Vera actress Brenda Blethyn left 'heartbroken' after ITV co-star's exit

16 January 2023 , 10:32

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Brenda Blethyn has opened up about how the departure of one of her Vera co-stars 'broke her heart'.

Brenda, 76, has played the principal character, Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope in the ITV series since the British crime drama premiered in 2011.

Based on series of novels written by crime writer Ann Cleeves, Vera follows Brenda's nearly-retired character throwing herself into her work as she battles her personal demons.

Over the years, Brenda has seen many changes to the supporting cast, notably the departure of her former partner, DS Joe Ashworth (David Leon), and the arrival of his replacement, DS Aiden Healy (Kenny Doughty).

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Brenda Blethyn has been the lead star on the ITV series for the last 13 years (Getty Images)

Vera actress Brenda Blethyn left 'heartbroken' after ITV co-star's exit

The Vera actress admits she misses her beloved dog and husband when away filming the drama (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

After starring alongside Brenda on the ITV since 2011, David walked away from the series in 2014 to pursue other work commitments - something that devastated the Vera actress.

Vera's Brenda Blethyn admits 'avoiding fans' to not ‘jeopardise’ filming of show

"I never thought I’d get over David going – that broke my heart," Brend recently confessed to the Mirror. "But Kenny is a joy. He’s my mate."

She added: "He’s great company on set along with the rest of the cast, the crew and the directors."

David quit his role as DS Joe Ashworth after four series (ITV)

Elsewhere during her recent chat, Brenda admitted she often thinks of calling it a day when filming leaves her away from home for weeks at a time.

The 76-year-old lives in Kent, more than 300 miles away from where the drama is filmed, with husband Michael Mayhew and their cockapoo, Jack.

"When we finish filming, I always say, ‘I really don’t think I can do this anymore'," she told the Mirror. "Filming usually means six months away from home – and in 2022 it was the best part of 10 months. But then I have a rest, get my appetite back and change my mind."

She went on to cryptically say it's a case of "never say never" when the possibility of another series is discussed.

"The emotional feeling comes in – thinking of all of the other people who are still there, who do want to do more," Brenda hinted.

"And Ann Cleeves [the author of the Vera novels] is writing her 11th book, so that hasn’t been dealt with on screen yet. You feel you’d be letting her down. Things happen, circumstances change. Enthusiasm and opinions change. So, watch this space!"

The 11th series of Vera is set to return soon with four more tense mysteries for Brenda's character to solve, after two of the six episodes were released last autumn and attracted a whopping seven million viewers.

Next week's episode will see Vera using her skills to try get to the bottom of who killed a primary school teacher found at the bottom of a cliff - with a future installment in the series seeing the detective trying to solve the murder of a local GP.