Vera - Little Lazarus - 8:00 pm Tuesday, June 9 on ITV3

Brenda Blethyn (Actor) .. DCI Vera Stanhope

Born: February 20, 1946 in Kent

Best Known For: Secrets & Lies.

Early-life: Born Brenda Anne Bottle on February 20, 1946, in Ramsgate, Kent. She's the youngest of nine children of a parlour maid and a chauffeur. Money was tight when she was growing up. After excelling at maths at school, she worked as a secretary and bookkeeper in a bank. But she was always obsessed with films and acting and, at the age of 27, after divorcing her first husband, she gave up her day job and used her savings to fund a drama course at Guildford. She didn't tell her parents, and thought she would go back to her old career if things didn't work out.

Career: Blethyn gained early experience with two small theatre groups before joining the National Theatre in 1975. Her TV debut was in a 1979 episode of Tales of the Unexpected, and a year later she had a lead role in Mike Leigh's small-screen project Gloria. In 1990 she made her first film, The Witches, following that up with A River Runs Through It. Despite roles in Outside Edge and The Buddha of Suburbia, she didn't become a household name until her Oscar-nominated role in Leigh's Secrets & Lies. Since then she's starred in Girls' Night, Saving Grace, Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, London River, and gained another Oscar nomination for Little Voice. She returned to the small screen in 2011 playing the title role in ITV's detective series Vera.

Quote: 'I don't have ambition. My expectations are low.'

Trivia: Blethyn was awarded an OBE for services to drama in the 2003 New Year Honours List.

David Leon (Actor) .. DS Joe Ashworth

Best Known For: Vera.

Early-life: David Jeremy Leon was born in 1980 in Newcastle upon Tyne to Ann and Anthony. As a teenager, Leon was on the books of Blackburn Rovers, but they released him when he was 19. He turned to acting and successfully auditioned for the National Youth Theatre. He dropped out of drama school to shoot the film Alexander (2004) with Oliver Stone in Morocco. In 2006, he had a main role in the film These Foolish Things (2006).

Career: Leon went on to star in the miniseries The Wild West, RocknRolla (2008) and Walking with the Enemy (2013). Between 2011 and 2014, he starred alongside Brenda Blethyn in ITV drama Vera, playing DS Joe Ashworth.

Quote: 'You can't get away with enjoying acting in a working-class environment.'

Trivia: Leon's short film Orthodox was accepted into several international film festivals. He completed a feature length version of Orthodox in 2015.

Wunmi Mosaku (Actor) .. DC Holly Lawson

Born: July 31, 1986 in Zaria, Nigeria

Best Known For: Playing Gloria Taylor in Damilola, Our Loved Boy.

Early-life: Oluwunmi Olapeju Mosaku was born on July 31, 1986 in Zaria, Nigeria. She moved with her family to Manchester, England, where she was educated at Trinity Church of England High School and Xaverian Sixth Form College and sang in the Manchester Girls Choir for 11 years. Wunmi graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2007.

Career: Mosaku's professional acting career began with various roles on the stage. Some of her early TV roles include appearances in Doctors and The Bill. She was cast as Joy in the BBC Two mini-series Moses Jones and then went on to appear in such TV series as Silent Witness, The Body Farm and Vera. Mosaku also appeared in the films Philomena (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016). She played Gloria Taylor in the TV film Damilola, Our Loved Boy (2016). Her other recent TV credits include Guerilla and Fearless.

Quote: 'I don't pick roles because of a strong woman - most of the time, with the good characters, there's a certain vulnerability there. I pick roles because they're good stories that are being told.'

Trivia: She won the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Damilola, Our Loved Boy.

Paul Ritter (Actor) .. Billy Cartwright

Tim Dutton (Actor) .. Aidan Carmichael

Judi Earl (Actor) .. Theresa

Kerry Fox (Actor) .. Patricia Carmichael

Born: July 30, 1966 in Wellington, New Zealand

Best Known For: Starring in Shallow Grave.

