07 January 2024 , 19:45
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David Leon has opened up about his surprise return to ITV drama Vera, 10 years after he first left.
The fan favourite is back as DS Joe Ashworth for the upcoming series of Vera after Kenny Doughty, who played DS Aiden Healy, stepped down following the Christmas special. Joe's return spells trouble for Vera, as he reveals just why he's back and what's been going on in the last decade or so that has brought him full circle and back to his first boss.
Speaking ahead of his return, David revealed just why he agreed to come back after so long - and what it meant to be working alongside his friend and colleague Brenda Blethyn once more.
David Leon as DS Joe Ashworth and Brenda Blethyn as DCI Vera Stanhope (ITV)He said: "The producer reached out to me and we had a conversation about Joe returning. It was something I hadn’t really considered previously as being an option. Although it was a question, I had probably been asked by Vera fans and others every day since I left at the end of series four, with Joe last seen on screen in 2014. It felt like there was some unfinished business there. So it was a nice opportunity to come back and, to some extent, tie up some loose ends.
"I had obviously kept an eye on the show from afar. Also coming back in 2017 to direct a Vera film called Black Ice screened in 2018. I worked with Kenny Doughty (DS Aiden Healy) then and really like him both as a human being and as an actor. I also have huge respect for Kenny and his contribution to the series. As much as I had loved working on Vera for the first four series, it felt like it was the right time then to pass the baton on. I’d worked with Kenny before on a film with the director Mike Figgis."
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He added: "So I always felt Vera was in very good hands when he came in as Aiden. Then when I directed him on Black Ice it was lovely to be on the same team and watch close up how good he is as an actor. When Brenda and I first started Vera way back when it was a pilot episode and we had no idea it would develop into a series, let alone run for as long as it has done."
Brenda also spoke about David's return, describing herself as "broken-hearted" when he left all those years ago.
"After we filmed The Rising Tide at the end of 2022 I didn’t want to do any more without Kenny Doughty, who had decided to leave. But I said, 'I'll think about it if you can see if David Leon is available to return as Joe Ashworth.' And so they did and here I am. I was broken-hearted when David left after Series Four and equally overjoyed when I heard he was coming back as the relationship between Vera and Joe worked so well," she explained of David's return.