Best on the Box choice for January 1st…
Renowned film, theatre, and television actress Brenda Blethyn OBE makes an emotional return for the fourteenth and final series of ITV’s popular crime drama series Vera.
Brenda Blethyn OBE:
“It felt extra special filming these final two films. We are all pretty close. Jon Morrison (DC Kenny Lockhart) has been there since the second episode of the first series and Riley Jones (DC Mark Edwards) came in on the fourth episode. It’s been a big part of their lives too.
“It’s sad saying goodbye to people in the cast and crew because they are so good, professional, and talented, and I love working with them. I wish there could have been an episode where I stayed at home in Kent: ‘Vera Goes South’. But, of course, the series is dyed in the wool Northumberland and the North East and I understand that’s where it has to be.”
Spanning two epic feature-length episodes, these new stories, entitled Inside and The Dark Wives, intertwine gripping murder mysteries with the heartfelt narrative of Vera’s personal journey. Filmed in and around the North East, the strong ensemble cast reunited with Brenda includes David Leon as DI Joe Ashworth, Jon Morrison as DC Kenny Lockhart, Riley Jones as DC Mark Edwards, Sarah Kameela Impeyas Pathologist Dr Paula Bennett, and Rhiannon Clements as DC Steph Duncan.
In tonight’s first episode, DCI Vera Stanhope (Brenda Blethyn) is called to the banks of the Tyne, where the body of a young man has been discovered by some anglers. A tangled web of a broken relationship, secret love, grudges, regret, and fraud begins to emerge. Has our former inmate been served cold justice, or does his death run deeper?
The final episode, which airs tomorrow, brings Vera back to a familiar place when a body is found at the foot of the legendary local stones, ‘The Dark Wives’. With memories of childhood in the background, Vera must work hard to uncover the mystery of why a bright young student would be violently attacked and left so far from home. This poignant episode weaves together past and present, making for a compelling and emotional farewell.
Guest stars for this final series include Amanda Root, William Houston, Shobna Gulati, Clinton Blake, Joshua Sher, Michelle Holmes, Kevin Whately, Cathy Tyson, Jacoba Williams, George Beach, Alexandra Hannant, Victoria Elliott, Bryan Moriarty, Chelsea Halfpenny, Yazmin Kayani, Stevie Raine, Jonathan Iceton, Freya Parks, Graeme Hawley, Charlotte Bradley, Sarah Priddy, Christopher Connel, Daren Morfitt, Anthony Flanagan, Kate Marvan, Tiegan Byrne, Gassan Abdulrazek, Sennia Nanua, Olwen May, Derek Thompson, Jacquetta May, Angela Bain and Jada Langley.
Unconventional, fiercely intelligent and driven by uncompromising integrity, DCI Vera Stanhope sets the pace for her team with relentless determination and an unyielding desire to uncover the truth. Beneath Vera’s gruff exterior and solitary lifestyle lies a deep empathy for victims, matched only by her uncanny ability to solve the most complex cases in the rugged and breathtaking Northumberland landscape.
Vera’s caustic wit and sharp instincts are tempered by a wry sense of humour and a soulful interior shaped by her troubled childhood. She commands fierce loyalty from her team, rewarding it with quiet affection and unspoken care. Vera’s work is everything, and her team is the closest thing she has to family, making her decisions in this final series her most challenging and personal yet.
Brenda Blethyn OBE:
“It was a lovely summer back in 2023. And I came to realise I hadn’t had a summer with my husband for 14 years. Naturally I missed my family. And my dog Jack, although he was with me in the North East, but I didn’t see him much because I was working all day. I love my VERA family but I love my other family too. And when you consider I was already thinking about packing work in when I was offered the job back in 2010, fourteen series of working on Vera is pretty good going.
“I wasn’t actually going to do any more after series thirteen, but of course ITV said they needed to wind the series up. So I said, ‘Oh go on then, I’ll do a couple more episodes.”
56 feature length episodes across 14 series, that’s not too bad, pet.
Vera, ITV1 and STV, 8 pm, January 1st and January 2nd. A companion documentary Vera farewell pet, airs on January 3rd at 9 pm on ITV1 and STV. Catch up with previous episodes of Vera on ITVX
