Sam Fender's Vera ITV 'return' confirmed 12 years after death in hit drama's first episode

Sam Fender is making a 'return' to Vera, as the episode of the hit drama he starred and in and was killed off in, is being repeated next week.

Years before he won a Brit and shot to number 1 with his albums Hypersonic Missiles and Seventeen Going Under, Sam appeared in the very first episode of Vera, when the show launched on ITV back in 2011. His appearance in the long-running show was an extremely fleeting one, as he was briefly seen in bed at the start of the episode, before his character's lifeless body was found in a bath tub, as Brenda Blethyn, in her first appearance as now legendary alias DCI Stanhope, cast a glance over the corpse.

Many fans of North Shields musician Sam still can't quite believe he was ever in Vera and those who still haven't seen him in action in the much loved crime programme, will have a chance to on Monday, April 15, when the pilot episode - Hidden Depths - airs on ITV3 at 8pm. A synopsis for the feature length mystery reads: ''The detectives investigate two murders in which the victims have been placed in water and surrounded by flowers. Vera and sidekick Joe believe the culprit may be linked to a group of bird-watching friends, but despite their increasingly tangled and dysfunctional relationships, the twitchers seem determined to protect one another.'

READ MORE: Vera ITV Sunday night slot to be taken by gripping new thriller starring Netflix icon

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Hidden Depths also brought an early TV role for Wunmi Mosaku, as Holly Lawson, 13 years prior to her taking the lead role in new ITV drama Passenger. It also stars David Leon as Joe Ashworth, Vera's original sidekick, who made a shock return to the drama in series 13.

David is set to be back once more as Joe when cameras start rolling on two more Vera episodes at the end of this month, with the new stories set to air in early 2025.