The cast and crew of Vera are back in the region as filming starts on series 11 of the much loved crime drama in Northumberland.
While fans of the ITV programme are still waiting to find out when they can watch the last two episodes of series 11, after the new run was paused again to make way for Good Karma Hospital and Trigger Point, lead actress Brenda Blethyn did announce that she and her Vera co-stars would be back in front of the camera to shoot some new episodes.
And on Monday morning it was the author responsible for giving the world DCI Stanhope, Ann Cleeves, who let the cat out of the bag that production was beginning on series 12.
Taking to Twitter, Ann, who last year saw another of her books - The Long Call - turned into a primetime ITV drama, wrote: "A beautiful Northumberland morning to welcome team #Vera home. Good luck to @BrendaBlethyn @kennydoughty and all the cast and crew."
Swift to reply, one of her growing number of followers, responded: "Another series? I hope so. It's so nice to have entertaining drama that's not like the others," to which Ann replied: "Yep, another series! Vera 12."
Another Vera fan reacted: "Ooo better keep eyes peeled," with a third writing: "Yay I can't wait to watch more #Vera love this programme and love trying to work out the locations."
An eclectic range of locations were used for series 11, with everywhere from Northumberland National Park to Ocean Beach theme park in South Shields seen on screen.
Other places visited by the cast and crew included Chester-le-Street, Amble, Gateshead and Tynemouth.
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