History Series / Vera

* GriefInducedSplit: In "Old Wounds", Bill Telling and Beryl Doyle divorced after their teenage daughter, Carrie, went missing during a miner's strike that turned violent; the police dismissed Carrie as [[NeverARunaway a runaway]], especially because [[DeliberateValuesDissonance she was a miner's daughter and biracial]]. Bill and Beryl's relationship was already rocky; Bill had a [[HairTriggerTemper nasty temper]] which worsened due to his grief turning to bitterness, he often worked long hours down the mines and rarely saw Beryl, who felt isolated [[spoiler:and eventually had a brief affair with an undercover police officer]]. They parted on bad terms and didn't see or speak to each other for three decades until Cassie's skeletal remains are uncovered; when Vera asks Bill if he knows where his ex-wife is so they can inform her, he snarks that she's "somewhere in hell, I hope". [[spoiler:They manage to reach something of an understanding after visiting the place where Carrie's body was buried together]].

''Vera'' is an Creator/{{ITV}} detective television series based on the works of crime author Ann Cleeves, who also wrote the books that Creator/TheBBC series Series/{{Shetland}} is based on.

* EaglelandOsmosis: Joe, in an early episode, refers to the crime scene technicians as the CSI, but they have never been called that in Britain, they are usually referred to as being Forensics, or sometimes Scene of Crime officers ({{=SOCO=}} for short). Later episodes fixed this by calling them Forensics instead.

* AffablyEvil: The murderer’s in "Dark Road," "The Blanket Mire," and "Cold River."

* TheCoroner: The irreverent Dr. Billy Cartwright in seasons 1 to 3, who had numerous quirks (such as hiding car magazines in the ceiling of his office) and was probably only a pathologist because no living patient could tolerate him. He was replaced in seasons 3-8 by Dr. Marcus Summer, who was younger but more serious. Series 9-12 gave us Dr. Malcolm Donahue, who was even more abrasive than Billy. Malcolm was replaced halfway through series 12 by Dr Paula Bennett, who’s turned out to be just as snarky and abrasive as he was.

** One of the suspects in “Blue” was involved in a hit and run [[spoiler:organised by the VictimOfTheWeek’s father, who believed he had something to do with his son’s death. He didn’t, and he survived his encounter with the car.]]

** [[spoiler:The murderer in “Blue,” who killed his own brother.]]

* EaglelandOsmosis: Joe, in an early episode, refers to the crime scene technicians as the CSI, but they have never been called that in Britain, they are usually referred to as being Forensics, or sometimes Scene of Crime officers ({=SOCO=} for short). Later episodes fixed this by calling them Forensics instead.

* ImprovisedWeapon: The VictimOfTheWeek in "Witness" was done in with a [[TwoByFore wooden plank]] that happened to the lying around nearby for some fencing repairs, while the VictimOfTheWeek in "Home," was bashed around the head with a garden rock, as were the two victims in "Silent Voices," before they were drowned, the VictimOfTheWeek in "Telling Tales," was killed by a ShovelStrike to the head, and the VictimOfTheWeek in “Vital Signs,” was knocked out, but not killed, by a fire poker.

* LotsaPeopleTryToDunIt: The VictimOfTheWeek in “For the Grace of God” had already suffered a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown at the hands of two other people that left him drifting in and out of consciousness, when he get suffocated with his own scarf by the murderer, who happens to come across him.

* {{Matricide}}: The killer in [[spoiler: "Home." She had discovered that the VictimOfTheWeek was her biological mother, and when she went to go and tell her who she was, the victim rejected her, so she then bashed her head in with a rock that was in the garden.]]

* INeverSaidItWasPoison: A slight variation in "Old Wounds", as the police already know the man they are arresting is guilty of murder, but his words reveal other information he should not have known. A man murders the man he believed had murdered his daughter (although he was actually innocent). When Vera arrests him, the father says that he had only done to the victim what he had done to his daughter: sneaking up on him and killing him by surprise. Vera notes that the daughter's manner of death had not been made public, meaning that someone with access to the investigation has been leaking information.

* CarFu: In "Black Ice", the VictimOfTheWeek is murdered when the killer uses a van to ram her car from behind and force it off road.

* TheCoroner: The irreverent Dr. Billy Cartwright in seasons 1 to 3, who had numerous quirks (such as hiding car magazines in the ceiling of his office) and was probably only a pathologist because no living patient could tolerate him. He was replaced in seasons 3-8 by Dr. Marcus Summer, who was younger but more serious. Series 9-12 gave us Dr. Malcolm Donahue, who was even more abrasive than Billy. Malcolm was replaced halfway through series 12 by Dr Paula Bennett, who’s turned out to be just was just as snarky and abrasive as he was.

* LimitedAdvancementOpportunities: Eleven series in, the capable and [[TheReliableOne dependable]] Kenny Lockhart is still only a Detective Constable. However in the season 3 episode "The Prodigal Son", Vera and Kenny are discussing the VictimOfTheWeek who had been a Detective Constable with the Met for 13 years. When Vera wonders why no promotion, Kenny says that some people just aren't interested in climbing the greasy pole: implying that Kenny may be perfectly happy as a DC and not want the additional responsibility that comes with higher rank

* LotsaPeopleTryToDunIt: The VictimOfTheWeek in “For the Grace of God” had already suffered a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown at the hands of two other people that left him drifting in and out of consciousness, when he get suffocated with his own scarf by the murderer happens to come across him.

