Now that Vera has finished airing on screens for the time being, ITV viewers are bound to be missing their dose of a weekly crime drama on the channel.
The Australian crime drama – with hints of dark comedy throughout – Bay of Fires is set to fill the void now Brenda Blethyn‘s character DCI Vera Stanhope is filming a final series.
Bay of Fires, which is set on Tasmania’s rugged west coast, stars 51-year-old Australian actress Marta Dusseldorp who portrays Stella.
Within the series, Stella finds herself in a remote community which is rife with crime, bitter feuds and sometimes even murder.
The single mother of two has no choice but to trust a stranger and move her family to a place called Mystery Bay which is extremely remote.
Leading actress and series producer Marta opened up exclusively to Express.co.uk about the hit series landing on ITV following its “record-breaking” success Down Under.
Reflecting on the show’s success in Australia, Marta shared: “It was the most-watched show here in Australia for 2023 on ABC, which is our local broadcaster here.
“So we smashed all the numbers here, so we really wanted another [series] and I actually started developing up with them before it even went to air because they thought it was something that was definitely returnable but also incredibly bingeable.”
Comparing the series to Vera, Marta said the long-running crime drama set in the North East of England is “really popular here in Australia”.
“We love Vera in Australia, I don’t know why but it just works,” she exclaimed.
When asked if she feels pressure to deliver a crime series on ITV now Vera has finished for now, the actress shared: “Of course, yes.
“And I think it’s really important to take the learnings from the things that might, you know, the risks we took because we took a lot of risks and I think you have to break through, there’s so much content people can just flick over and whatever.
“But when I think back to my theatre background, what I’ve done over 30 years of theatre, you can’t walk out onto that stage, hoping they like it.
“This smell it, and then they’re a bit like, it feels a bit desperate. You know, you have to believe that you’ve got what it takes in the story in the performance, in the ensemble, in the production, because it’s not yours and yours alone.”
Marta added: “Of course, we are as strong as everyone around us and we walk forward as a team.”
Bay of Fires is available to watch as a box-set on ITV now. The series will arrive on ITV at a later date.