ITV Vera ends with heartbreaking twist as detective’s fate confirmed in Brenda Blethyn’s final scenes

Brenda Blethyn has made her last outing as iconic detective Vera Stanhope as the ITV drama aired its final episode this evening

Vera has ended with a heartbreaking twist – as Brenda Blethyn’s final scenes aired.

Brenda confirmed last year she would be departing her role, leading to the end of the ITV hit drama after over a decade on our screens. There were just two final episodes in the last series, with it all culminating in this episode, The Dark Wives.

During the episode, flashbacks saw Vera relive her childhood with her father Hector. It was revealed that Hector struggled with alcohol following the death of his wife, with Vera instantly taking on a carer’s role.

Away from her personal life, Vera also had to investigate the case, when a body was found at the bottom of some local legendary stones called The Dark Wives. The promising young student was assaulted and left so far from home as Vera had to work out why.

The final episode of Vera has aired ( 
Image:
ITV)

In her final scenes, Vera saved young Chloe from being killed – as she admitted she saw a lot of herself in the young girl. “Life’s just one scary decision after another,” she told her before offering the team a round of drinks.

Instead of joining her team for a drink, she headed outside the pub to look at the view. “You know what, this case has really made me think, and I did see a lot of myself in young Chloe, it made me think of a lot of things, like how good my team is. It brought back vivid memories of my dad, you helped me scatter Hector’s ashes, don’t think I ever said thank you,” she said.

In the end, Vera decided she wanted to “make way for others to fly” as she seemingly handed in her resignation letter.

There had been much talk about whether Vera would die, as Brenda spoke about filming the final scenes.

There was one more outing for the team ( 
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(Image: ITV))
She said: “It was very appropriate that the last day of filming was scheduled to take place in the police incident room where so much of the drama has happened. I think our producer Will Nicholson contrived that. You could hear a pin drop when we were filming. Then when I heard, ‘That’s a wrap.’ I was emotional.

“As, indeed, Vera would have been. There were a lot of people behind the cameras and at the end I thanked everybody. I said, ‘We’re all as important as one another.’ I might be the one playing the title character but it’s only an ingredient in a great big pot. And all of the ingredients are necessary. Everyone contributes to it. And it’s the sum of all of those parts that made Vera a success. And Vera will, of course continue to crack crime in Ann Cleeves’ books – and there will be 56 episodes available to watch on TV repeats.”

The promotion Vera had been offered was also a key part of the two final episodes, with Brenda explaining: “The new Chief Superintendent is rather severe on camera. But Shobna and I couldn’t stop giggling. In between takes we were laughing our heads off. At the start of the first film Chief Supt Khalon offers Vera a promotion. It’s about time!”