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Dame Vera, a criminal barrister, became an MP in 2001 and was solicitor general during Gordon Brown's administration between 2007 and 2010, one of the top legal posts in government.

“Thousands of people like me have had their trial by fire, only to be released and been told that it’s worth nothing,” said Corleto, who now works with Vera Institute of Justice, a national organization focused on criminal justice reform.

But as a person with work troubles and a marriage that could get the better of him — Wendt’s own wife, Bernadette Birkett, supplied the voice for the off-screen Vera — he was also the vehicle for some of the show’s more dramatic, thoughtful passages.

Monica Seles was the last woman to win the singles and doubles tournaments in Rome in 1990, while the only player to do so in a WTA 1000 series tournament was Vera Zvonareva at Indian Wells in 2009.

It includes letters to a girl called Vera, who Mr Getreu had been in love with.