* LotsaPeopleTryDunIt: The VictimOfTheWeek I “For the Grace of God” had already suffered a NoHoldsBarBeatdown at the hands of two other people that left him drifting in and out of consciousness, when he then get’s suffocated with his own scarf by the murderer comes across him.

* LotsaPeopleTryToDoIt: The VictimOfTheWeek I “For the Grace of God” had already suffered a NoBarrredBeatdown at the hands of two other people that left him drifting in and out of consciousness, when he then get’s suffocated with his own scarf by the murderer comes across him.

* TheCoroner: The irreverent Dr. Billy Cartwright in seasons 1 to 3, who had numerous quirks (such as hiding car magazines in the ceiling of his office) and was probably only a pathologist because no living patient could tolerate him. He was replaced in seasons 3-8 by Dr. Marcus Summer, who was younger but more serious. Series 9 onwards gave us Dr. Malcolm Donahue, who was even more abrasive than Billy.

* ImprovisedWeapon: The VictimOfTheWeek in "Witness" was done in with a [[TwoByFore wooden plank]] that happened to the lying around nearby for some fencing repairs, while the VictimOfTheWeek in "Home," was bashed around the head with a garden rock, as were the two victims in "Silent Voices," before they were drowned, the VictimOfTheWeek in "Telling Tales," was killed by a ShovelStrike to the head, and the VictimOfTheWeek in “Vital Signs,” was knocked out, but not killed by a fire poker.

* NeverSuicide: Played straight and later averted in "Sandancers". The first death is a murder made to look like a suicide. Vera thinks it looks too much like a suicide to actually be a suicide. When a second near-identical death occurs, Vera assumes it is the work of the same killer. This sends the investigation down a blind alley till she realises that the second death actually was suicide.

* ParentalNeglect: Vera's father was not the most attentive man by all accounts, with one given in "Young Gods" recounting that a young Vera was once left with no clean clothes and eating cold beans from the tin by the time someone came to check up on her.

* SecretOtherFamily: The VictimOfTheWeek in "Death of a Family Man" is revealed to be living this kind of double-life.

* TalkingDownTheSuicidal: At the end of "Darkwater", Vera has to do this with the killer, who is planning to throw themselves off an escarpment over guilt for their actions. Vera succeeds, but the killer now finds they are frozen with fear and Vera has to physically drag them back from the edge.

* ThemeSerialKiller: The killer in "Hidden Depths," who would kill their victims, then lay them in water surrounded with wild flowers.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: The VictimOfTheWeek in "Natural Selection" was this, at least at times.

* CorruptBureaucrat: The VictimOfTheWeek’s boss in “Against the Tide,” who was the head of the council’s licensing department.

* RevisitingTheColdCase: "Telling Tales" opens with a convicted murderer who is ten years into a life sentence committing suicide. The publicity brings to light an alibi that had been ignored by the original investigators which proved her innocence. Vera and her team have to re-investigate the original murder.

* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: Averted in "The Moth Catcher," when Vera charges one girl who has been beating up her boyfriend with assault, telling her in the process that she doesn't care what the gender of the abusive partner is, abuse is still abuse.

** The VictimOfTheWeek in “The Way the Wind Blows,” died after hitting their head against some railings during a heated argument.

** In “Vital Signs,” [[spoiler: the VictimOfTheWeek’s coworker, who the victim was also having an affair with confesses to murdering her to protect the real killers - his wife and daughter.]] Vera is suspicious of this confession though, because as a medical professional, they would have recognised the signs that the victim was [[NotQuiteDead not dead from the blow of the head they said had killed her.]]

* HumanTraffickers: While investigating a murder in "The Sea Glass", Vera discovers that the VictimOfTheWeek was involved with a human trafficking ring. The skipper of trawler would smuggle in [[TheIllegal illegal immigrants]] and drop them on a remote part of the coast, where the victim would pick them up in a van and deliver them to various locations. While Vera shuts the operation done, it turns out only to tangentially connected to why the man was murdered.

* RageBreakingPoint: Happens in "Death of a Family Man," "Natural Selection," "Dark Angel," "As The Crow Flies," and “As The Wind Blows,” when the victims are killed by someone who lost their temper with them, either because of a heated argument or because of their callousness and lack of empathy over something the killer has found distressing.

* FictionalCounterpart: The Northumberland and City police force that Vera works for are a stand in for the two real life constabulary’s that would cover her patch in real life - Northumberland and Tyne and Wear.

* ImprovisedWeapon: The VictimOfTheWeek in "Witness" was done in with a [[TwoByFore wooden plank]] that happened to the lying around nearby for some fencing repairs, while the VictimOfTheWeek in "Home," was bashed around the head with a rock, as were the two victims in "Silent Voices," before they were drowned and the VictimOfTheWeek in "Telling Tales," was killed by a ShovelStrike to the head.

* RageBreakingPoint: Happens in "Death of a Family Man," "Natural Selection," "Dark Angel," and "As The Crow Flies," when the victims are killed by someone who lost their temper with them, either because of a heated argument or because of their callousness and lack of empathy over something the killer has found distressing.

* StartToCorpse: Combined with ColdOpening, the body of the VictimOfTheWeek is usually discovered by the time the opening credits kick in - roughly about five minutes into the episode.

* IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow: In "The Blanket Mire", Vera discovers that one of her suspects has an alibi:
-->"It turns out he's been carrying on with the landlady. He says they went for a walk. First time I've heard it called that."