Early-life: Kerry was born in New Zealand in 1966, and grew up just outside Wellington. She discovered her love of acting at a young age, but didn't originally plan to pursue it as a career, choosing to go to Victoria University instead. From there, she went on to win a place at the New Zealand Drama School, now called Toi Whakaari, where she caught the eye of director Jane Campion.

Career: Shortly after graduating, Kerry was cast in the lead role of Jane Campion's An Angel at My Table, a biopic of New Zealand writer Janet Frame. Despite winning rave reviews for her performance, Kerry says it took a while for the offers to come flooding in - she believes the two stone she put on for the role may have been a factor. However, she went on to be cast in director Danny Boyle's acclaimed TV drama Mr Wroe's Virgins in 1993 and his film Shallow Grave the following year, and since then she's continued to mix TV and film work. Her credits include Welcome to Sarajevo, The Murder Room and Inconceivable, and in 2009 she reunited with Campion for Bright Star.

Quote: 'I want to work really hard and I want to be challenged - I don't want to faff around.'

Trivia: Fox has developed a reputation for playing fiercely intelligent, independent-minded woman.

Sam Jarvis (Actor) .. Adam Wilde

Riley Jones (Actor) .. PC Edwards

Emma Lowndes (Actor) .. Renagh Salter

Jon Morrison (Actor) .. DC Kenny Lockhart

Laura Norton (Actor) .. Margaret Wilde

Born: June 19, 1983 in Hazlerigg, Newcastle upon Tyne

Best Known For: Playing Kerry Wyatt in Emmerdale.

Early-life: Laura was born in Hazlerigg, Newcastle upon Tyne, on June 19, 1983. Her first taste of acting came at the age of 14 in a play at the Live Theatre in Newcastle. After completing performing arts courses at North Tyneside College, Laura landed her first major stage role in Keepers of the Flame, a project that was a partnership between the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Live Theatre.

Career: Norton continued to work extensively on the stage and began picking up guest roles in a number of TV shows, including Byker Grove, 55 Degrees North, Steel River Blues, The Royal Today and Vera. Her big break came in 2012, when she landed the role of Kerry Wyatt on Emmerdale, a character she continues to play.

Quote: On her Emmerdale character: 'She's complicated, vulnerable and childlike.'

Trivia: Norton was nominated in the best newcomer category at the 2013 British Soap Awards.

Kieran O'Brien (Actor) .. Bobby Salter

Best Known For: A string of roles.

Early-life: Kieran was born in Oldham in 1973. He made his acting debut at a young age in the children's drama Jossy's Giants. Guest appearances followed in One by One, Bulman, Bellman and True and Gruey. He also had a role on Children's Ward, playing Lee Jones. In the early 1990s, he had recurring roles in Coronation Street and Cracker.

Career: In 1999, O'Brien made his film debut in Virtual Sexuality. His other film credits include 24 Hour Party People (2002), 9 Songs (2004), Goal! The Dream Begins (2005) and Goal II: Living the Dream (2007). More recently, he has starred on the small screen in Bluestone 42, Silk, Grantchester, The Syndicate and Prey.

Quote: On his graphic sex scenes in the film 9 Songs: 'To me they were just scenes we were shooting, and I was surprised how ordinary and how natural it was.'

Trivia: In 2013, O'Brien toured in a UK stage production of The Full Monty.

Joe Renton (Actor) .. Danny Hale

Renu Setna (Actor) .. Amrit Singh

Alice Sykes (Actor) .. Sorcha Carmichael

Philip Harrison (Actor) .. Photographer

Paul Rutman (Writer)

Paul Whittington (Director)

Elaine Collins (Producer)

Nick McPhee (Editor)

Kate Bartlett (Executive producer)

Kate Lewis (Executive producer)

Vera: Little Lazarus

8:00 pm - 10:00 pm, Tuesday, June 9 on ITV3 (10)

About this Broadcast

Little Lazarus
Season 1, Episode 4

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