DVD Review : Vera Set 5

Based on the award-winning novels by Ann Cleeves, Vera, Set 5 makes its DVD Debut on September 29, 2015 from Acorn, an RLJ Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: RLJE) brand. Vera stars two-time Oscar® nominee Brenda Blethyn (Pride & Prejudice, Secrets & Lies, Atonement) as a cantankerous but brilliant detective who solves unthinkable crimes in northeast England. Blethyn imbues DCI Vera Stanhope with “a monumental intelligence” (The Guardian) in this hit detective drama. Also starring Kenny Doughty (Stella, Snowpiercer), Set 5 includes four all new feature-length mysteries (DVD 4-disc set, $59.99, AcornOnline.com). All five series are available to stream any time on Acorn TV, the premier British TV streaming service in North America at www.Acorn.TV. Originally broadcast on ITV in April 2015, Series 5 made its national premiere on Acorn TV in July 2015.

Multi-award-winner Brenda Blethyn plays the maverick but brilliant Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope in this mystery series based on Ann Cleeves’s bestselling crime fiction. From the streets of Newcastle to remote rural Northumberland, Stanhope tackles cases as diverse and wild as their settings: a deadly blaze at a vacation park on the windswept North Sea coast, the 30-year-old disappearance of a schoolgirl from a mining town, a corpse decomposing in a farm’s slurry tank, and the suspicious death of a family man in a multistory parking lot.

As rumpled and caustic as ever, DCI Stanhope contends with a new assistant in Set 5. Detective Sergeant Aiden Healy (Kenny Doughty) is still recovering from an on-the-job trauma, but Vera shows little patience for his psychological scars. If their partnership is to work, Healy will quickly have to get accustomed to the sometimes unconventional methods his boss employs—to unearth the truth, crack a case, and catch a killer.

Episodes: Changing Tides; Old Wounds; Muddy Waters; Shadows in the Sky

Street Date: September 29, 2015                            SRP: $59.99  

DVD 4-Disc Set: 4 feature-length mysteries – Approx. 371 min. – SDH Subtitles

UPC 0-54961-2413-9-2                                                          ISBN 978-1-62172-413-1

Contains disturbing images

My Thoughts

Vera is an exiting series that features a strong female lead in the role of detective Vera Stanhope. The mysteries are always unique and original and every episode is brimming over with suspense and subtle British humor. This set includes four fantastic new episodes.

Changing Tides - Drugs are involved in a caravan fire that leaves people dead.

Old Wounds - The 30-year-old skeleton of a teenager opens a cold case that leads back to an old mining strike.

Muddy Waters - A body is discovered in a farm waste pit. The farmer, his farm hand, and the traveling gypsies are all suspects.

Shadows in the Sky- A man falls from a parking garage. It looks like it might be a suicide until a long list of family and enemies become suspects.

I absolutely love this series.   However, there is a lot of violence and graphic imagery, so this series is definitely for mature audience only. If you want to take advantage a whole set of great mysteries, this is the series for you. You can order Vera, Set 5 on DVD for only $59.99 at Acorn Media. You can also find it on Amazon.