenny Doughty Jon Morrison Cush Jumbo Kingsley Ben-Adir Wunmi Mosaku Paul Ritter Clare Calbraith Lisa Hammond Riley Jones Noof McEwan
Composer(s)	Ben Bartlett
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	6
No. of episodes	24 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Elaine Collins Kate Bartlett Kate Lewis Myar Craig Michael Dawson
Producer(s)	Elaine Collins
Running time	90 minutes
Production company(s)	ITV Studios
Release
Original network	ITV, STV, UTV
Picture format	16:9 1080i
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	1 May 2011 – Present

Vera is a British crime drama series based on novels of the same name, written by crime writer Ann Cleeves. It was first broadcast on ITV on 1 May 2011, and to date, six series have been broadcast. A seventh series is set to air in 2017.^[1]

The series stars Brenda Blethyn as the principal character, DCI Vera Stanhope. Vera is an employee of the fictional Northumberland & City Police, who is obsessive about her work and driven by her own demons. She plods along in a constantly dishevelled state, but has a calculating mind, and despite her irascible personality, she cares deeply about her work and comrades. Vera forms a close relationship with both of her sergeants, Joe Ashworth (David Leon) and later, Aiden Healy (Kenny Doughty).^[2]

Premise

Hidden Depths, Telling Tales and The Crow Trap from the first series, and Silent Voices from the second series, are based on the novels of the same names by Ann Cleeves. The episode Sandancers from the second series was due to be broadcast on Sunday, 13 May. However, the episode was pulled from the schedule, with ITV citing: "We regret the late change to the schedule, and the non-appearance of Sunday’s episode of Vera. The storyline of this episode concerns the death of a soldier in Afghanistan. Following the news of the deaths of two servicemen in Helmand province, it was considered appropriate to delay the broadcast of this particular episode."^[3] In August 2012, Vera was renewed for a third series of four episodes, with both Brenda Blethyn and David Leon confirmed as returning for the new series.^[4] Filming on the third series finished in February 2013. The last three episodes of the series were broadcast in a later timeslot, from 9:00pm–11:00pm.

On 22 April 2013, ITV renewed Vera for a fourth series, before the third series had even been broadcast. Filming on the fourth series completed in October 2013, and included an adaptation of the then-unpublished novel On Harbour Street, which was subsequently published in January 2014, ahead of the TV broadcast. This made the opening episode the first since the second series to be a direct adaptation from the Vera novels and leaves The Glass Room as the only novel yet to be filmed. On 5 June 2014, ITV announced that a fifth series had been commissioned and that David Leon would not be returning to the series. Kenny Doughty was unveiled as his successor. Latisha Knight was announced as executive producer for this season.^[5] Cush Jumbo returned to the main cast following her two episode guest stint in series two, while Lisa Hammond joined the cast as newcomer Helen Milton.^[6] In March 2015, ITV announced that the show had been renewed for a sixth series, with filming commencing in June. The third episode was announced to be an adaptation of the novel The Moth Catcher, which was set to be published in September 2015.^[7] Noof McEwan joins the cast following the departure of Cush Jumbo.^[8]

Cast

Actor	Character	Years	Series
Brenda Blethyn	DCI Vera Stanhope	2011–	1.1–
Jon Morrison	DC Kenny Lockhart	2011–	1.2–
Riley Jones	DC Mark Edwards	2011–	1.4, 2.3, 3.1–
Kingsley Ben-Adir	Dr Marcus Sumner	2014–	4.1–
Kenny Doughty	DS Aiden Healy	2015–	5.1–
Lisa Hammond	IO Helen Milton	2015–	5.2–
Noof McEwan	DC Hicham Cherradi	2016–	6.3–
Wunmi Mosaku	DC Holly Lawson	2011–12	1.1–2.1
Paul Ritter	Dr Billy Cartwright	2011–13	1.1–3.4
David Leon	DS Joe Ashworth	2011–14	1.1–4.4
Clare Calbraith	DC Rebecca Shepherd	2012–14	2.4, 3.3–4.4
Cush Jumbo	DC Bethany Whelan	2012, 2015–16	2.2, 2.3, 5.1–6.1

      Character has a major role in the series as of 2016

      Character is no longer featured in the series.

