Vera bows out in pitch perfect love letter to character – and leaves a lasting legacy

The ITV series, which has been running for 14 years, hasn't really delved into Vera's past too much, rather alluding to the influence it had on her life, but this episode broke from the format and showed young Vera with her dad Hector, with whom she had a complex relationship to say the least.

The strength of the final episode was that the focus was very much on solving the crime of The Dark Wives, but we were finally, after years of waiting, given a glimpse into Vera's childhood; the tender and sparing moments gave us just enough without ruining the allure of her mysterious self.

It would have been tempting, no doubt, for the final episode to become overly sentimental and too emotional, showing far too much of Vera's personal life - but to do so would have been a cruel disservice to the enigmatic character Blethyn has artfully portrayed over the years.

All of those moments viewers yearned for where Blethyn would show Vera's inner turmoil with just a tweak of her expression would have been for nothing. Thank God ITV honoured our detective in the pitch-perfect way she deserved.

A tight script, particularly in the flashbacks, allowed us to understand, with no over-explanation, the type of life Vera had growing up. The final flashback showed the young girl helping her dad make a fence, but she was growing impatient as she needed to go and do her homework. Hector asked why she was bothering with it, to which Vera revealed she would be aiming to join the police when she was old enough.

"That's no place for a lass," Hector spat. When Vera disagreed, he goaded her to prove it. We then return to Vera in her office she's held for years, having just turned down a promotion to take her among the highest levels of Northumbrian policing. Yeah, she proved it, alright.

With that nagging feeling of her father's judgement – which has hung over her for the entire run of the series – now put to bed, it was quite clearly the time to retire and enjoy the beautiful Northumbrian coast she's worked so hard to keep safe. What's more, she finally got a companion! A stray dog entered her life somewhat accidentally, and she finally allowed it into her closed-off world, which made for a gorgeous ending for our beloved detective. There was no big retirement party for Vera - and nor would she want it.

The final episode played it perfectly, choosing instead to bow out in the way Vera would have wanted herself: quiet, understated, and with the successful closing of an intriguing case. Furthermore, it paid homage to the glorious North East which she can now spend her retirement enjoying. The finale celebrated the scenery that's kept viewers entertained over the past 14 years - and which kept Blethyn herself returning to the series with some beautiful end shots.

Never before has the North been shown so poetically on screens; Vera has been the ultimate love-letter to it, and the final episode made for the perfect punctuation. From the bustling Newcastle Quayside to the wild and rugged coast and the mystical, rural Northumbrian countryside and sprawling farmland, Vera was the best of the North - and TV will be lesser without it.

We can only hope a new generation of production teams will find inspiration in the land Vera brought to life and help the northern TV scene grow even further, continuing the legacy Vera will be leaving behind.

There's a reason Vera has lasted so long in an age of disposable TV. Blethyn put a new spin on the detective series (no mean feat considering how much is already out there), and it was shot with heart and soul. Never before has a crime drama looked so stunning, and managed to keep intriguing cases which are impossible to guess the outcome of at the heart of it. The love the cast and crew quite clearly have for Vera radiated out from it and was reflected back in the love viewers shared.

It will be a long time before we see another drama quite like Vera; we'll miss you, pet.

Vera's previous episodes are available to watch on ITVX. You can also purchase instalments on Amazon Prime Video and buy the first of Ann Cleeves's Vera novels now.

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