News about Brenda Blethyn

Brenda Blethyn may have announced she will be retiring from her role as DCI Vera Stanhope - but there is still a chance for the show to win big at Wednesday night's NTA's. Here, MailOnline delves into Brenda's dramatic off-screen life - from two marriages and a 'devastating' split to her three decades-long engagement, this is everything you need to know about the renowned TV star.

Brenda Blethyn OBE was seen filming her last-ever scenes as Vera in Gateshead on Wednesday after its fourteenth series was revealed to be its last. The actress, 78, strutted down Swinburne Street in a green trench coat, and Vera's signature green bucket hat and red scarf. She grinned and waved as she headed into her large trailer with an assistant after a long day of shooting. Brenda has portrayed the 'nearly retired' DCI Vera Stanhope since the ITV crime drama's inception in 2011. Thirteen years, fourteen series, and fifty-four episodes later, Vera will end sometime in 2025 when its fourteenth series, which has only two episodes, airs.

Earlier this week, ITV confirmed that the 78-year-old will return for one final season, which will be filmed in Northumberland this summer. Since Vera began in 2011, the show has starred several industry heavyweights - including the late Paul Ritter, Notting Hill's Gina McKee and Catastrophe star Mark Bonnar. However, the series also helped to launch the careers of some of the UK's biggest actors, such as Kingsley Ben-Adir (centre left) and Cush Jumbo (centre right). Here FEMAIL takes a look back at the stars (and musician Sam Feder, left) who owe their careers to the crime drama. Right: Vera actor David Leon, who played DS Joe Ashworth.

Viewers have been left gutted after it was announced that iconic ITV drama Vera is ending after 14 years on screens. The crime series, which features Brenda Blethyn, 78, as DCI Vera Stanhope (pictured right, in the show and left, doing a script read for the final series) and is filmed in the northeast of England, will return for one final series early next year. The Golden Globe-winning actress will finally hang up her famous trench coat and hat after filming the last installment this summer. 

Brenda Blethyn was pictured at a read-through for the first episode of the last ever series of ITV crime series Vera on Monday. The programme, featuring Oscar-nominated actress Brenda Blethyn, 78, as DCI Vera Stanhope, will return for one final series early next year. She will hang up her infamous trench coat and hat and bid farewell to Northumberland and the North East with the 14th and final season of the ITV1 detective series, which will begin filming this summer.

ITV announced iconic drama Vera was ending after 14-years on Monday.   The crime series, featuring Oscar nominated actress Brenda Blethyn, 78, as DCI Vera Stanhope, will return for one final series early next year.  The news came after Brenda finally decided to hang up her famous trench coat and hat, no doubt leaving amateur sleuths around the country devastated. 

Iconic ITV drama Vera has come to an end after 14 years on screens. Leading star Brenda Blethyn 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 fourteenyears. 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.

Brenda Blethyn is expected to reprise her role as the no-nonsense detective DCI Vera Stanhope, while actor and director David Leon makes a welcome return as Joe Ashworth. Vera has become a much-loved and coveted series, with its captivating storylines and enthralling performances. Ann Cleeves, an award-winning author, has made it a hit. Over the years, the drama has consistently pulled in impressive viewing figures, with an average six mi

Kathryn Flett of the United Kingdom reviews Vera and the BBC's Call The Midwife's festive collection, as well as French & Saunders' Pointed, Bitchy, Bitter, which is available on BBC iPlayer.

CHRISTOPHER STEVENS: The first thing about Christmas television is that you get the leftovers first. We will really enjoy the good stuff only after the scrags and scrapes of shows are over. Food follows the opposite rule. By now, there may be enough turkeys for a round of sandwiches, but otherwise, it's cold pigs in stale blankets and some odd vino that no one wins in a raffle. Toffee pennies are the only thing in the Quality Street box, and they're the only real remnants. Nature is always reminding us that it's almost time to detox. However, television schedules are also in reverse. For weeks we've been offered the bits no one cares about. . . End-of-year quizzes in 2021, as well as a look inside the door of a Christmas stocking factory, is a rerun of sorts.

One familiar face is expected to return to ITV's Vera this Christmas for its festival special.

The National Television Awards are the country's most coveted television awards competition, in which all the winners are chosen solely by you. Each year, millions of votes are cast by mail, telephone, and online. The findings are revealed live on ITV in a dramatic tribute to the country's most beloved celebrities and shows.

The woman behind an unassuming 1930s semi in Whitley Bay lives in Whitley Bay, and this is one of television's most disturbing crime dramas. This is Ann Cleeves' home (now in its eighth series) and Vera (starring Brenda Blethyn in the eponymous role) and is now on season 13. Cleeves is an odd judicial mastermind. She's written 37 books, sold eight million copies, and been translated into 20 languages, including TV's. Nevertheless, she remains a resident of the three-bed she purchased with her ornithologist husband Tim in 2006.

