Vera (Brenda Blethyn) and her partner Joe (David Leon) are called in when a doctor is murdered and his two daughters are kidnapped in "Poster Child," from Vera's third season.
It turns out that one of the daughters, Mira, was adopted as an Iraqi war orphan, and not just any Iraqi war orphan. When her entire family was killed, Mira (then Amira) was found alive, and her plight was covered worldwide. There was, in fact, a famous photo of her that epitomized the horror of war. She was adopted by her doctor, Dan Marsden and his wife, Laura. Now she and her sister Karen are missing.
Some odd things about this case: one set of footprints found at the scene, one foot size 7 and one size 9. Joe suggests two culprits, and Vera points out that they would both have to be one-legged. It's learned that the photographer who took the photo tried to adopt Mira, too, and has resentment against the late doctor. He becomes a suspect.
Before it's all sorted out, there's another death, a shooting, and an Iraqi connection. If the kidnapper is planning on leaving the country, he has to be stopped.
A wonderfully multilayered drama that underneath it all asks the true definition of family, and brings in Vera's personal life. The mystery itself uncovers a bribed customs agent, information kept secret from the relevant parties, and family jealousy. All in all, an excellent story with that tinge of sadness that surrounds Vera, emphasized by the cinematography of a lonely, windswept countryside. Excellent.