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Poster Child
Season 3, Episode 2
Respected surgeon Dan Marsden is shot dead days before his retirement and his teenage daughters Mira and Karen are abducted. Joined by a new addition to the ranks, Vera investigates a mysterious parcel and a connection to the Iraq War as she races against time to catch the killer and save the girls. However, the case soon takes a violent and unexpected turn, striking at the heart of the team. Guest starring Saskia Reeves (Luther) and Dean Andrews (Ashes to Ashes), with Brenda Blethyn, David Leon and Gareth Farr
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subtitles
16x9
audio-description
Detective/Thriller
Movie/Drama
Cast & Crew
Brenda Blethyn
(Actor)
.. DCI Vera Stanhope
David Leon
(Actor)
.. DS Joe Ashworth
Paul Ritter
(Actor)
.. Billy Cartwright
Jon Morrison
(Actor)
.. DC Kenny Lockhart
Saskia Reeves
(Actor)
.. Laura Marsden
Dean Andrews
(Actor)
.. Jonah Regan
Sonya Cassidy
(Actor)
.. Celine Ashworth
Hugh Simon
(Actor)
.. Robin Creavey
Amy Cameron
(Actor)
.. Karen Marsden
Reece Andrews
(Actor)
.. Dan Marsden
Shifaa Arfan
(Actor)
.. Mira Marsden
Lucy Black
(Actor)
.. Judy Mann
Amir Boutrous
(Actor)
.. Malik Saleh
Gareth Farr
(Actor)
.. DC Barry Kelman
Cheryl Marie Dixon
(Actor)
.. Lucia Webb
Jade Knox Griffiths
(Actor)
.. Meg
Adam Long
(Actor)
.. Kyle
Jamie Michie
(Actor)
.. Gary Webb
Katharine Monaghan
(Actor)
.. WPC Collette Hughes
Joan Murphy
(Actor)
.. Therese
Danny Rahim
(Actor)
.. Nadim
Mia Wyles
(Actor)
.. Jessie Ashworth
Rachael Chisholm
(Actor)
.. Pharmacist
Bev Fox
(Actor)
.. Solicitor
Ben Mars
(Actor)
.. Solicitor
Paul Rutman
(Writer)
Margaret Mitchell
(Producer)
Paul Cotter
(Director)
Kate Bartlett
(Executive producer)
Elaine Collins
(Executive producer)
More Information
Did You Know..
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
Saskia Reeves
(Actor)
.. Laura Marsden
Dean Andrews
(Actor)
.. Jonah Regan
Born:
August 06, 1963
in
Rotherham
Best Known For:
Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes.
Early-life:
Dean was born in Rotherham on August 6, 1963. His parents were publicans. He spent 20 years singing at holiday resorts and on cruise ships before his big break came when he successfully auditioned for a part in Ken Loach's The Navigators (2001), a film set in Sheffield.
Career:
Andrews went on to pick up guest roles in the likes of Buried, Clocking Off, No Angels, Casualty, Wire in the Blood and Shameless before landing his dream part as Ray Carling in the critically acclaimed Life on Mars. He played Carling in two series of Life on Mars and three series of spin-off show Ashes to Ashes. Since then, Andrews has rarely been off TV screens. He has starred in Marchlands, The Case, Being Eileen, Vera and Last Tango in Halifax.
Quote:
"I've been so lucky in my career as I was a late starter and I owe it all to film director Ken Loach."
Trivia:
In 2013, he got to sing in his first stage play, Victoria Wood's That Day We Sang at the Royal Exchange in Manchester.
Sonya Cassidy
(Actor)
.. Celine Ashworth
Hugh Simon
(Actor)
.. Robin Creavey
Amy Cameron
(Actor)
.. Karen Marsden
Reece Andrews
(Actor)
.. Dan Marsden
Shifaa Arfan
(Actor)
.. Mira Marsden
Lucy Black
(Actor)
.. Judy Mann
Amir Boutrous
(Actor)
.. Malik Saleh
Gareth Farr
(Actor)
.. DC Barry Kelman
Cheryl Marie Dixon
(Actor)
.. Lucia Webb
Jade Knox Griffiths
(Actor)
.. Meg
Adam Long
(Actor)
.. Kyle
Jamie Michie
(Actor)
.. Gary Webb
Katharine Monaghan
(Actor)
.. WPC Collette Hughes
Joan Murphy
(Actor)
.. Therese
Danny Rahim
(Actor)
.. Nadim
Mia Wyles
(Actor)
.. Jessie Ashworth
Rachael Chisholm
(Actor)
.. Pharmacist
Bev Fox
(Actor)
.. Solicitor
Ben Mars
(Actor)
.. Solicitor
Paul Rutman
(Writer)
Margaret Mitchell
(Producer)
Paul Cotter
(Director)
Kate Bartlett
(Executive producer)
Elaine Collins
(Executive producer)