CHRISTOPHER STEVENS: The sarcastic term in Hollywood for actors who got a leg up from famous parents is "nepo baby."

A fan favorite has unexpectedly posted a filming preview on Friday as Vera prepares to return to ITV's screens. Riley Jones sent fans into overdrive as he announced a snap starring top actor Brenda Blethyn, DCI Vera Stanhope, David Leon, Jon Morrison, and Rhiannon Clements, who has since been displaced Ibinabo Jac. The actor, 33, a co-star on DC Mark Edwards, opened a black and white snap with his co-stars, hinting at content from the forthcoming season.

EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: He has all the riches one could want, including a private island off the coast of Scotland's north-west coast, which is now being turned into what is hoped to be a "global destination," six years after he snapped it up for £1.7 million, little more than loose change to someone with a reputed £800 million fortune. However, hedge fund king Ian Wace, co-founder of Marshall Wace, who reported out £723 million among its 23 partners in the last financial year alone, knows that money can't buy happiness. As if to prove the point, the 60-year-old has only separated from his third wife, willowy beauty Saffron Aldridge, 55, a friend of both the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex, as if to illustrate. A friend informs me, 'The marriage is over.' It's sad, but the good thing is that they're still close.' In fact, Wace was prominently present when Saffron's son, Milo, who had been romantically linked with Old Harrovian talent agent and novelist Simon Astaire, married on the French Riviera two weeks ago. The chum says, 'Ian came to the wedding and gave a moving address.'

David Leon will appear on ITV's Sunday night drama Vera, nearly a decade after he last appeared on the programme. On the first four series from 2011 to 2014, the actor, 42, appeared alongside Brenda Blethyn, who portrays DCI Vera Stanhope. Brenda said she was 'completely over the moon to welcome David back to the show,' adding that she'can't wait to get off the show.'

After eight years, Kenny Doughty has confirmed that he will no longer be seen on ITV drama Vera. The actor, 47, appeared on DS Aiden Healy in Sunday night's show and took to Instagram on Monday to alert viewers of the latest developments, while thanking co-star Brenda Blethyn, 77, who plays Vera Stanhope. "I've made the difficult decision of handing over a DS Healy badge after eight years and 35 Vera films,' he wrote. I'm going to Vera.

As ITV filled the series slot with another popular detective thriller to ensure viewers get their mystery fix, Vera's replacement has been announced. Endeavour's eighth and final series of the Inspector Morse prequel will air this weekend. Following a double-murder probe, a dramatic television show set in the 1960s follows a young Endeavour Morse's life as he shifts to the Oxford City Police.

RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Here's another one of those stories I'm not sure if you should file under Mind: How You Go or You Couldn't Make It Up. A Viking monument and a shopping center in Jarrow are under scrutiny by Northumbria Police after suspicion that they may be connected to 'Far-Right' extremism. Officers have been participating in a study of statues and other historic sites to see if any have links to slavery or oppressive conduct,' along with South Tyneside Council. The investigation was launched two and a half years ago in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Anybody's guess what the Vikings would have to do with the murder of a black man by a rogue police officer in a city four thousand miles away on the other side of the Atlantic.

RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Boris has taken it upon himself to play Dr Feelgood during the Ukrainian civil war (or is it Dr Strangelove? Boris appears to have misjumbled the scheme in his commendable resolve to face Russian aggression. All of Britain's military arsenal, tanks, planes, missiles, and heavy artillery, will be shipped immediately to Ukraine.

Brenda Blethyn has spoken out about the toll of filming Vera 300 miles away from home. She has admitted she's uncertain if she'd do it any more. The actress, 76, who has appeared on DCI Stanhope for 13 years, has said, 'never say never' about shooting another series.' Vera is one of ITV's most rated programs and has risen to become a worldwide phenomenon, with audiences watching in more than 20 countries.

On the red carpet of the TV Choice Awards in London on Monday evening, Ekin-Su Culculoglu and Davide Sanclimenti couldn't take their hands off each other. As they toasted the stars of television, the Love Island winners were dressed to the nines for the star-studded Hilton Park Lane party. Ekin, 28, a reality actress, slipped into a stunning silk champagne gown that hugged every inch of her regal figure.

Christine McGuinness demonstrated her chic sense of style at the television Choice Awards 2022 at the Hilton Park Lane hotel in London on Monday. In a Forever Unique limited edition black jumpsuit with fur cuffs and collar detail, the television star, 34, put on a busty display. Christine's ensemble featured a plunging neckline and a satin collar, with the trouser legs flared.