Vera's Brenda Blethyn heartbroken as she films final ever series
ITV have confirmed that Vera will end after the next series. The cast, including Brenda Blethyn, who plays Vera Stanhope, are currently filming the fourteenth and final series which will air in 2025.
The show originally began in 2011 and has gone on to become a firm favourite on ITV. Brenda's titular character Vera who is usually clad in a raincoat and hat, has been solving crimes in the north of the UK for over a decade and will be sorely missed by viewers.
Brenda released a statement about the show ending, she said: “Working on Vera has been a joy from beginning to end and I’m sad to be saying Cheerio. But I am so proud of our achievements over the last fourteen years."
Brenda continued: "I’ll be forever grateful to the wonderful Ann Cleeves who created Vera, and to Elaine Collins who saw fit to cast me in the role. The producers, dream cast and crew have been fabulous and I’m going to miss them, but I won’t forget their huge talent, the camaraderie, laughter or kindness we shared nor the friendship of the people of the north east and our fans worldwide.
Finally she added: "Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
The show lost two of its main cast members from the latest series, one of which was Brenda's right-hand man Kenny Doughty (who played Aidan Healy). On his exit, Kenny said: "I made the decision before we started filming series 12.
"That was initially going to be the four films screened at the start of 2023. But then halfway through filming they said, 'Can we do a Christmas special as well?' So it was a long goodbye. With The Rising Tide being my last episode filmed in November and December 2022."
Kenny did add that Vera was a 'life-changing job' and said: "I have loved doing Vera 100%. It has been a life-changing job for so many reasons. Including working with Brenda Blethyn and in the North East."
Ibinabo Jack who played DC Jacqueline 'Jack' Williams also didn't return for series 13.
At the time, Brenda said: "It's been such a pleasure to work alongside Kenny and Ibinabo. They've both been terrific members of the Vera team, and I'll miss them "I'm absolutely over the moon to welcome David back to the show and can’t wait to get started.”
However, there was a familiar face in Northumberland upon Kenny exiting the show as Vera's old DS, Joe Ashworth, played by David Leon, returned. He had originally been in the series from seasons 1-4 and re-joined the show as a DS in 2024.
