Dr Vera Juarez is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who, portrayed by Cuban American actress Arlene Tur.

Response to the character's violent death was mixed; some praised the increasingly dark shift whilst others felt it was too evocative of the Holocaust for a TV drama.

[1] In "Rendition" Vera realises that the hospitals cannot cope and suggests overriding the orthodox triage system so that in the wake of "Miracle Day" those with less severe illnesses are treated first.

She later joins a series of medical panels; she engages the help of one to provide Rex with instructions to concoct emergency EDTA which when used as a chelating agent saves the life of a poisoned and now mortal Jack (John Barrowman).

[7] To prepare for the role of a surgeon Tur had to familiarise herself with medical terminology, whilst the production team aided in getting her into an emergency department and provided her with the opportunity to shadow a doctor.

As Tur explains in the pre-series press pack her character is pre-occupied with fighting "to learn how we deal with the situation" as well as for her own sanity: her own medical training "no longer holds true".

[8] Series writer Jane Espenson – who wrote "Dead of Night" in which the characters begin a sexual relationship – felt that they were "two exhausted people who fall together because of something almost as elemental as gravity.

"[12] io9 correspondent Charlie Jane Anders commented that the script exposes the character's "human vanity" in a way characteristic of Espenson by showing her "too proud to hide her feelings".

"[18] The Guardian's Dan Martin felt that the character's death in "The Categories of Life" marked the series reaching its potential, noting the end of the episode as "a brutally shocking sequence" that formed part of a "lacerating climax."

"[13] In his retrospective of the series as a whole, Digital Spy's Morgan Jeffrey praised the portrayal of Vera stating "Arlene Tur was great in the role and her character's violent death gave the next few episodes a terrific jolt.

[22] The death of Vera itself prompted a discussion between Hogan and AfterElton editor Michael Jensen; the latter thought the sequence was too dark, even for a series with Torchwood's reputation.