Sta Hungry Stay Foolish

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

A blog by Leon Oudejans

Vera (TV series)

Recently, I finally started watching season 1 (2011) of Vera, a TV series rated at 8.1 on IMDb. My rating is a 9. Soon, I’ll start watching season 12 (2023) of 14 (2025). Actually, my earlier perception of this series has been very, very wrong. This crime series is excellent despite its main character (ie, Vera).

Vera is a British crime drama series based on the Vera Stanhope series of novels by Ann Cleeves. First broadcast on ITV on 1 May 2011, it stars Brenda Blethyn as the principal character, Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope.”

Source: Wikipedia

Many of the Vera episodes have emotionally moving stories. Sometimes, these Vera stories seem inconsistent because emotions appear far more important than ratio (in those stories). Fortunately, those inconsistencies do not hurt the stories and quickly disappear from your mind.

I suppose the Vera stories are based on the Sherlock Holmes quote below: “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” I think that I heard Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Vera Stanhope using that phrase to her colleagues to justify her methods.

That Sherlock Holmes phrase (see below) is a guarantee for the excellent watching of the crime mysteries by Ann Cleeves. There hasn’t been any episode thus far in which I could guess the Who or the Why. Usually, Vera’s colleagues – and the TV watcher – get stuck in a tunnel vision.

Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope is a mix of intelligence, impatience, and aloofness. Quite often she releases her tension by giving nasty remarks to her colleagues. Her remarks are grudgingly “accepted” (eg, colleagues, suspects) as DCI Vera Stanhope is superior to everyone.

I suppose my previous paragraph explains my earlier – wrong – assessment of this excellent TV series. Watching any part of any episode will give you a wrong perspective. I advise you to trust the average of 8.1 from 19,637 IMDb ratings because IMDb is seldom wrong.

Nevertheless, I’m still contemplating on the Sherlock Holmes quote below. Hence, this blog on Vera. Is the validity of that Sherlock Holmes phrase restricted to crime investigations?? Clearly, it’s not being applied in audit investigations – or any other type of investigation as far as I know.

Perhaps, the Sherlock Holmes quote below only gives a perfect solution when time and (geographical) space do not cause limitations and/or restrictions (eg, MH370 investigation).

“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

A quote used in several Sherlock Holmes novels, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

Acorn TV | Vera | Official Trailer (video)

Note: all markings (bolditalicunderlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.

Archives

1 Comment

  1. Endree Villeneuve

    After 40 years of reading and watching crime drama book and series- this series is on the very top of my list. .
    follow by sherlock Homes with Jeremy Brett. It is with sadness that the curtain at fall on the series but what a great final episode. Brenda B. great actress I felt in love with a character thanks to her . This is a intelligent series , well acted
    go casting not too many of those specially in Americain series that are made for 4 years old . the average IQ of Americain .

    Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Pin It on Pinterest