Tag: Vera Stanhope

Vera, Series 7

Vera, Series 7

(ITV, 2017)

TV series poster: “Vera, Series 7” (ITV, 2017)

Almost comforting in its bleak scenarios and manufactured mysteries­—where everyone is hiding something and the killer (lurking least obtrusively in the background) has covered their tracks in ways that would be wholly ineffective if not for great concatenations of obfuscating coincidence.

Vera, Series 6

Vera, Series 6

(ITV, 2016)

TV poster: “Vera, Series 6” (ITV, 2016)

One of the better series. Vera is at her most believable, her quirks more the product of underlying personality than of plot or manufactured idiosyncrasy. The murder investigations yield to regular police work, their challenges not weighed down by layers of coincidence.

Vera, Series 5

Vera, Series 5

(ITV, 2015)

Series poster: “Vera, Series 5” (ITV, 2015)

Vera is less misanthropic this series, becoming almost cuddly in her dealings with colleagues and suspects. Three of the four investigations entail murder schemes or cover-ups that, divested of obfuscating coincidences, reveal the perpetrator to have acted without a jot of sense.

Vera, Series 3

Vera, Series 3

(ITV, 2013)

Vera 3

The Northumberland setting continues to charm, and Brenda Blethyn to shine as Vera Stanhope. While engaging the viewer, several of the four feature-length investigations yield to theatrical, intuitive deductions where bog-standard police work would have done the job (more quickly and effectively).