Vera - Dirty - 10:00 pm Sunday, March 29 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.

Kenny Doughty (Actor) .. DS Aiden Healy

Jon Morrison (Actor) .. DC Kenny Lockhart

Ibinabo Jack (Actor) .. DC Jacqueline Williams

Riley Jones (Actor) .. DC Mark Edwards

Paul Kaye (Actor) .. Dr Malcolm Donahue

Born: December 15, 1964 in Dulwich

Best Known For: His character Dennis Pennis - the spoof reporter who pretended to interview celebrities so he could insult or make fun of them.

Early-life: Paul Kaye was born as Ralph Zang on December 15, 1964, in Dulwich, and raised in Wembley, where he studied theatre design and became obsessed with punk rock. Kaye became an avid fan of Arsenal FC at the age of 14. He used to be an in-house graphic designer for rival team Tottenham Hotspur in the late 1980s, but was given the boot for sticking the odd subliminal cannon into their merchandising catalogues. In real-life he's extremely well-spoken - unlike many of his alter-egos.

Career: Kaye got his TV break working on BBC Two's Sunday Show when he was 24, playing Dennis Pennis, a character he invented during evenings out with his friends, never expecting anything to come of it. Despite being a cult hit, Kaye decided to quit playing him when he found it difficult to get interviews with stars. Away from Pennis, he's appeared in comedy series Perfect World and Citizen Kaye, and hosted game show Liar. He has also starred in It's All Gone Pete Tong, Two Thousand Acres of Sky, Kingdom, Skins, Mongrels, Shameless and Being Human.

Quote: Talking to Pierce Brosnan at a celebrity bash: 'When I went to see GoldenEye, I was glued to my seat - otherwise I would have left.''

Trivia: He has starred in a number of commercials for betting website BetVictor.

Jacqueline Boatswain (Actor) .. Sarah Ashers

Born: June 22, 1962 in Bedford, England

Best Known For: Playing Simone Loveday in Hollyoaks.

Early-life: Born on June 22, 1962 in Bedford, England. As a child, Jacqueline showed a musical talent and joined a London ballet school at age 17. She sang and danced on the West End for 15 years before turning to acting.

Career: Boatswain's first acting role was in Doctors in 2001, although she had previously appeared in such TV series as Red Dwarf as a dancer. One of Boatswain's best known roles is that of Mrs Bassinger in Grange Hill, which she played between 2003 and 2005. After that, she had guest appearances in such TV series as Life on Mars, The Royal and Torchwood. She played Patreesha St Rose in Shameless in 2013 and also Victoria in Wolfblood from 2014 to 2016. In 2015, she joined the cast of Hollyoaks as Simone Loveday.

Quote: On changing from dancing to acting: 'In this country we don't see musical theatre as acting so I thought I had to retrain. That doesn't happen in the States as it's all one industry, but we do love a bit of inverted snobbery here!'

Trivia: She was nominated for Best Female Vocal Performance in a Video Game in a Supporting Role at the Behind the Voice Actors Awards 2016 for her performance in Bloodborne.

Lorraine Bruce (Actor) .. Carmel Sumner

Kevin Harvey (Actor) .. Clive Brock

Michael Begley (Actor) .. Jason Hay

Vicky Hall (Actor) .. Sonia Brock

Matthew Wynn (Actor) .. Raymond Kayle

David Lonsdale (Actor) .. Phil Annerly

Leah Walker (Actor) .. Jasmine Ashers

Adam Turns (Actor) .. Luke Sumner

Maria Jaci (Actor) .. Nadya Dinev

Viktoria Kay (Actor) .. Christine

Dempsey Bovell (Actor) .. Jojo Walters

Emily Stott (Actor) .. Georgia Hay

Patsy Lowe (Actor) .. Daisy

Shiraz Haq (Actor) .. Reza Akhtar

Sally Abbott (Writer)

Delyth Thomas (Director)

Will Nicholson (Producer)

Phil Hunter (Executive producer)

Vera: Dirty

10:00 pm - 11:50 pm, Sunday, March 29 on ITV3 (10)

About this Broadcast

Dirty
Season 10, Episode 3

Cast & Crew

More Information

Did You Know..

Before / After