UPDATE
– For those that emailed asking where Vera was filmed, the 4th series, which premiered Sunday on ITV, was filmed in Alnmouth in Northumberland. While previous episodes have also been filmed in Northumberland, such as Druridge Bay, Low Hauxley and Embleton, series 4 was shot entirely in Alnmouth.

Vera is back!

Vera is Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope. International acclaimed award-winning actress Brenda Blethyn reprises her leading role as the unconventional, yet brilliantly perceptive (and, ok, a bit obsessive) DCI when the series returns tonight for the 4th season of the popular crime drama at 8pm on ITV. Based on the works of crime author Ann Cleeves, Vera is a bit short-tempered. She’s direct but does possess a sensitive side when it comes to her trusted sidekick, Detective Sergeant Joe Ashworth, played by David Leon.
 

The four episodes that comprise the forthcoming series are “Harbour Street”, “Protection”, “The Deer Hunters” and “Death Of a Family Man”. In tonight’s premiere episode, crime gets a bit personal as Vera investigates the mysterious death of Margaret Kraszewski, a pensioner with a scandalous past who is found stabbed on a busy Newcastle train at the height of rush hour with DS Ashworth’s daughter Jessie a key witness in the murder.
 

 
If you’re in the States, before you become all pouty face because you aren’t in the UK for tonight’s premiere, the new season of Vera will become available for broadcast on public television stations beginning May 1. In a world filled with the likes of DCI Banks and Luther, if you haven’t seen Vera yet, it’s worth checking out. You have about 72 hours to binge watch the first three series on DVD before it hits public television station schedules. Go…