Brenda Blethyn reveals she is ‘semi-retired’ after quitting Vera for her family

Blethyn said author Ann Cleeves attended the show’s wrap party where the cast celebrated with a ‘great big cake shaped like Vera’s Landy’.

Brenda Blethyn, who plays DCI Vera Stanhope, and David Leon, who plays DS Joe Ashworth, on set during the filming of the ITV crime drama Vera (Owen Humphreys/PA)

Vera star Brenda Blethyn has revealed she is “semi-retired” after leaving the ITV series to spend more time with her family, having not had a summer with her husband “for 14 years”.

The 14th and final series of the British crime drama, which follows Blethyn’s character – Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope, will air in two parts this January in new stories filmed around the North East.

Speaking about her decision to leave the show, Blethyn, 78, said: “It was a lovely summer back in 2023. And I came to realise I hadn’t had a summer with my husband for 14 years.

“Naturally I missed my family. And my dog Jack, although he was with me in the North East, but I didn’t see him much because I was working all day.

“I love my Vera family, but I love my other family too.

“And when you consider I was already thinking about packing work in when I was offered the job back in 2010, 14 series of working on Vera is pretty good going.

“I wasn’t actually going to do any more after series 13, but of course ITV said they needed to wind the series up.

“So I said, ‘Oh go on then, I’ll do a couple more episodes’.”

The British actress said she is “semi-retired” now as: “I don’t want to be doing jobs which means going away for long periods of time.”

Blethyn won the Rose d’Or Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021 for Vera and has starred in the series since 2011.

The drama is based on the Vera Stanhope novels written by Ann Cleeves, whose works have also been adapted into the TV shows Shetland and The Long Call.

Reflecting on what it was like to film the final series, she said: “It felt extra special filming these final two films.

“We are all pretty close. Jon Morrison (DC Kenny Lockhart) has been there since the second episode of the first series and Riley Jones (DC Mark Edwards) came in on the fourth episode.

“It’s been a big part of their lives too.

“It’s sad saying goodbye to people in the cast and crew because they are so good, professional, and talented, and I love working with them.

“I wish there could have been an episode where I stayed at home in Kent: ‘Vera Goes South’.

“But, of course, the series is dyed in the wool Northumberland and the North East and I understand that’s where it has to be.”

Vera is filmed and set in the North East, with the first of the last episodes located in and around the banks of the River Tyne, where the body of a young man has been discovered.

Vera filming in Whitley Bay — Actress Brenda Blethyn who plays Vera in the ITV detective series (Owen Humphreys/PA)

Speaking about the region, Blethyn said: “Northumberland and the wider North East is so varied and beautiful.

“It’s not just one thing. It’s the seascapes, the landscapes, the moors, the cities.

“A lot of them steeped in history. And lively. It’s not for nothing that Newcastle is called the party town.

“I must have travelled tens of thousands of miles over the years going to all of the various locations.

“If I’d been on holiday that would’ve been great, but as it was, I’d get in the car at some unearthly hour in the morning and my head is in the script.

“And as I’m in almost every scene, I’m going through what I’m doing that day and then I get out of the car at the other end. So I’m not taking in the joys of sightseeing.

“But I always love everywhere we film. And the people are so nice.”

The Shooting Star Ball – London — Brenda Blethyn arrives for the annual Shooting Star Ball at the Royal Lancaster, in London (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Starring in the two new episodes, Inside and The Dark Wives, is David Leon as DI Joe Ashworth, Morrison as DC Kenny Lockhart, Jones as DC Mark Edwards, Sarah Kameela Impey as pathologist Dr Paula Bennett, and Rhiannon Clements as DC Steph Duncan.

Teasing the specials, Blethyn said filming one of the scenes, involving Vera and DC Kenny Lockhart, “broke my heart when I read the script” and was “emotional” to film.

The final episode is an adaptation of Cleeves’ 11th and latest Vera novel, The Dark Wives, published in August 2024.

Blethyn said author Cleeves attended the wrap party where the cast celebrated with a “great big cake shaped like Vera’s Landy”.

The actor took home some of the momentos from the set as well, including Vera’s mac and hat and a Montblanc pen, presented to her by the producers.

Vera airs on ITV1/STV at 8pm on January 1 and 2, followed by the companion documentary Vera Farewell Pet, on January 3 at 9pm.