Vera (TV Series) Poster Child (2013) User Reviews

Kidnapping and murder for Vera and Joe to sort out

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 16 June 2014]

Vera (Brenda Blethyn) and her partner Joe (David Leon) are called in when a doctor is murdered and his two daughters are kidnapped in "Poster Child," from Vera's third season.

It turns out that one of the daughters, Mira, was adopted as an Iraqi war orphan, and not just any Iraqi war orphan. When her entire family was killed, Mira (then Amira) was found alive, and her plight was covered worldwide. There was, in fact, a famous photo of her that epitomized the horror of war. She was adopted by her doctor, Dan Marsden and his wife, Laura. Now she and her sister Karen are missing.

Some odd things about this case: one set of footprints found at the scene, one foot size 7 and one size 9. Joe suggests two culprits, and Vera points out that they would both have to be one-legged. It's learned that the photographer who took the photo tried to adopt Mira, too, and has resentment against the late doctor. He becomes a suspect.

Before it's all sorted out, there's another death, a shooting, and an Iraqi connection. If the kidnapper is planning on leaving the country, he has to be stopped.

A wonderfully multilayered drama that underneath it all asks the true definition of family, and brings in Vera's personal life. The mystery itself uncovers a bribed customs agent, information kept secret from the relevant parties, and family jealousy. All in all, an excellent story with that tinge of sadness that surrounds Vera, emphasized by the cinematography of a lonely, windswept countryside. Excellent.

A story of siblings, good episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 23 May 2020]

A mother arrives home to a devastating scene, her two daughters, one of whom is adopted are kidnapped.

A very sad, but absorbing story, I really enjoyed this one, it's very dramatic and fast paced, tinged with sadness, but a very good watch. Loved the combination of scenes where Joe is trapped in the kitchen, and Vera is searching for the missing girls.

Very well acted, Saskia Reeves was great, it's Blethyn that steals it as always.

Terrific visuals, particularly the scenes on the beach, it looks amazing.

Very good, 8/10.

First episode watched

[sean-thurlow · 7/10 · 9 September 2013]

This is the first episode I've watched. I've seen the teasers on TV several times and just seem to keep missing it. I haven't read any of the books so I've come at it fresh with no expectations. Problem is of course I know very little of the back story so just had what was presented in this episode to go on. I don't want to go into too much detail, it is a cop drama so don't want to spoil it for anyone. It is an interesting take on the fallout from contemporary events from things like Iraq and Afghanistan. It looks at what it means to be family and it shows how something can have unforeseen consequences if not thought through properly. I loved the way it was shot. Our region is a great mix of rural and urban landscapes and its quite easy to slide from one to the other relatively quickly. The show managed to capture that very well. I think the actors had a hard job nailing our local accent but to be fair I don't think that people who don't live here would notice. One thing that I kind of fixated on was what seems to be an ongoing conversation between DCI Vera, (Brenda Blethyn), and her sidekick DS Joe, (David Leon), about her having a long lost sister. It came up a few times and it got me thinking. There's a scene where they're questioning a young girl and her grandmother Therese, (Joan Murphy), about something the girl has seen. Therese is acting shifty, defensive and a bit belligerent. Now it might have been nothing but maybe its a clever piece of foreshadowing. Maybe Therese is actually Vera's long lost sister, she knows but Vera doesn't. Therese is obviously living in a totally different social strata from Vera. Would be interesting to compare and contrast how their lives have turned out. Obviously I haven't read the books so don't know who her sister is but it would be intriguing if this what's really going on in that scene. And yes I know they give a different name for her sister right at the end of the episode but that doesn't mean Therese gave her real name to the police, they never actually check. The only two quibbles I have with it are, the pacing is a little slow at times but then most shows these days seem to be like that, they have a set amount of time to fill in the schedule after all. My other quibble and I'm just nit picking is some of the scene changes were jarringly abrupt. For example one scene has a piece of background playing that's chopped mid chord while they go back to the police incident room. Like I said nit picking. I'll definitely try to catch it again next week. If your a fan of British cop dramas with a regional flavour check it out I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Jealousy can be for naught

[Fargomoviecritic · 9/10 · 30 January 2022]

Wow! The best show to date. Vera shows her intelligence, compassion and ability to read the clues. A lot of emotion in this episode. Father dies, daughters kidnapped, DC Kelman shot and killed, mother caught in Crossfire. And Joe doesn't pay attention which may have lead to the intruder getting into the house and murder of DC Kelman. Maybe if you knew how to kick doors down you could have saved Barry's life?

