Vera - Recovery - 8:00 pm Tuesday, April 7 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.

Mark Benton (Actor) .. Stanley Booth

Born: November 16, 1965 in Guisborough

Best Known For: Northern Lights, and Waterloo Road.

Early-life: Born on 16 November, 1965, in Guisborough in the North East, Mark hoped to follow in the footsteps of his uncle, actor Michael Gunn. Always the class clown, he fell in love with the theatre and spent many years trying to make a career out of acting. He was in the same drama class at the Stockton-Billingham Tech as actress Elizabeth Carling. Some of his early acting experience came with the Middlesbrough Youth Theatre, with performances in plays such as Atmos Fear and Twist.

Career: Benton's big break came in the 1997 Mike Leigh film Career Girls. For the past decade he has barely been off our screens. He had a recurring role as Father McBride in the James Nesbitt series Murphy's Law. He has starred with Vic and Bob in their remake of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Catterick, and Monkey Trousers. He was comedy gold in Craig Cash's Early Doors and The Booze Cruise trilogy. His biggest role was alongside Robson Green in Christmas Lights, Northern Lights, City Lights and Clash of the Santas. He was also a regular on Waterloo Road and is the host of game show The Edge. In 2013, he was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.

Quote: 'I think sometimes you have to ask if you want to be an actor or do you want to be a celebrity? I was tempted to do Celebrity Mastermind but I couldn't think of a specialist subject.'

Trivia: Benton is a die-hard supporter of Middlesbrough FC and has featured in the club's official season ticket advertising campaign.

Mia McKenna-Bruce (Actor) .. Maya Draper

Sian Reese-Williams (Actor) .. Beth Draper

Jamie Ballard (Actor) .. Duncan Maxwell

Louis Emerick (Actor) .. Jack Kassin

Caroline Lee-Johnson (Actor) .. Darlene Houghton

Natasha Alderslade (Actor) .. Lou Maxwell

John Bulwich (Actor) .. Shaun Barrow

Cayvan Coates (Actor) .. Noel Henderson

Shvorne Marks (Actor) .. Lara Kassin

Karlina Grace-Paseda (Actor) .. Angela Konan

Ayten Manyera (Actor) .. Ayisha Nassar

Natasha Atkinson (Actor) .. Kirsty Smith

Edem-Ita Duke (Actor) .. Reuben Kassin

Colette Kane (Writer)

Christiana Ebohon-Green (Director)

Will Nicholson (Producer)

Phil Hunter (Executive producer)

Vera: Recovery

8:00 pm - 10:00 pm, Tuesday, April 7 on ITV3 (10)

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Season 11, Episode 2

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