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Sad news for Brenda Blethyn as beloved show is cancelled – get the details

ITV have announced that one of its beloved shows fronted by Vera actress Brenda Blethyn has been cancelled after two seasons.

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Kate & Koji, which starred the Golden Globe winner along with Jimmy Akingbola for the first season and Okorie Chukwu for the second, will not return for more episodes in the future.

WATCH: Brenda Blethyn plays the lead role in ITV's Vera

In a statement, an ITV spokesperson said: "We've loved having Kate & Koji on the channel." They continued: "We would like to thank all of the cast and crew for their hard work."

The series, which first debuted on screens in 2020, told the story of two local members of a community who struck up an unlikely friendship when doctor Koji sets up a surgery within business owner Kate's café.

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As stated, Jimmy played the title role for the first series but was later replaced by Okorie Chukwu for the sophomore installment. Although the reason behind the cancellation has not been explained, it comes at the same time as ITV announcing a brand new roster of shows to look forward to as part of their winter slate and the launch of their new streaming site, ITVX.

Meanwhile, Brenda has been keeping busy filming Vera series 12 which began production earlier this year. Appearing This Morning back in March, Brenda told Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby that the start of filming was imminent.

Phillip then said: "And you're away for a long time there aren't you?" to which Brenda replied: "Yeah, so sort of six or seven months." The timeline set out by the star means that production should wrap in the autumn, hopefully in time for its usual winter release.

In the long-running series, the actress plays the titular role as DCI Vera Stanhope alongside other stars like Kenny Doughty and Jon Morrison.

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