A very excited Sara Kameela Impey counted down the hours until her Vera debut and urged fans to tune in as she made her first appearances as new character Dr Paula Bennett on Sunday night.
Last weekend, there was some upset amongst Vera fans when pathologist Dr Malcolm Donahue bowed out of the much loved ITV drama, having been a big audience favourite over the last few years. Viewers have lapped up the rather cutting exchanges between Dr Malcolm and Brenda Blethyn's famous on screen alias, with their final exchanges seeing Malcolm get one last dig in, as he accused Vera of 'trampling all over the evidence' in series 12 opener Against The Tide.
It was leading actress Brenda who revealed that comedian Paul Kaye, who played Malcolm, had quit Vera and it was also Brenda who first confirmed Sara as his replacement, when she said: "When they first meet Vera isn’t quite sure what to make of her and thinks she’s a bit too clever for her own good. But she is clever in a good sense."
READ MORE: ITV's Vera new series to move to Newcastle city centre as 'replacement' makes debut
Sara's first Vera episode as Dr Paula is February 5's For the Grace of God, which looks set to spark plenty of interest from fans as it sees the action move right to the heart of Newcastle, as Vera and her team try to get to the bottom of the death of a former soldier who was left homeless, after his life took a downward spiral.
An ITV teaser about what to expect from Paula reads: "She’s sometimes mistaken for indulging in dark humour, but actually it’s enthusiasm for the science of the investigation.
“She still feels the death of her father which gives her empathy when working a crime scene, but she never lets her emotions get in the way of gathering the facts – especially when there’s an unusual death with some intriguing science to investigate."
Sara, star of Channel 4's We are Lady Parts and Halycon Heights, took to Instagram in the hours leading up to her Vera debut, sharing a picture of her with co-stars Brenda Blethyn and Kenny Doughty and writing: "Whoohoo. Tonight at 8pm on ITV," adding the very Geordie: "Eeeeee," at the bottom of the post.
