‘Vera’ Season 9 Filming Underway, Cast & Story Details

Sky Arts has acquired Sounds Like Home, an inspirational documentary from Gunpowder & Sky about the power of music in connecting refugee voices and international artists from across the world. The film chronicles the story of Sofar Sounds’ and Amnesty International’s Give a Home project, a collection of musical performances by more than 1,000 artists — Ed Sheeran, Emeli Sandé, Hot Chip and Ani DiFranco among them — across 60 countries, the musicians’ personal experiences as both refugees and global citizens, and the continued effort to shine a light on the global refugee crisis. Sounds Like Home will be released on Sky Arts on May 28 to coincide with Amnesty International Day and June 20, World Refugee Day.

With filming now underway, ITV has confirmed Season 9 details of crime drama Vera. Brenda Blethyn is back as the unorthodox but brilliantly perceptive eponymous detective in four feature-length episodes. The first installment, written by Paul Logue, is titled Blind Spot and unfolds as forensic psychologist Joanne Caswell is found dead, her body dumped on a landfill site far from home. She had been looking into the crime of a former patient who had recently committed suicide, and Vera must follow Joanne’s trail to uncover who might have had motive to kill her. Blethyn is joined by an ensemble that includes Peter Davison (Doctor Who), James Atherton (Coronation Street), Jodie McNee (Britannia), Adrian Lukis (Collateral) and Paul Kaye (Game Of Thrones). Kenny Doughty also returns as Detective Sergeant Aiden Healy. Completing Vera’s team are Jon Morrison, Riley Jones and Ibinabo Jack. A consistent winner for ITV, Season 8 averaged 8.4M viewers and a 30 share to rank as the network’s highest-rated drama of the first quarter of 2018. The series is made by Silverprint Pictures. S9 will be produced by Will Nicholson and directed by Paul Gay, Lawrence Gough, Carolina Giammetta and Declan O’Dwyer. Regular series writers Paul Matthew Thompson and Martha Hillier also return. The crime stories are inspired by the bestselling novels and characters created by Ann Cleeves.

Tore Fredrik Dreyer, Managing Director of Twentieth Century Fox Norway, has added Sweden to his purview, having been appointed MD of Norway and Sweden, effective July 1. Dreyer will assume all the strategic and operational responsibilities for Sweden, including the distribution of Warner Bros and Nordisk titles. He succeeds Hansi Mandoki, who will be retiring from his position as MD Fox Sweden after 13 years. Dreyer was appointed MD of Fox Norway in May 2012. Prior to that, he spent several years with United International Pictures and Euforia Film. Paul Higginson, EVP, EMEA, 20th Century Fox, says, “I am happy that Tore has agreed to manage the Swedish operation in addition to his responsibilities in Norway and I look forward to continuing our strong relationship. His strong skills and understanding of our business equip him well for this role. At the same time, I say goodbye to Hansi Mandoki. I want to thank him for his dedication to the company and for the tremendous success Fox Sweden enjoyed under his leadership. I wish him all the best for his retirement and I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to know him as a colleague and a friend for so many years.”