Silva Screen

To bring an end to the ITV crime series starring Brenda Blethyn as DI Vera Stanhope, composer Ben Bartlett has curated an album of selected cues covering the last four seasons of this globally popular show.

Renowned film, theatre, and television actress Brenda Blethyn OBE makes an emotional return for the fourteenth and final series of ITV's popular crime drama series Vera.

Spanning two epic feature-length episodes, these new stories, entitled Inside and The Dark Wives, intertwine gripping murder mysteries with the heartfelt narrative of Vera’s personal journey.

This will be the second release of music from the series. The first album, released in 2019, was enthusiastically received.

“Aside from Brenda Blethyn, there are two other stars of the show. The Northumbrian scenery is one, beautifully brought to life by directors Adrian Shergold, Louise Hooper and Paul Whittington. The haunting music of Ben Bartlett is the other.”

“When you first watch Vera the music seems incidental – but that’s the point. Delve deeper and you will find it is written with forensic attention to detail, commentating wordlessly on each scene while keeping the tension bubbling.”

The composer has been part of the fabric of this long-running series since the beginning. “It's been an amazing  ride and an incredible honour to be the composer for this iconic drama since its inception in 2011. The gritty, underplayed look pioneered by Adrian Shergold has evolved along with the beloved characters, culminating in the stunning landscapes and wrenching drama of the final episode, directed by Paul Gay.”

Bartlett first came into prominence with his score for Walking with Dinosaurs in 1999, for which he won a British Academy Television Craft Award in 2000 and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the same year. Bartlett has received several other award nominations including an Ivor Novello nomination for his score for BBC Scotland's TV film Fiona's Story, and several RTS nominations for his music for screen including the film The Mark of Cain directed by Marc Munden.