BritBox's 2025 Slate Kicks Off with 'Vera' Season 14

Since the BBC bought ITV out of its half of BritBox International nearly a year ago in February 2024, there have been changes afoot. The BBC promised it would not alter the programming strategy or really interfere with BritBox's decision-making; after all, Aunty Beeb had tried and failed to launch an international streamer multiple times in the last decade, all of which failed where BritBox succeeded. However, there have been changes, mostly at the behind-the-scenes levels. BritBox has been more transparent about what shows will be arriving months ahead, along with a more structured streaming schedule, allowing outlets like this one to plan for coverage of their series. It also has picked up a rasher of high-profile debuts from the BBC and ITV, been more aggressive about producing and co-producing its shows, and generally just turned everything up to eleven.

These slow changes are now paying off dividends as, for the first time, BritBox has announced an entire 2025 slate before January gets here, with several release dates through the first half of the year and what titles are planned for the other half. And it all starts with the fan-favorite series Vera, whose final episodes will stream beginning New Year's Weekend.

But Vera is only the beginning of the list. The first weeks of 2025 will also bring Father Brown Season 12, Death in Paradise Season 14, and the BAFTA Film Awards. For March and the all-important Emmy race season, BritBox will debut several awards contenders, including Lost Boys & Fairies, Douglas is Cancelled, Travels with Agatha Christie & David Suchet, and Ludwig Season 1. Late spring will bring Agatha Christie's Towards Zero, Beyond Paradise Season 3, Karen Pirie Season 2, and I Jack Wright, the newest series from the creative team behind PBS's Unforgotten. As for the second half of the year, fans should watch out for Silent Witness Season 28, Sister Boniface Mysteries Season 4, Blue Lights Season 3, The Cleaner Season 3, plus new series Outrageous, Riot Women, Code of Silence, Death Valley, and Lynley.

Check out the first looks at all of these forthcoming arrivals.

Here are the synopses for Vera's final cases:

• In the first episode, DCI Vera Stanhope is called to the banks of the Tyne, where some anglers have discovered the body of a young man. A tangled web of a broken relationship, secret love, grudges, regret, and fraud begins to emerge - has our former inmate been served cold justice, or does his death run deeper? 
• The final episode brings Vera back to a familiar place when a body is found at the foot of legendary local stones, The Dark Wives - with memories of childhood in the background, Vera must work hard to uncover the mystery of why a bright young student would be violently attacked and left so far from home. This poignant episode weaves past and present together, making for a compelling and emotional farewell.

Brenda Blethyn returns for the last time as DCI Vera Stanhope. She's be joined in her final outings by David Leon as DI Joe Ashworth, Jon Morrison as DC Kenny Lockhart, Riley Jones as DC Mark Edwards, and relative newcomers Sarah Kameela Impey as pathologist Dr Paula Bennett and Rhiannon Clements as DC Steph Duncan. The final season of Vera was written by Phil Mulryne, with directors Claire Winyard and Paul Gay each helming one of the two feature film-length episodes. Will Nicholson produces with Kate Bartlett as Executive Producer. 

Vera Season 14, The Final Season, will debut on Thursday, January 2. The second and final installment will stream a week later, on Thursday, January 9, 2025.