Vera - A Certain Samaritan - 10:05 pm Sunday, June 21 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.

Paul Ritter (Actor) .. Billy Cartwright

Jon Morrison (Actor) .. DC Kenny Lockhart

Cush Jumbo (Actor) .. DC Bethany Whelan

Phyllis Logan (Actor) .. Shirley

Judy Parfitt (Actor) .. Maggie

Born: November 07, 1935 in Sheffield

Best Known For: A seasoned star of stage, TV and film.

Early-life: Judy was born in Sheffield on November 7, 1935 to Catherine and Lawrence. She trained at Rada and made her stage debut in 1954 in Fools Rush In. Other stage roles followed until she made her TV debut in 1962 in a BBC play called Dackson's Wharf.

Career: Parfitt earned critical acclaim for her Gertrude in a 1969 stage production of Hamlet and she reprised the part in an equally successful film version in the same year. While continuing to grace the stage in a number of productions, Parfitt has been a familiar face on TV. Her numerous credits include A Tale of Two Cities, The Jewel in the Crown, Crown Court, The Charmer and Murder in Mind. In America, she starred in short-lived sitcom The Charmings in the late 1980s and had a recurring role in ER in the early 2000s. She made her Hollywood debut in Dolores Claiborne (1995). Other film credits include Wilde (1997) and Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003). More recently, Judy has starred in Heartbeat, Midsomer Murders, Little Dorrit, Jonathan Creek, Vera, Marple and Call the Midwife.

Quote: 'Getting old is a bugger. But you have to accept it or you'll be as miserable as sin. Going and having plastic surgery is pathetic.'

Trivia: Parfitt was nominated for a TV Bafta for The Jewel in the Crown and a film Bafta for Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Sean Campion (Actor) .. Guthrie

John McArdle (Actor) .. Marty

Born: August 16, 1949 in Liverpool

Best Known For: Playing Billy Corkhill in Brookside and Ronnie Hale in Emmerdale.

Early-life: Born on August 16, 1949 in Liverpool. Before he decided to become a professional actor, John tried other jobs and went to live in Australia for five years. At 26, he became a student at the E15 Drama School. His first TV role was as economics teacher Mr P Todd in Brookside, before he took on the character of Billy Corkhill.

Career: One of McArdle's most notable roles is Billy Corkhill from Brookside, a role he played from 1985 until 1990. Following this, he appeared in a number of soap operas and dramas, including Gallowglass, Firm Friends, Merseybeat and The Bill. He played Oliver Mead, Christopher Mead's father, in Waterloo Road in 2010. In 2016, he joined the cast of Emmerdale as Ronnie Hale.

Quote: 'Hardships strengthen you. When I went to drama school at 26, I had so much life experience, I thought I could get through anything.'

Trivia: He wrote a book called You Never Said Goodbye, which looks at how he dealt with the death of his father.

James Burrows (Actor) .. Charlie

Gary Cargill (Actor) .. Lester

Sonya Cassidy (Actor) .. Celine Ashworth

Riley Jones (Actor) .. PC Edwards

Billy McColl (Actor) .. Meadows

Charles Ramsay (Actor) .. Niall

Frieda Thiel (Actor) .. Roxy

Mia Wyles (Actor) .. Jessie

Ross Waiton (Actor) .. Priest

Paul Rutman (Writer)

Elaine Collins (Producer)

Ed Bazalgette (Director)

Vera: A Certain Samaritan

10:05 pm - 11:55 pm, Sunday, June 21 on ITV3 (10)

About this Broadcast

A Certain Samaritan
Season 2, Episode 3

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