8.6/103,625 votesLoading...#1 - Dark Road
Season 6 Episode 1 - Aired 1/31/2016
The body of a woman is found on the bleak Northumberland moors.
Director: Marek Losey
Writer: Martha Hillier
8.3/10588 votesLoading...#2 - The Seagull
Season 9 Episode 4 - Aired 2/3/2019
DCI Stanhope must open up a familiar cold case to find the connection with a present-day murder.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.2/10446 votesLoading...#3 - The Rising Tide (Christmas Special)
Season 12 Episode 5 - Aired 12/26/2023
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.1/10730 votesLoading...#4 - Little Lazarus
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 5/22/2011
Last in the series of the detective drama based on the novels by Ann Cleeves. DI Vera Stanhope rescues a young boy from a freezing pond after he escapes from a violent attack which left his mother dead. As Vera and her team investigate what happened to the child, they unravel a web of deadly secrets and discover a murderous sequence of events set in motion by power, money and a mother's love. Although she is usually awkward and uninterested around children, Vera finds a kindred spirit in the boy, and begins to realise that the key to the investigation may lie hidden in his memory.
Director: Paul Whittington
Writer: Paul Rutman
8.1/10725 votesLoading...#5 - Silent Voices
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 4/29/2012
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
Director: Paul Whittington
Writer: Gaby Chiappe
8.1/10617 votesLoading...#6 - Home
Season 8 Episode 3 - Aired 1/21/2018
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.1/10457 votesLoading...#7 - Blue
Season 12 Episode 3 - Aired 2/12/2023
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.
Director: Khurrum M. Sultan
Writer: Paul Logue
8.1/10503 votesLoading...#8 - The Darkest Evening
Season 12 Episode 4 - Aired 2/19/2023
On the night of a massive storm, trying to get home, DCI Vera Stanhope (Brenda Blethyn) comes across an abandoned car with a baby inside. With no mobile signal and blocked roads at every turn, Vera is forced to seek refuge somewhere she’d rather not be, Brockburn House, the Stanhope’s ancestral pile. Vera doesn’t exactly receive a warm welcome from her estranged family as there’s a function in full swing and her turning up with a baby isn’t a great look. Things start to look even worse and take a far sinister turn when a body is found on the track leading to Brockburn House.
Director: Paul Gay
Writer: Colette Kane
8.0/10653 votesLoading...#9 - Young Gods
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 9/8/2013
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/10637 votesLoading...#10 - Old Wounds
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 4/12/2015
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.
Director: Daikin Marsh
Writer: Martha Hillier
8.0/10578 votesLoading...#11 - Cold River
Season 9 Episode 3 - Aired 1/27/2019
A beauty empire is shaken to the ground when one of three sisters is found dead in the River Tyne. DCI Vera Stanthorpe investigates.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/10525 votesLoading...#12 - Dirty
Season 10 Episode 3 - Aired 1/26/2020
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.
Director: Delyth Thomas
Writer: Sally Abbott
8.0/10593 votesLoading...#13 - Witness
Season 11 Episode 1 - Aired 8/29/2021
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.
Director: Paul Gay
Writer: Paul Logue
8.0/10635 votesLoading...#14 - Recovery
Season 11 Episode 2 - Aired 9/5/2021
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.
Director: Christiana Ebohon-Green
Writer: Colette Kane
8.0/10485 votesLoading...#15 - Fast Love
Season 13 Episode 1 - Aired 1/7/2024
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.9/10753 votesLoading...#16 - The Ghost Position
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 4/22/2012
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.
Director: Peter Hoar
Writer: Paul Rutman
7.9/10639 votesLoading...#17 - A Certain Samaritan
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 5/20/2012
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.
Director: Julian Holmes
Writer: Colin Teevan
7.9/10627 votesLoading...#18 - Poster Child
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 9/1/2013
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.
Director: Paul Cotter
Writer: N/A
7.9/10622 votesLoading...#19 - Prodigal Son
Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 9/15/2013
Vera and her team investigate the fatal stabbing of an ex-Met police officer outside a busy Newcastle nightclub.
Director: Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Writer: Marston Bloom
7.9/10666 votesLoading...#20 - On Harbour Street
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 4/27/2014
Investigating a mysterious death, DCI Vera Stanhope finds herself in a quiet coastal town with clues that keep revolving around one street.
Director: Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Writer: Paul Rutman
7.9/10638 votesLoading...#21 - Death of a Family Man
Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 5/18/2014
DCI Vera Stanhope investigates the mysterious death of a businessman found floating in the water under the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.
Director: David Richards
Writer: Martha Hillier
7.9/10690 votesLoading...#22 - Muddy Waters
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 4/19/2015
Vera investigates the death of an unidentified man dredged up from a slurry pit on a remote Northumberland farm.
Director: Stewart Svaasand
Writer: Glen Laker
7.9/101,001 votesLoading...#23 - Shadows in the Sky
Season 5 Episode 4 - Aired 4/26/2015
A dock worker plunges from the roof of a multistory car park whilst picking up daughter from her school prom and everything points to foul play.
Director: William Sinclair
Writer: Martha Hillier
7.9/102,319 votesLoading...#24 - Tuesday's Child
Season 6 Episode 2 - Aired 2/7/2016
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.
Director: Jill Robertson
Writer: Glen Laker
7.9/10622 votesLoading...#25 - Dark Angel
Season 7 Episode 2 - Aired 3/26/2017
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Vera
Every episode of Vera ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Vera!
A sharp detective with a messy life, DCI Vera Stanhope patrols her “patch” of northeast England, pursuing the truth in cases of murder, kidnapping, and...
Genres:CrimeDramaMystery
Network:ITV1
Best Episodes Summary
"Dark Road" is the best rated episode of "Vera". It scored 8.6/10 based on 3625 votes. Directed by Marek Losey and written by Martha Hillier, it aired on 1/31/2016. This episode scored 0.3 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Seagull".