Sad stroy of a brother looking to reunite with his long lost sister. She doesn't know he was looking for her and he ends up getting shot and dies in Amira's arms. This was a sad episode to see how jealousy can lead to acts that lead to murder.

Great episode too, with Vera solving the case and why Malik came looking to reunite with his sister, Amira. In the end, Amira is the only child left alive after Malik passes away in her arms.

Love the series but not this episode.

[epacrisimpressa · 7/10 · 1 August 2017]

I'm a big fan of Vera, but this episode was disappointing. Warning - some spoilers may be present in my review. How on Earth could a penniless Iraqi obtain an expensive gun and bring it into the UK? Also why would he? Why would he shoot the father? It makes no sense. Also the character of Mira wasn't developed at all. She was just moved around the scenery like a mannequin. She didn't react to situations like a normal girl would. And why would the brother drag his sister back to the war zone, if he supposedly loved her so much? the whole plot is nonsensical. In reality he would have sought the family's help to emigrate to the UK. On a second viewing I was even more disturbed by this episode. Am I detecting an undertone of racism and xenophobia in this very British show? Malik, the Iraqi, shoots three people, killing two of them, for no apparent reason, and abducts two girls. Is he the looming, irrational threat of The Other that xenophobes dread?

Justice for once is not completely served by DCI Vera

[silversurfersgp · 5/10 · 18 May 2021]

I've been watching "Vera" online chronologically from the beginning, and while the performances of the primary and supporting cast are all stellar as usual, this is the first episode that raises more questions than it answers, and opens more loopholes than it closes.

These include a supposedly trained Firearms Officer that bursts into a closed room with gun drawn, spots the victim, and just approaches her without checking his surroundings or seeing who's behind the door.

In the aftermath of the death of an officer on duty, there ought to have been at least a scene or two with DCI Vera having to answer to her superiors as to how it happened. Instead, the investigation proceeds as normal.

This is a minor point in the scheme of things, but how the Iraqi brother was able to pay the human traffickers to smuggle him into Britain and out of it with his sister is never really answered. Regarding the question posed by another reviewer here as to how he got his gun, it was mentioned by the photojournalist that many Iraqis in the war possessed an automatic handgun, and he would probably have brought it with him since he was arriving in the country illegally.

With reference to the diabetic adopted daughter, it is hard to believe that the killer would risk returning to the family home to take the insulin, rather than just rob the nearest pharmacy.

During the entire 48 or so hours of the kidnapping, it also begs the question as to why the killer never attempted to talk to his sister to ask why she was so shocked at his arrival, and did not seem to know who he was, when she was supposedly the one who had been communicating with him on social media all these months. The siblings only had their one heart-to-heart talk right at the end, when he was dying?

And most glaring of all, DCI Vera actually seems to let the jealous sister off the hook, the girl who kickstarted the whole tragedy. In deceiving the Iraqi brother to come to Britain to supposedly take his sister back, her actions indirectly resulted in three deaths - her father's, the police officer's, and the killer himself, plus her mother who was badly injured in the shooting. Vera may have got the jealous sister to confess all to her family, but the young girl also has to answer to the law for what she has done, but this is never addressed. Deep down, Vera may sympathise with the girl given her personal family circumstances with her half-sister, but the deceased police officer was on her team, and killed on her watch.

A frustrating episode that could have been as good as the others, but for once was not as tightly plotted and constructed.