Vera star Brenda Blethyn gives ITV ultimatum after Ashley Jensen's new husband Kenny Doughty quits

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When actor Kenny Doughty decided to leave as DC Aiden Healy, his Vera co-star Brenda Blethyn seriously considered hanging up DCI Stanhope’s famous mac.

However, a blast from the past persuaded Brenda to let Vera fight another day for a new series of feature-length murder mysteries. “After we filmed the last one at the end of 2022, I didn’t want to do any more without Kenny.

I just didn’t want to start another board game with somebody else,” explains the actress, 77. “But I said, ‘I’ll think about it if you can see if David Leon is available to return as Joe Ashworth.’” Luckily David – who played Vera’s original sidekick for the drama’s first four series until 2014 – was delighted to reprise his role. “It felt like there was some unfinished business there,” reveals David. “So, it was a nice opportunity to come back and, to some extent, tie up some loose ends.” While the actors were very happy to be reunited – “working together was certainly as good as I remembered, if not better” coos Brenda – the pair hint it could be a different matter for their characters on-screen. “It’s a shock for Vera when Joe appears,” says Brenda. “She’s pleased to see him, but her nose is really put out of joint when she finds out why he’s there.” “To pick up where we left off was not hugely interesting to me and I don’t think it’s that interesting for the audience,” says David, 43. “There needed to be a justification for why Joe has come back, along with a readdressing of the balance in terms of the dynamic of the relationship between Joe and Vera.” But one thing that hasn’t changed is the local murder rate.The first episode sees the pair investigate the death of a young market trader, with a few nods to Vera and Joe’s past as they get back to.