Episodes

Series overview

Series		Episodes		Originally aired		Average UK viewers (millions)
				First aired	Last aired
	1	4		1 May 2011	22 May 2011	6.60
	2	4		22 April 2012	3 June 2012	6.37
	3	4		25 August 2013	15 September 2013	6.53
	4	4		27 April 2014	18 May 2014	6.42
	5	4		5 April 2015	26 April 2015	6.15
	6	4		31 January 2016	21 February 2016	7.56

Series 1 (2011)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
1	1	"Hidden Depths"	Adrian Shergold	Paul Rutman	1 May 2011	6.75 [nb 1]
DCI Vera Stanhope has two apparently unrelated murders and a kidnapping. Her life is complicated by the death of her father and her decision to live in his home which sadly contains the cluttered remains of his life. The story unfolds with Vera discovering that the murders are tied to photos and a missing camera.
2	2	"Telling Tales"	Peter Hoar	Paul Rutman	8 May 2011	6.57 [nb 2]
Sentenced for the murder of Abby, precocious young daughter of her lover Keith Mantel a decade earlier, Jeannie Long escapes from prison and, after a row with her father, kills herself. News of her death brings evidence that shows she was innocent, as she had long claimed, and DCI Vera Stanhope reopens the case.
3	3	"The Crow Trap"	Farren Blackburn	Stephen Brady	15 May 2011	6.58 [nb 3]
DCI Vera Stanhope has a murder which returns her back to her home territory. Her friend, Bella, has been bludgeoned to death leaving a husband who is confined to bed with a stroke. Memories of a previous child who disappeared many years ago complicates the search. Interwoven in the plot is an illicit love affair and a contractor who wanted Bella’s land for a quarry access.
4	4	"Little Lazarus"	Paul Whittington	Paul Rutman	22 May 2011	6.51 [nb 4]
DCI Vera Stanhope comes across the body of a woman who has been badly beaten and a set of footprints which leads Vera to a young boy who has been submerged in a river. Questions arise as to the identity of the dead body and even though the son could have been a witness, he remembers little other than they moved very often. He finally reveals that he is afraid of “The Shinny Man”. A murderer is after the boy and where did all the money found at the original murder come from?

Series 2 (2012)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
5	1	"The Ghost Position"	Peter Hoar	Paul Rutman	22 April 2012	6.12 [20]
When an old colleague of DCI Vera Stanhope, Sergeant Stuart Macken, commits suicide at the hospital where his daughter lies critically injured after his home had been firebombed, the investigation leads to a number of suspects: the daughter's stepfather, a missing protester Sergeant Macken had under surveillance, the protester's pregnant girlfriend and an art teacher. Furthermore, a senior officer's affair with Macken comes to light and a second attempt on the daughter in hospital breaks the case wide open to explain the sergeant's suicide.
6	2	"Silent Voices"	Paul Whittington	Gaby Chiappe	29 April 2012	6.53 [nb 5]
Social worker Jenny Lister is murdered whilst out swimming. Everybody speaks of Jenny as if she was perfect, arousing Vera's suspicions, especially when she learns that Jenny was writing a book about some of her cases.
7	3	"A Certain Samaritan"	Ed Bazalgette	Paul Rutman	20 May 2012	6.98 [nb 6]
A shoe found in Newcastle matches another found on a dead body found in a skip in Portsmouth. The victim had traces of heroin in his bloodstream, a wallet containing £300 and another man's credit card which seem at odds with his character. The investigation includes a possessive mother, a girlfriend, a gay beekeeper dying of leukemia, and a local drug dealer later found dead on a beach. Vera's private memories about her dead father are also stirred when Joe gives her an address for her father's mistress.
8	4	"Sandancers"	Julian Holmes	Colin Teevan	3 June 2012	5.83 [nb 7]
Revenge is behind the clinical murder of Staff Sgt Deverson, a soldier in charge of a bomb disposal unit, The Sandancers. Deverson's second in command, Ollie, who was killed in Afghanistan by an improvised explosive device, was having an affair with his wife. The wife, Ollie's family, and other members of the unit all come under suspicion and the death of another unit member confuses the investigation which is not helped by the army closing ranks.

