Vera ending: All the clues you missed that Brenda Blethyn was quitting ITV show

Fans of ITV's Vera have been left heartbroken after Brenda Blethyn announced the end of the popular drama.

ITV has confirmed that Brenda will retire her iconic hat after filming one final series, which is set to start production soon and likely air in the New Year.

Reflecting on the show's conclusion, she expressed: "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 fourteen years."

"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. The Producers, dream cast and crew have been fabulous and I'm going to miss them, but I won't forget their huge talent, the camaraderie, laughter or kindness we shared nor the friendship of the people of the North East and our fans worldwide."

Here are all the hints you might have missed that indicated Brenda would be retiring her Vera hat.

The recent series of the ITV drama has seen significant changes. In series 11, there were six episodes of the show while for series 12, this dropped to four episodes and a Christmas special, a first for the show.

Speaking about the joy of having a Christmas special, she shared her enthusiasm: "I've always wanted to have a Vera Christmas special. This adaptation of Ann Cleeves' book The Rising Tide is set against the backdrop to the run-up to Christmas. There are quite a lot of Christmas trees in this film and it was nice to film scenes with all of the festive decorations in the background. There's always a jolly feeling at Christmas with people in good spirits. But sometimes they had to take a tree out of the background because there was too much going on!"

The upcoming thirteenth series of Vera will be shorter, featuring just three episodes, while the fourteenth series has been confirmed to consist of only two episodes, giving fans a final opportunity to say goodbye to the beloved detective.

Brenda has previously confessed that filming the popular ITV series can be incredibly challenging. She detailed the demanding schedule: "Each episode takes five weeks to film and then we have a week off. But two of those days off are taken up in going home and coming back again. My husband used to say my body comes home a month before my head. It's quite hard to switch off. Also, in that time off I'm working on the script for the next episode. So I'm really still working but just at home," she revealed.

The show will also see a cast exit as it moves towards its conclusion.

When DS Aiden Healy, portrayed by Kenny Doughty, decided to pursue his career in Australia, fans were abuzz with who might step into his shoes. The answer came with the unexpected return of DS - now DI - Joe Ashworth, played by David Leon, reuniting with Vera.

Brenda, who brings Vera to life, candidly admitted she would have walked away from the show if Leon hadn't made a comeback.

Brenda, at the launch of series 13, revealed: "After we filmed The Rising Tide at the end of 2022 I didn't want to do anymore without Kenny Doughty, who had decided to leave.

"But I said, 'I'll think about it if you can see if David Leon is available to return as Joe Ashworth.' And so they did and here I am. I was broken-hearted when David left after Series Four and equally overjoyed when I heard he was coming back as the relationship between Vera and Joe worked so well."

"They have all of that early history together. I wouldn't have continued if David had not agreed to come back. I just didn't want to start another board game with somebody else when I know I'm not going to do many more. And who would want to do it anyway?"

In a touching tribute to the show's beginnings, Brenda discussed a special homage to the very first episode of the ITV drama in the latest series, hinting that there may have been considerations about concluding the long-running series.

"There are echoes in the first new film of the very first Vera episode which keen fans may spot. Including a scene at the North Shields fish quay where her father Hector's ashes were scattered," she disclosed.

"The week after we had finished filming for series 13 I went back there to unveil a sculpture - 'The Herring Girl' - to honour the herring girls.

They had a very hard life following the herring fishing fleet in all weathers from the north of Scotland and down the east coast of England.

In the days before refrigeration, they were a team of women whose job was to gut, salt and pack the fish into barrels using sharp knives so that it could be sold back on land. A heroic job to do."