Television Review: "VERA"

While Glenn Walker is a skilled television and movie reviewer, I am not.  I have done a few here and there, but movies and TV shows are not something I review easily like books.  So, you won’t see anything in tremendous depth from me on this sort of thing. That being said, I do plan on mentioning some things here from time to time.


Recently, on one of the many lists I am on, the subject of VERA came up with a number of folks recommending it. There are five seasons though only four are currently available.  As NETFLIX puts it: 

Based on Ann Cleeves's Vera Stanhope novels, this detective series focuses on the tireless Detective Chief Inspector Stanhope -- played by Brenda Blethyn -- as she solves a series of baffling homicides in scenic Northumberland County.

Northumberland County is located in northeastern England along the North Sea coast as well as considerable distance inland. Rural and isolated the area has huge historical significance and not just because Scotland is located just to the North.  Wikipedia has a lot of interesting information on the area if you want to know more. It appears to be a beautiful area assuming the series is really filmed there as what is often done here with filming of shows.

Each disc in a set runs a little bit over and hour and half. Some of the mysteries I have been able to figure out most of the why of what happened roughly about half way through, others I did not do so well. They are not fast moving tales as Vera is sort of Columbo like in style with one more question always asked before moving on to the next point of the investigation. She is a bit abrupt with people at times and yet is going through quite a lot in life. Her backstory is gradually and skillfully revealed in little pieces here and there. 

Solidly good I recommend the series….at least the first two seasons. I am working on season three now having gotten all of them from my local library. The aforementioned Netflix has them as does Amazon.