Series 3 (2013)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
9	1	"Castles in the Air"	Will Sinclair	Paul Rutman & Gaby Chiappe	25 August 2013	6.29
When a young woman, Lizzie Faulkner, is shot outside of the holiday chalet where she and a group of friends are staying for the weekend, Vera and Joe suspect that her murder may be linked to poachers operating in nearby fields. They identify a suspect, Robert Doran, but despite being in the vicinity at the time, he denies being responsible for Lizzie's murder. Vera begins to suspect the woman's death may have been a case of mistaken identity, and that the intended victim may have been one of the chalet designers, Corrine Franks, who was meant to have been staying there at the time. A link to a tragic car accident involving Corrine which lead to an innocent woman losing her life appears to confirm their theory, and when Corrine is later targeted once more and killed in a freak hit-and-run, the team finally get the breakthrough they have been looking for.
10	2	"Poster Child"	Paul Cotter	Paul Rutman	1 September 2013	6.74
An acclaimed doctor, Dan Marsden, is shot through the skull in the living room of his remote country home, and his two daughters, Karen and Mira, are taken against their will. Meanwhile, a new DC, Barry Kelman, is temporarily assigned to the team to help them with the investigation. Initial suspicion falls upon Jonah Regan, an award-winning photographer who had previously tried to adopt Mira before the Marsden family were granted custody. However, it soon becomes apparent that one of Mira's relatives - her estranged brother, Malik - who was thought to have died in a bomb attack in Baghdad - is in fact alive and well, and has been contacting her through her social media accounts. Malik, however, is determined to flee back to his homeland with Mira in tow - but when he comes face to face with Laura Marsden and DC Kelman, tragedy strikes.
11	3	"Young Gods"	Dušan Lazarević	Gaby Chiappe	8 September 2013	6.54
A group of sixth form students on a weekend retreat at a leisure centre bear witness to a man being set on fire, who subsequently falls from a cliff and drowns in the river below. The victim, Gideon Frane, is discovered to have been a former head boy at a local boarding school for high achieving students, but is also known to have a chequered past, having been responsible for 97 incidents of harassment against his ex-girlfriend. When Billy discovers the cause of death was poisoning, Vera begins to look at the case from a completely different perspective. When the team finally track down Gideon's former best friend, Jamie Levinson, both he and Vera fall victim to a further poisoning. Connections start to build when Joe links the case to the death of a former teacher at their school, whose daughter happened to be present when Gideon was murdered.
12	4	"Prodigal Son"	Thaddeus O'Sullivan	Marston Bloom	15 September 2013	6.54
Former London Metropolitan Police detective and well-documented ladies man, John Warnock, is found stabbed in alleyway adjacent to a quayside pub he had been visiting earlier in the evening. Suspicion initially falls on young street thief Reece, who is well known to Kenny, having arrested him several times in the past. Although Reece admits to lifting the victim's credit card, he denies murder. A complex web of relationships and deceit begins to boil to the surface, and it soon becomes apparent that Warnock had been using his skills as a detective to act as a spy for a local firm of solicitors, to uncover the secrets of his current boss, brewery owner Sam Harper. But with Sam, his wife and his daughter all having rock solid alibis for the time of Warnock's murder, Vera is left to decipher just how one of them managed to slip away to commit the crime.

Series 4 (2014)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
13	1	"On Harbour Street"	Thaddeus O'Sullivan	Paul Rutman	27 April 2014	7.00
Joe's daughter is a witness to the death of a pensioner, seemingly stabbed, on a rush hour train she and her father were travelling on. Her seemingly quiet life turns out to be anything but as Vera's investigation begins to unravel a tangled web of lies and deceit. An old friend of Vera's father appears to hold the key to the entire mystery, which involves unraveling a murder committed thirty years previously, a rape which resulted in a child whose identity has been shrouded in mystery, and an affair which nobody suspected would ever be likely to have taken place. Vera realises that the answer may lie in events which have started to repeat themselvs.
14	2	"Protected"	Daikin Marsh	Martha Hillier	4 May 2014	6.44
When a young property developer dies on a beach in Whitley Bay, Vera's investigation begins to tread on many toes. It appears that the victim was not only having a secret relationship with his estranged sister, but that he had confronted a local arcade owner, whose son had died at his house many years before, having slipped from a flat roof in a supposed 'burglary'. When the victim's father dies of cardiac arrest, Vera suspects foul play, but it turns out not to be the case. However, a scam involving the family's rental business may hold the key to the motive behind the victim's death. But in order to place all of the pieces of the puzzle together, Vera has to reveal some long buried - and heartbreaking - secrets, leading to a shock revelation which points the team firmly in the direction of the real killer.
15	3	"The Deer Hunters"	Will Sinclair	Steve Coombes	11 May 2014	6.01
A man killed by a single gunshot wound is found by his car in a quarry. The victim was in Northumberland to sell his recently deceased grandfather's property but at the last minute pulled out of the sale to a wealthy couple who own a nearby deer shoot. A second vehicle is found burnt out with the remains of a dead stag in the back and poaching is suspected.
16	4	"Death of a Family Man"	David Richards	Martha Hillier	18 May 2014	6.22
A man, outwardly happily married, is discovered in the river with his shoe laces tied together suggesting suicide until the post mortem confirms murder. The victim was an informant for Revenue and Customs, on a case regarding the smuggling of alcohol which widens the suspects from family to include his business associates.

