To bring an end to the ITV crime series Vera, starring Brenda Blethyn as DI Vera Stanhope, composer Ben Bartlett has curated an album of selected cues covering the last four series of this globally popular show. Released via Silva Screen Records, this album contains 20 tracks, 1 hr, 01 min, 40 sec)...

I've been a fan of Ben Bartlett's work since his breakthrough 1999 score for Walking with Dinosaurs, and was particularly impressed with his music for Lucan. His work here, on Vera, is interesting, although sadly it's not as thematic or memorable as some of his past projects. Normally I'd bemoan the fact that four series are crammed onto one album, but I honestly don't think there's enough interesting material to warrant individual albums for each series.

Whilst the whole album is pretty consistent on quality, the only truly memorable piece was the closing 'Farewell Vera'. The rest of the album is interesting but also instantly forgettable.

For Vera fans, then the opportunity to own music cues from the series is wonderful, but for casual score collectors this is a pretty average affair.

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Darren Rea