Brenda Blethyn returns as DCI Vera Stanhope tonight as the long-running ITV crime drama Vera returns for series 11.
The detective will be back on our screens at 8pm on Sunday, August 29, complete with her signature hat and rain coat, for two feature-length episodes.
Who else is in Vera series 11?
Brenda will be joined by Vera series favourites including Kenny Doughty who plays Detective Sergeant Aiden Healy, Jon Morrison who plays DC Kenny Lockhart, Riley Jones who plays DC Mark Edwards and Ibinabo Jack who plays DC Jacqueline Williams.
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Guest stars include Mark Benton (Waterloo Road, Strictly and Shakespeare and Hathaway), Caroline Lee Johnson (Roadkill) and Amber James (Doc Martin).
It’s been a long wait for fans after series 10 of the ITV and Silverprint Pictures programme aired in January 2020 and was watched by an average of 7.5 million fans.
Each episode of Vera is inspired by the bestselling novels and characters of crime writer Ann Cleeves and filming takes in Northumberland.
What happens in series 11?
Season 11 begins when local builder Jim Tullman is found dead on the the steps of the Collingwood Monument following an attack.
DCI Vera begins to question why a well-respected local man could be attacked so viciously.
The mystery continues when she discovers he was due to testify in court as a key witness in a violent assault trial.
Vera begins to wonder if these crimes could be connected and as she delves deeper into the builder’s life, she uncovers family tensions, jealousies and lies.
Vera discovers unresolved bitterness between estranged wife Barbara and doting son John Paul, and tensions with old family friends Gary and Lesley Clayton.
The second hour-long episode concerns the murder of a support worker called Angela Konan in Northumberland National Park.
As the location is so remote, Vera begins to wonder if this was a carefully planned ambush.
Noel Henderson and Stanley Booth, the two park rangers who reported the body, arouse her suspicions further when Vera questions whether they knew the victim.
She soon discovers Angela worked tirelessly for a women’s addiction recovery centre, yet her manager Darlene Houghton and colleagues had no relationship with her outside the refuge.
Why have Vera fans waited so long?
The pandemic delayed the filming of Vera series 11 which meant to start in the autumn 2020 and was delayed until April this year.
But it sounds like it will definitely be worth the wait.
When is it on?
Episode one of Vera airs on Sunday at 8pm on ITV while episode two is on straight afterwards at 9pm. The other four episodes will be released in 2022.
“At the end of filming every season I think, ‘Oh, thank the Lord I’m going home. Never again,” the actress told ITV.
“But it’s like having a lovely slap-up meal. You’ve eaten too much. You couldn’t eat another morsel. And you’re shown the menu again. ‘Take it away, take it away!’ But then a week later you get hungry again. So by the time I go back to Newcastle again I’m always very much looking forward to it.”
Where can you watch previous series?
Selected series of Vera are available on the ITVHub, series one to nine can be watched on Britbox and Amazon Prime Video offers all series to buy.
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