The indomitable DCI Vera Stanhope, assisted by her trusted colleague, DS Joe Ashworth, steps up for another series of challenging cases. She investigates the mysterious death of a pensioner on a busy commuter train (On Harbour Street), unearths a thirty year mystery after a brutal murder on the sands of a seaside resort (Protected), unpicks the tragic last months of a failed novelist gunned down on a remote Northumberland moor (The Deer Hunters), and delves into the tangled life of a businessman found floating in the water under the Gateshead Millennium Bridge (Death of a Family Man). Inspired by the novels written by renowned crime writer Ann Cleeves, and filmed against a backdrop of outstanding Northumberland landscapes and atmospheric production, each enthralling story is enhanced by the captivating performance of Brenda Blethyn as this shambolic yet brilliant detective.
Set and filmed in Liverpool, This City is Ours is the story of Michael, a man who for all of his adult life has been involved in organised crime, working for his friend and the gang leader Ronnie. When Ronnie begins to hint at retirement, Michael too begins to imagine another life. Because, for the first time in his life, Michael is in love. For the first time in his life, he sees beyond the day-to-day, he sees a future something to win and something to lose - Diana. This City is Ours is the story of Michael and Diana's love affair, set against the disintegration of Michael’s crime gang. For years, together with Ronnie, Michael has successfully been bringing cocaine into the City and beyond, directly from Columbia; but when a shipment goes missing, he knows their Kingdom is under attack. This City is Ours explores what happens when Ronnie’s son Jamie decides he wants to inherit their kingdom and that there is no longer a place for Michael at the table. Both Michael and Jamie have bold ideas to modernise the gang and they will battle for control of it. But Michael’s biggest battle will be to save the woman he loves and the child he has always wanted. This is a story about family, and love destroyed and corrupted by ambition, pride and greed. It’s a story about power what we will do to secure and keep it.
