Vera: Ann Cleeves discusses success and future of show
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The Vera writer appeared on Monday’s BBC Breakfast to chat about her latest book with BBC hosts Jon Kay and Sally Nugent. She went on to discuss the success of the ITV drama which stars leading lady Brenda Blethyn, who plays DCI Stanhope. Ann, who also writes books based on the BBC drama Shetland, teased fans with what she has planned in the future for Vera.
Speaking about how fans in Australia love the show, she said: “They showed a new episode and it hit the top of the ratings immediately wherever I went.
“I think they were a bit disappointed that I wasn’t Brenda Blethyn.
“There is such an affection for that character, especially among maybe women of a certain age, like me.
“[Women] who are strong, competent or authoritative, don’t want to be judged by what they’re wearing, and not wanting to be defined by a man or by a family.”
Discussing how Vera began, Ann continued: “Somebody picked up the first Vera book in an Oxfam shop and she was an executive for ITV studios, and that’s how Vera became to be on the television.
“And the rest is history,” Jon chipped in as Ann repeated: “Yes, the rest is history.”
When asked whether she plans to write anymore Vera, the author beamed: “Absolutely.
“I’ve just delivered a new Matthew Venn book, but I’ll be thinking about a new Vera book when this one comes out.”
Brenda and her sidekick Aiden Healy (played by Kenny Doughty) have been spotted filming for series 12 in Northumberland.
However, when chatting about the importance of location, Ann told the hosts: “I love it. I’m not a northerner by birth, I am by adoption.
“I moved there in the mid-80s and fell in love with the mad-friendliness of the people and never wanted to go.
“It’s a landscape really that feeds into the books and into the characters because I can’t imagine Vera living anywhere but right in the Northumberland Hills.”
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