Actress Brenda Blethyn has quit her role as ITV's Vera Stanhope in the crime series after starring as the leading lady for 14 series.
The Academy and Emmy nominated actress took on the role back in 2011 and has today issued an emotional statement announcing her decision to leave.
She stated: "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. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
Creative director of the show, Kate Bartlett commented: "It is the end of an era and has been an extraordinary journey over fourteen amazing series of Vera."
The Vera actress has announced she has quit her role
ITV
She continued: "So many wonderful and talented people have been involved in the making of Vera across all the series, but none of us would be here without two incredible women: firstly, the absolutely extraordinary talent of the inimitable Brenda Blethyn.
"She is brilliant as DCI Vera Stanhope, a truly iconic character of our times.
"And - of course - the amazing Ann Cleeves, author of the original novels and creator of DCI Vera Stanhope.
"We will all be very sad to say goodbye to Brenda and everyone involved in making the show.”
Vera has been on screens since 2011
ITV
The latest series of the show hit screens earlier this year, with David Leon returning as DS Joe Ashworth after leaving the role 10 years prior.
The news will likely be disappointing to fans who have watched the drama from the start and have come to love the Georgie character and her signature hat and trench coat.
Last month the actress detailed how she had received a telling off once over the accent she has perfected over the years.
She was spoken to by show bosses and ordered to scale back her accent to make it easier for a global audience to understand.
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Brenda Blethyn has quit her role as the detective after 14 series
ITV
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Blethyn explained: “I don’t think I have cracked it, but a lot of locals say that I have… But I don’t really think so.
“It was quite broad when I started but they said, ‘No, you’ve got to tone it back a bit’ – probably because of foreign, overseas sales – and so it has mellowed somewhat.”
