It was business as usual on Tuesday for TV detective Vera in the North East - and that business is murder.
The hit series, now in its 11th series and starring Brenda Blethyn in the title role, returned to our screens on Sunday attracting millions of viewers.
It saw Brenda's iconic character DCI Vera Stanhope try to get to the bottom of the grisly murder of a local businessman whose body was found at the bottom of Tynemouth's famous Collingwood Monument.
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Our pictures suggest another possible murder nearby on the beach near Tynemouth Priory for her to investigate, which were taken by PA photographer Owen Humphreys who chanced upon the filming as he drove along the North East coast.
The images could 'suggest a murder' as Brenda, and co-star Kenny Doughty (DS Aiden Healy) are pictured next to a mannequin accompanied by a white suited forensics officer.
It could be assumed that the mannequin is a stand in, so to speak, of the victim of the crime.
As filming paused, Brenda and Aidan seemed to be in high spirits, having a laugh with fellow cast and crew.
It was a drizzly day on the North East coast and umbrellas offered extra protection to Brenda who was as usual seen wearing her iconic jacket and hat.
The return to our screens of Vera is no mean feat for the ITV hit drama that had the unique challenges of the pandemic to cope with during filming.
But, despite the limitations imposed by the necessary Covid safety measures in place during last year's shoot, the socially-distanced cast and crew managed to get in the bag the first two feature-length episodes of series 11.
The first of the two was broadcast on August 29 - and a further four episodes are now in the making, as our pictures reveal.
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