Series 5 (2015)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
17	1	"Changing Tides"	Marek Losey	Martha Hillier	5 April 2015	6.52[nb 8]
18	2	"Old Wounds"	Daikin Marsh	Martha Hillier	12 April 2015	5.91
19	3	"Muddy Waters"	Stewart Svaasand	Glen Laker	19 April 2015	6.20
20	4	"Shadows in the Sky"	Will Sinclair	Martha Hillier	26 April 2015	6.13

Series 6 (2016)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
21	1	"Dark Road"	Marek Losey	Martha Hillier	31 January 2016	7.93
22	2	"Tuesday's Child"	Jill Robertson	Glen Laker	7 February 2016	7.91
23	3	"The Moth Catcher"	Jamie Childs	Paul Thompson	14 February 2016	8.14
24	4	"The Sea Glass"	Paul Gay	Paul Thompson	21 February 2016	7.55

Series 7 (2017)

A seventh series is set to air in 2017. The title of the fourth episode, 'The Blanket Mire', was revealed by actor Kenny Doughty on Twitter.^[33]

Ratings

The first series attracted an average consolidated audience of 6.60 million (25% share) over four episodes. The show was subsequently recommissioned by ITV for four more episodes. The second series attracted an average consolidated audience of 6.36 million over four episodes. Vera was later recommissioned for two more series. The third series attracted an average consolidated audience of 6.52 million over four episodes, whilst the fourth series attracted a slightly smaller audience of 6.42 million over four episodes.

International broadcast

• In Australia, the first series is broadcast on the Seven Network. Series 2 shown on 7Two from Wednesday 18 July 2012 at 8:30 p.m. Series 3 commenced on ABC1 on Sunday 23 August 2015 at 8:30pm and was immediately followed by series 4. ABC1 reverted to series 1 episode 1 on Sunday 27 December 2015 at 8.30pm. On Subscription TV provider Foxtel, Series 1-5 is aired every weekend at 8:30pm and Series 6 began airing on Monday 7 March 2016 and aired every Monday at 8:30pm on 13th Street Channel 118 with Episode 4 airing on 28 March 2016.
• In Belgium, Dutch-speaking channel Canvas started airing the series.
• In Canada, Knowledge Network (British Columbia) aired Series 1 beginning in December, 2014.
• In Denmark, the national public service broadcaster DR aired the four first episodes on their popular channel DR1 late Sunday evenings. In 2013, Season 2 was broadcast on DR1 on Saturday evenings rather than Sunday evenings. Likewise, seasons 3 and 4 were broadcast on Saturday evenings in autumn 2014 on DR1.
• In the United States, the series is broadcast on public television stations. Series One was also available in the US for online streaming via the Netflix service. Series One, Two, and Three are available for online streaming via Amazon Video, Acorn TV (series 1-5) and Hulu.
• In Finland the national broadcasting company, Yle, started airing all eight episodes starting on 21 December 2012 on Friday nights at 7 p.m.
• In New Zealand the series is shown on TV One
• In Croatia the series is shown on HRT2
• In Germany the series is shown on ZDFneo
• In Poland the series is shown on Ale Kino+
• In Portugal the first series was shown on public broadcaster RTP2. It was repeated and subsequent series shown on Fox Crime from 2013.
• In Norway the series is shown on public service broadcaster NRK.
• In France the series is shown on France 3 from Sunday 11 January 2015
• In Slovenia the series is shown on RTVSLO
• In Sweden the first series starts on 3 July 2015 on SVT
• In Africa the series is shown on DSTV ITV Choice, series 6 will be broadcast 24 hours after first showing in the UK

