A few weeks after her emotional exit from the popular drama, Brenda Blethyn is set to delight fans by “returning” to Vera for a special event in Newcastle. Brenda, a BAFTA winner due to her acclaimed performance in Mike Leigh’s Secrets and Lies, first graced our screens as the formidable detective DCI Stanhope at the start of 2011.
The pilot episode of the show captivated millions of viewers, leading to a full series of Vera, which has since become one of the biggest dramas on British TV for 14 years. Even Covid couldn’t prevent Vera from being broadcast every single year from 2011 to 2025, with its final episodes airing on ITV earlier this month.
After the first episode of series 14 on New Year’s Day, the much-loved programme concluded with the finale, The Dark Wives, attracting a large audience. Despite keeping quiet about the fate of her famous character, the final scene of Vera showed Brenda happily strolling along a beach, having been seen moments before packing up her belongings and leaving police HQ.
In a press interview towards the end of last year, Brenda revealed that she had decided to leave Vera after 14 years in order to spend more time with her family in the south after filming a new series hundreds of miles away from them every summer since 2011, reports Chronicle Live. While Brenda’s time filming Vera appears to be over, she hasn’t entirely abandoned the show.
Fans relishing the reruns on ITV have an opportunity to join the actress at Newcastle City Hall on Thursday, March 13, for ‘Vera – End of an Era’. This unique event will see Brenda and Vera’s author Ann Cleeves reflecting on the concluding series and reminiscing about their favourite scenes, reports Wales Online.
TV host Steph McGovern will conduct the stage interview, with a few special guests also expected to make an appearance. The night is being touted as ‘an unmissable chance’ for fans to bid a fond farewell to a cherished show and honour one of crime fiction’s most iconic detectives.
