Vera

Documentary examining the appeal of ITV's detective drama, Vera, as it comes to an end after 13 years. Brenda Blethyn reflects on her time as DCI Vera Stanhope, and talks about the camaraderie and joy of working on the show. Featuring interviews from key cast members - David Leon (DS Joe Ashworth), Jon Morrison (DC Kenny Lockhart), the directors, crew, and author Ann Cleeves, Vera's creator.

The apparent suicide of a disgraced television personality sees Vera heading to Holy Island to look into the case.

After two young people are killed in the same way - placed in water and surrounded by flowers - DCI Vera Stanhope knows that she must catch the murderer before they strike again. Aided by her team, especially her trusted right-hand man Sgt Joe Ashworth, she unpicks the complex and dysfunctional relationships amongst a group of bird-watching friends. As the friends' loyalty turns to betrayal, Vera finds that a small act of teenage blackmail and an illicit affair may have driven someone to kill.

After Jeanie Long commits suicide, evidence comes to light exonerating her for the murder of teenager Abigail Mantel 11 years earlier. DCI Vera Stanhope and her team set out to retrospectively solve the killing, delving into the secrets and lies of a small community which still feels the repercussions of Abigail's death. Then the case takes an violent and unexpected turn - can Vera use her skill and instinct to find the truth and lay ghosts to rest?

When a woman is murdered in the remote Northumbrian countryside, DCI Vera Stanhope is led back to a place from her past. As she and her team investigate, they uncover shadowy liaisons, conflicting sympathies and hidden injustices.

Vera's reunion with her first-ever sergeant, Stuart Macken, occurs under tragic circumstances when his house is petrol-bombed. Stuart is badly burned by the attack and his 18-year-old daughter Stella is left fighting for her life in intensive care. Vera is shocked to see that Stuart is a shadow of the man she knew 20 years before and, when her investigation uncovers unpleasant revelations about his personal life, she is faced with some long-buried memories of her own.

Vera investigates the case of a murdered social worked named Jenny Lister, who was universally considered to have been principled and popular. However, in an overworked and understaffed social work system, a notorious case involving the death of a child seems to hold the key to solving the killing. As Vera pursues the truth, she discovers the real secret at the heart of Jenny's death - and the killer who will stop at nothing to keep it hidden

DCI Vera Stanhope investigates the murder of 29-year-old Niall Coulter. With those closest to Niall intent upon obscuring the truth, it is not until the body of a drug dealer is found washed up on a Northumberland beach that the dreadful truth begins to emerge about Niall's past. While coping with revelations from her own past, Vera sifts through evidence of the grief, love and addiction that characterised Niall's life and deduces that his murderer acted through selfless and unrequited love.

DCI Vera Stanhope and her team must race against time to track down the killer of a respected surgeon and save his abducted teenage daughters.

DCI Vera Stanhope investigates the brutal murder of a young physiotherapist gunned down at a luxury country retreat.

DCI Vera Stanhope delves into the tangled past of extreme sports fanatic, Gideon Frane, when he plunges from a Northumberland cliff top in a ball of flames.

Investigating a mysterious death, DCI Vera Stanhope finds herself in a quiet coastal town with clues that keep revolving around one street.

Vera unearths a 30-year-old mystery when the son of a prominent local family is found brutally murdered on the sands of a seaside resort.

When a suspected poacher is found dead from a gunshot wound, Vera must unearth the real truth behind his return to the Northumberland moors.

Vera takes a look into a suspicious fire that rips through a holiday park on the Northumberland coast. Three cabins are destroyed and the body of a woman is discovered inside inside one of them.

Following the discovery of the remains of a teenage girl half-buried in a Northumberland wood, Vera and her team end up looking into a thirty-year old mystery.

Vera investigates the death of an unidentified man dredged up from a slurry pit on a remote Northumberland farm.

The body of a woman is found on the bleak Northumberland moors.

The detective investigates the discovery of a young man's body in an area notorious for illicit teenage gatherings, the corpse wrapped in plastic sheeting and having received a blow to the head.

DCI Stanhope and her team, including new recruit DC Hicham Cherradi, travel to a remote country house when the woman looking after it is killed.

CI Vera Stanhope is drawn into a suspicious death on Ternstone, a remote and inaccessible island off the coast of Northumberland, home only to numerous species of birds and the rangers who observe them. The last thing anyone expected to see was a body, cruelly washed up on the shore.

The body of a young man is discovered face down in a river by Thrunton Woods. But tracing the victim's identity proves difficult for Vera and her team.

Vera is called to Northumberland University when a student plummets to his death from the top of a disused faculty building.

DCI Vera Stanhope is called to a chilling murder scene when the charred remains of a body are discovered in an abattoir incinerator. With limited forensic evidence, she is disturbed to identify the body as DC Harry Fenton, a respected police officer from the Northumberland & City Fraud Unit.

