2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Nicola Methven)
This New Year brings the very last outing for much-loved ITV drama Vera , and actress Brenda Blethyn admits she could yet regret her decision to walk away from the hugely popular series. The actress, 78, grappled for a long while with the timing of her departure. “It was a hard decision, because I love Vera and come March, when I would normally be getting ready to go back up there, I’ll probably cry,” she confesses.
“As much as I’ve loved working on it, I realised I hadn't had a summer for 14 years with my family. So I still did another series, and this one, because I couldn't drag myself away. But anyway, it was time.
That’s all.” The big question for viewers is whether DCI Vera Stanhope will survive throughout the two feature-length episodes or perhaps - gasp! - be killed off at the end of The Dark Wives. “I’m saying nothing!” she laughs, adding that the character is faced with all sorts of choices in these final instalments.
“Her superior officer the Inspector (played by Shobna Gulati) wants to promote her, so she's got to make a decision,” she says, perhaps hinting that is a factor in her exit storyline. The final episode is based on the book by Ann Cleeves but incorporates an additional plot to facilitate Vera’s departure. That means you can read the book all you like but it won’t give you any clues about what’s going to happen in the TV version of events.
It starts off, in the episode called Inside, with the kindly but blunt Vera and DS Joe Ashworth (David Leon) seeming to be at loggerheads. “In the first episode she suspects Joe is not coping with the death of his father and it becomes a bit of an issue, it’s fair to say.” When it came to the last days of filming, producer Will Nicholson gathered as many cast and crew members into the same room as he could.
Brenda recalls that she felt “a bit emotional”. “I heard several pops of champagne corks. We were all choked up.
Will cleverly arranged for the last scene we shot to be in the incident room - although that's not the last scene of the episode - so that most people were there. And it was like a collective hug." As well as fizz she was given a cake shaped like Vera’s beloved “Landy” and also delivered an impromptu speech which was deemed “very lovely” by Will.
So why has Vera had such staying power and proved so popular, even knocking Poirot off the top spot in Japan of all places? Well, Brenda reckons the secret of the show’s success is that it’s not too gritty for most people to enjoy. “Whole families can watch it, kids can watch it. There's nothing gruesome about it, and Vera doesn't present any kind of competition to anyone watching,” she reasons.
“She’s looks dead ordinary, she’s not just got off a catwalk, she's not dependent on a boyfriend. There’s none of those things going on so you can just relax and enjoy the story.” She doesn’t think Vera will return to ITV, even as a prequel.
“Personally, I don't think they ever work,” she says candidly. “That's not to say I don't like Endeavour, I do, and I love Morse. But I saw no connection between the two.
” In real life Brenda, who says she’s always looked younger than she actually is, has kept hold of some of the character’s prized possessions - including her trademark trench coat. "I think I've got the tweedy coat as well. although it looks like it's been through the mill,” she laughs.
“And the hat. I found that in a fishing shop in Newcastle, I’ll just hang on to them.” And that’s not all - in fact, it sounds like she’s kept most of Vera’s wardrobe.
“I’ve got a couple of blouses - they were all made for me, and the dresses. Vera has loads of scarves too - I’ve got a few of them.” If that’s a sign that she found it hard to let go, it stands to reason that it was equally tricky to bid Northumberland a fond farewell, having given the region a huge tourism by showing off its rugged, unspoilt beauty.
“Often people's preconceived idea of the north east is it’s a bit shabby, and it's not. We go to all these beautiful places and it's been a real eye-opener for a lot of people.” Brenda grew up in Ramsgate as the youngest of nine siblings, living in a two-bedroom house with no electricity and an outdoor toilet.
She remembers her childhood as being impoverished but happy, and worked as a secretary for 10 years, before getting into acting aged 27, when her marriage broke down. A friend asked her to fill in on a drama competition for someone who was sick and she loved being in the theatre. “I thought, 'Well, I've arrived, this is where I'm meant to be’,” she explained years later.
Enrolling herself at drama school, she had no idea she’d soon become a household name. "It never entered my head I would ever be on television or in a film in a cinema.” She won a Golden Globe and a Bafta for her part in Mike Leigh’s 1996 film Secrets and Lies, which also earned her one of two Oscar-nominations, the other being for Little Voice.
All these years later, Brenda is aware she’s going to miss stepping into the shoes of a character she knew so incredibly well. “I felt a confidence playing Vera, because for 14 years I knew what I was doing,” she chuckles. “I understand her very well and, when you consider only 10 episodes out of the 56 have been from Ann Cleeves’ books, the other 46 have been from guest writers, I’m sometimes more familiar with the character, you know? So I had a bit of authority, it's fair to say.
But I've since made a film where I've come in as a nobody - so I just have to remember that it was only on Vera.” And what she’ll miss the least? “Being away from home for six months of the year.” Brenda, who does not have children, met her first husband, Alan Blethyn, while working for British Rail as a teenager but the marriage broke down during her twenties.
She got together with Michael Mayhew, the former art director at the National Theatre, in the 70s and the pair finally tied the knot in 2010 - one year before Vera launched. At that point she considered retiring, but - luckily for the scores of Vera fans around the world - changed her mind. In the beginning she found the Newcastle accent hard to get to grips with.
“I think it was a bit too strong, actually, in the very first episode, and you see it levelled out. People who come from the south weren't terribly complimentary about it, but people from the Northeast were, so I was really pleased about that.” Brenda has been blown away by the way in which many fans have stayed loyal to the series over the years.
“I know people are sad it’s finishing, because we've had so many messages telling us that,” she says. “We even had a lady from Australia who heard it was finishing and got on a plane and came over to check it out.” So what will she do with the newfound time on her hands? “I was asked to do a Strictly Christmas Special, but I was in Northumberland, so I couldn't, and I don't think they'd ask me any more,” she muses, joking that they’d need to make a special version of the show “for geriatrics”.
But asked if she plans to retire, Brenda says that’s not on the cards. “No, no, no,” she insists. “I’m just taking it a bit easier.
” - Vera, ITV1, 8pm, January 1&2, followed by documentary Vera Farewell Pet , on January 3 at 9pm. Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads ..
