Sneak peak as Vera returns for 11th series
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Last year production for the ITV drama was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the struggles they faced with filming, producers have now confirmed two feature-length episodes will air from August 29, starting with DCI Vera Stanhope (played by Brenda Blethyn) and her sidekick Aidan Healy (Kenny Doughty) investigating the murder of a man who was beaten to death. When the cast went back to filming for the new series, TV bosses were forced to make some changes to ensure the safety of both cast and crew. However, there was one change, in particular, actress Brenda was not pleased with.
Brenda, who has played DCI Stanhope since the series began in 2011, said because of Covid restrictions, she and Kenny had to be in a bubble together as they filmed a lot of the scenes in Vera’s Land Rover.
The duo even had apartments next door to each other while they were filming for series 11.
“We weren’t allowed visitors,” the actress explained. “Even my husband wasn’t allowed to visit unless he’d been Covid tested or quarantined beforehand.”
Brenda went on to add that Vera’s trademark hat and coat had to be “sprayed” and put in a special bag.
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She continued: “Even Vera’s hat and coat couldn’t be handed to me. They are put in a special bag.
“So, when I turn up on set Vera’s clothes will have been delivered to my trailer having been sprayed or whatever it is they put inside a hanging bag.
“The trailer will then also have been fogged again after somebody else had been inside it, so that I will be safe to go back in.
“And as I arrived on set as with the rest of the cast and crew, we had our temperature checked. Kenny and I were also Covid tested several times a week.”
Brenda and Kenny shot a lot of the scenes in Vera’s beloved Land Rover, however, the actress said when they shot the first scene, she was horrified that all of her character’s rubbish had been removed.
She added: “When we shot the first scene in the Land Rover, I was horrified to notice that all the rubbish that Vera had accumulated had been removed and the whole vehicle sanitised. Valeted.
“‘I want all Vera’s rubbish back please!’ I cried.
“So, they sanitised all the rubbish and put it back in. All the empty crisp bags and apple cores. They all came back.”
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Despite being pleased to be able to film the series, Brenda added the pandemic made shooting scenes challenging.
“It lengthened the filming time of each episode by about a week,” she explained.
“To start with the Covid protocol made it a little bit inhibiting but we soon got used to it, it became a sort of dance.
“If somebody approached you, you naturally stepped backwards. And if anyone did forget, the Covid marshals were over to you with a long stick.”
The first episode of series 11, which will air on Sunday, will open with police finding the body of local builder, Jim Tullman, who is found beaten to death on the steps of Tynemouth’s Collingwood Monument.
As Vera and her team get to work, she questions how a seeming beloved man could be attacked so viciously.
The mystery deepens when she discovers that Jim was due to testify in court as the key witness in a violent assault.
As the beloved detective delves deeper into Jim’s life, she discovers unresolved bitterness between his estranged wife Barbara and doting son John Paul.
Vera airs on Sunday at 8pm on ITV.
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