When a seemingly beloved resident of a coastal community is fatally driven off the road, DCI Vera digs up the victim's past in the hope of unmasking the killer.

Quiet life in suburbia takes a dark turn when a woman is discovered murdered, found lying dead in her back garden. When DCI Vera Stanhope discovers that the neighbours aren’t all that they seem, buried secrets must be unearthed in order to catch the killer.

DCI Vera Stanhope investigates the murder of a trainee forensic psychologist found dead on a Northumberland landfill site.

Vera must get to the bottom of why a teenage boy is found murdered far away from his home in a coastal town.

A beauty empire is shaken to the ground when one of three sisters is found dead in the River Tyne. DCI Vera Stanthorpe investigates.

DCI Vera Stanhope must unravel the circumstances of self-styled entrepreneur Freddie Gill's death when his body is found by bailiffs, attempting to repossess his house.

DCI Vera Stanhope must unravel a tangled web of deceit between two wildly different families when the body of a teenage boy is discovered floating near a Northumberland salmon farm.

Cleaner Luke Sumner's body is discovered close to his flat in Newcastle, but pathology concludes that the killing blow could have occurred several hours before he succumbed to his injuries, prompting Vera to piece together the victim's final hours in order to investigate his murder.

DCI Vera Stanhope must unravel the mystery when well-respected local builder and family man Jim Tullman is found beaten to death on the steps of the Collingwood Monument the day before he was due to testify in court as the key witness in a violent assault case.

DCI Vera Stanhope is called to the scene when the body of addiction support worker Angela Konan is found hidden among the bleak woodlands of Northumberland National Park. Vera and her team must peel back the layers of the introverted victim 's life to uncover her closely guarded secrets and surprising depths. as It appears an increasingly erratic Angela clashed with two clients in the week before she died.

When security foreman Gary Mallon is fatally wounded during a robbery at a Blyth container port the evidence points to an audacious heist that went awry. Vera begins to suspect an inside job. But the investigation takes an unexpected turn when Gary’s ex-wife contacts police with the news that their 13-year-old son is missing. Gary Mallon was acting under duress - the victim of a tiger kidnapping. His son was being held as collateral - but where is he now? In order to rescue the missing boy, Vera first needs to work out who was behind the robbery. Further complications ensue when she finds herself forced to collaborate with an NCA Officer who is working on a covert surveillance operation with links to organised crime. As Vera closes in on the kidnappers a misstep in the investigation leads to tragic repercussions, and she finds herself taken off the case.

Vera is called to a lighthouse when the body of a local council worker is found, but it becomes clear that his life wasn't plain sailing.

Vera attends to the body of an ex-soldier who ended up on the streets and finds that events in his past and the present made for a deadly future.

Joel Kingston is a copper’s copper from a respected and notable police family but when he is found dead, floating in a park lake, DCI Vera Stanhope (Brenda Blethyn) finds herself investigating both sides of the thin blue line in order to find his killer. A complex family dynamic, tensions at work, and brushes with the underworld, paint a dark and complex picture. Joel was there to serve and protect but did his stubborn commitment to justice at any price lead to his death? Or, was he killed to stop him revealing a secret that would destroy someone’s life? Vera steps on toes and ruffles a few police feathers as she searches for answers as to why PC Joel Kingston is no longer on the beat.

Vera is brought to market when a lovable rogue trader is found dead in a lane following a suspected hit-and-run, and a familiar face is back on the scene.

DCI Vera Stanhope is on track to uncover an intriguing yet puzzling case when the body of a sickly young girl is discovered in a railway siding. Found in the middle of nowhere she could be anyone but the investigation soon turns up twists and turns that makes Vera question who this girl actually was. A vulnerable young person with a serious health condition, has her weakened state allowed someone to take advantage of her? And how does the family dynamic work when she’s not truly part of the family? A tale of intrigue, betrayal and blurred lines, Vera’s investigation questions the meaning of family, care and accountability. And with eroding trust, does care come at a cost?

DCI Vera Stanhope investigates when the body of the co-owner of a chip shop is found in his own freezer. A seemingly successful entrepreneur and dedicated family man, Vera uncovers secrets, lies and some unforgivable behaviour as she tries to unwrap the case. Once the investigation begins, it soon becomes apparent that our enigmatic entrepreneur has left behind debts, broken promises, ruined lives and seriously interfered in family business that was not his own. Who is responsible for this unsavoury chip shop assault and battery?

As she considers a life-changing decision, Vera finds herself investigating two cases when an ex-prisoner's body is discovered on the banks of the River Tyne and she has to find out if the former inmate has been served cold justice or if there's more to his death.

A student violently killed and dumped at the foot of three mythical monoliths and a missing girl sets Vera on an investigation that triggers memories from her own childhood.