DVD releases

Series	Release dates (Region 2)
1	23 May 2011
2	28 May 2012
3	16 September 2013
4	19 May 2014
5	11 May 2015
6	7 March 2016[34]

Notes

1. 6.465 million on ITV and ITV HD^[9] and 285,000 on ITV+1.^[10]
2. 5.71 million on ITV,^[11] 480,000 on the ITV HD simulcast,^[12] and 374,000 on ITV+1.^[13]
3. 5.90 million on ITV,^[14] 463,000 on the ITV HD simulcast,^[15] and 212,000 on ITV+1.^[16]
4. 5.87 million on ITV,^[17] 484,000 on the ITV HD simulcast,^[18] and 154,000 on ITV+1.^[19]
5. 5.75 million on ITV,^[21] 461,000 on the ITV HD simulcast,^[22] and 318,000 on ITV+1.^[23]
6. 6.08 million on ITV,^[24] 461,000 on the ITV HD simulcast,^[25] and 436,000 on ITV+1.^[26]
7. 5.14 million on ITV,^[27] 445,000 on the ITV HD simulcast,^[28] and 240,000 on ITV+1.^[29]
8. 5.31 million on ITV,^[30] 644,000 on the ITV HD simulcast,^[31] and 563,000 on ITV+1.^[32]

References

1. https://twitter.com/kennydoughty/status/777400116277874688
2. http://www.tv.com/shows/vera/
3. http://www.tvhelp.org.uk/audes/schedulebytime.php?date=120513
4. "All Things Law And Order: ITV Renews Law & Order UK; Agyeman & Walter Not Returning".
5. http://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/filming-commences-brenda-blethyn-returns-fifth-series-itv’s-popular-crime-drama-vera#
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R305JQbT4TA|Title=ITV Where Drama Lives Promo Winter 2015
7. "Vera: Series 5 Debuting, Series 6 Commissioned".
8. "TV's Vera Stanhope - from the books by Ann Cleeves".
9. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes: ITV w/e 1 May 2011". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
10. "Weekly Top 10 Programmes: ITV+1 w/e 1 May 2011". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
11. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes: ITV w/e 8 May 2011". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
12. "Weekly Top 10 Programmes: ITV HD w/e 8 May 2011". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
13. "Weekly Top 10 Programmes: ITV+1 w/e 8 May 2011". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
14. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes: ITV w/e 15 May 2011". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
15. "Weekly Top 10 Programmes: ITV HD w/e 15 May 2011". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
16. "Weekly Top 10 Programmes: ITV+1 w/e 15 May 2011". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
17. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes: ITV w/e 22 May 2011". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
18. "Weekly Top 10 Programmes: ITV HD w/e 22 May 2011". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
19. "Weekly Top 10 Programmes: ITV+1 w/e 22 May 2011". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
20. "Consolidated figures: 16–22 April 2012" (PDF). Broadcast. 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
21. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes: ITV w/e 29 April 2012". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
22. "Weekly Top 10 Programmes: ITV HD w/e 29 April 2012". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
23. "Weekly Top 10 Programmes: ITV+1 w/e 29 April 2012". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
24. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes: ITV w/e 20 May 2012". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
25. "Weekly Top 10 Programmes: ITV HD w/e 20 May 2012". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
26. "Weekly Top 10 Programmes: ITV+1 w/e 20 May 2012". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
27. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes: ITV w/e 3 June 2012". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
28. "Weekly Top 10 Programmes: ITV HD w/e 3 June 2012". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
29. "Weekly Top 10 Programmes: ITV+1 w/e 3 June 2012". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
30. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes: ITV w/e 5 April 2015". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
31. "Broadcast - Digital Edition - 17 April 2015". Broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
32. "Weekly Top 10 Programmes: ITV+1 w/e 5 April 2015". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
33. https://twitter.com/kennydoughty/status/777400116277874688
34. "Vera: Series 6 [DVD]". Amazon. Retrieved 5 July 2016.

External links

• Vera at the Internet Movie Database