There will never be another Vera

From a mystery viewer posting on Facebook:

Can anyone suggest alternate series to watch? I know there’ll never be another Vera; but I hope there’ll be other series similar (or someone can recommend likewise) which feature a witty, central protagonist like her. Personally, I always thought it’d be interesting to see another series based on a character who takes over if/after Vera retired. What I enjoyed and have mostly finished:

• A Touch of Frost
• Cracker
• Father Brown
• Shetland
• Wallander

What I’ve seen that was decent, but just not my cup of tea:

• Crime
• DCI Banks
• Grace
• Lewis
• Luther
• Prime Suspect
• Rebus
• Silent Witness
• The Long Call
• Traces
• Unforgotten

[Ken Gray] Personally, I would elevate DCI Banks and Prime Suspect to the top order. For me, missing from the list are:

• George Gently – great episode set in Durham Cathedral; love his sidekick
• Broadchurch – two versions, British and American;  prefer the British 
• Professor T – quirky and intriguing
• Endeavour – Total class act; prequel to Morse
• Happy Valley – quite violent but sets the scene well
• Scott and Bailey – personal favourite; peace officers tell me the interrogation scenes are very realistic; also great performance from Nicola Walker in late series
• Foyles War – Absolute classic; Michael Kitchen says as much with his face as he pronounces the script; love Sam
• No Offense – some find the rough language off-putting; no worries for me as it seems totally justified; three great seasons;
• Line of Duty – Super, start to finish
• Annika – Nicola Walker again; say no more;
• Dalgleish – great versions of Agatha Christie
• New Tricks – very clever scripts well delivered

There’s more, lots more. Enough for now.

So I gotta ask, what’s the appeal? We’re talking death here, seemingly everywhere. Mostly it’s men who can’t keep their privates, private. Love is a many splendored thing, but it does fecund a lot of violence and murder at least in the above named mysteries. As an audience, do we want to solve the mystery is in the board game CLUE,  or do we enjoy the scenes with coroners who gather with investigators around corpses? It’s all rather macabre, but we love it so. We seemingly can’t get enough.

In Vera we find an eccentric investigator, who puts on neither social airs nor makeup. The floppy hat, the Land Rover, the influence of her late father, her blunt conversational style, her fulsome northern accent. No guns, no s**t-talking, no character assassination. It all comes together in a remarkable and heartwarming character—a dramatization I gather delights the author Anne Cleeves very much—who is memorable and for each and every ninety-minute episode through all thirteen seasons, Vera, who teases and entertains us.

At the end of most episodes, we welcome a moment of calm and kindness. Vera reaches out to an impoverished or abused character, adding a moment of special care to the preceding, sometimes chaotic, investigation. Before the theme music takes us out, there is a special stringed chord, signalling the presence of love in a sometimes unlovely word.

Thank you Vera; Thank you Brenda Blethyn; Thank you Anne Cleeves. Just thank you all. You’re the best!