Vera (TV Series) Protected (2014) User Reviews

one of the best episodes of the series

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 18 May 2015]

A man is found dead on the street of a beach town, apparently hit on the back of the head in "Vera: Protected," from the fourth season.

Vera and Joe investigate and learn that the man is David Kenworthy, from a prominent family in the area. The family does property development and has for years.

On the night of the murder, there was a huge retirement party for his father, but David wasn't there. No one knows what he was doing in that town.

David's older brother Tom is an alcoholic and is a suspect due to possible sibling rivalry and jealousy. Then there is an arcade owner named Larry Crowe. His son fell off the Kenworthy roof many years earlier during an apparent burglary, so the police said. This devastated Crowe because his son wasn't a criminal and never committed a robbery. He has hated the family ever since.

David and Tom's sister, Lorna, is estranged from the family, but she shows up where David died to leave flowers -- the story has received a lot of publicity. Vera and Joe find out she's been seeing her brother secretly.

Then there's David's girlfriend, with whom he fought on the day he died.

Meanwhile, Joe and his wife are looking for a house in a better area and arguing about how they can afford it.

Vera and Joe dig and go way back into the past to discover a well-kept secret, and some major dishonesty, to figure out the identity of the killer.

Intricate story with an excellent denouement, with Brenda Blethyn in fine form as Vera, who seems to have lightened up a little this season, making jokes and generally friendlier.

This is a wonderful episode, and it's always fun when Joe and his family are involved in the story.

A drag act in Darlington?

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 20 September 2020]

Vera is on the case when a man is discovered dead on a beach at Whitley Bay.

This is a particularly good episode, on the odd occasion the plots can be a little tricky to follow, but this one is very straightforward, it really is a tale of family love, and family lies.

It develops very well, it's a very good story, it ties up nicely at the end.

The performances are very good, I particularly enjoyed John Woodvine and Teresa Banham, both are excellent.

It's interesting that even after all these years, Vera doesn't have any violence, no bad language, it clearly can be done.

Very good, 8/10.

Almost need translation

[michelvega · 8/10 · 2 October 2015]

I love British mystery shows including this one. I only saw two episodes this far including this one. First one aired on PBS had the wrong title episode and this one had none, so I had to find it on the Internet.I understand and write English quite well and can go through a book on quantum mechanics without getting lost, but this British accent is often hard on my ears. With a title I can go on the Web and read the synopsis. Without one I'm nearly lost in the action. I could almost use subtitles to follow the story. That said, I like Vera and her team. Very engaging and enjoyable. Maybe if I watch enough of the shows, which I intend to, I will eventually get to understand this other English dialect.I also had this problem with Morse in the days but not as bad as now. A thought just occurred to me: maybe there is a book of translation on English to English somewhere. Will check on it.

Agreed, best episode yet.....

[winopaul · 23 September 2016]

This is a great episode since it is quite easy to follow. Despite that, here is the character roundup for your little girl to write on the 4'by8' whiteboard rolled up next to your recliner.

David-- dead guy. Karen-- mother of dead guy. Tom-- brother of dead guy. Alan-- father of dead guy. Shep and Marcus-- nondescript Vera employee and black CSI guy. Larry-- creepy store owner son died at dead guys house years ago. {Chippy is a fish-and-chip shop.} Lorna-- sister of dead guy Nicky-- real estate agent, girlfriend of dead guy. Val-- work colleague of Lorna the sister. Wife of Vera's sidekick-- still Page 6 material. {"on the fiddle" is cheating or swindling.} Noel-- husband of dead guy's sister.

Spoiler: Yippee its not a bat-shiat crazy women this time-- a Vera first.

I do want to stress that Vera can carry this show on the cuticle of her little finger and no matter how convoluted the plot, or how nondescript her co-stars are, its always worth a watch.

Cute, her Land Rover "Defender" just sunk in, but note Land Rover is the worst reliability car made for at least a few decades-- go Britannia.