ITV Vera star Kenny Doughty unveils major new career move away from Brenda Blethyn drama: 'Extra special!'
The Vera star has landed a new role in a Channel 5 drama
ITV/Getty
Vera star Kenny Doughty has moved on to pastures new following the announcement of the end of the ITV series.
Doughty, 49, left the series in 2023 after starring in eight seasons of the show and it was confirmed earlier this year that the crime drama starring Brenda Blethyn would be coming to an end after the upcoming episodes.
The actor featured as Vera Stanhope's sidekick DS Aiden Healy from 2015 to 2023 in the Northumberland-based series.
The role was his most recent gig, and despite playing the beloved character for years, Doughty has now secured a new role in an upcoming drama.
Taking to his Instagram account, he shared a cast announcement from ITV Studios for Channel 5's The Au Pair.
"Here we go! Thrilled to be a part of this with such a stunning cast! And filming in Dublin makes it extra special!" he captioned it.
He continued by sharing a teasy synopsis for the drama which also confirmed several big names in the world of TV drama would be joining him on the show.
It read: "Secrets are revealed when a family decides to hire extra help... Sir @davidsuchet (Poirot), Sally Bretton (Beyond Paradise), @kennydoughty (Vera), and @ludmillamakowski (Lupin), joins brand new drama, ‘Au Pair.
"This new compelling drama will be coming to @channel5_tv." (sic)
Deadline reports that Suchet's character George is a diabetic father who moves next door to his daughter Zoe Dalton (played by Sally Bretton).
Doughty starred in the series from 2015 to 2023
ITV
The publication goes on to describe: "Zoe seems to have it all, including successful husband Chris (Kenny Doughty), but when she hires an au pair, Sandrine (Makowski), the beguiling young French woman triggers an unsettling shift in the household as instincts and suspicions arise, hinting at hidden agendas."
Vera has built a strong fanbase since it first aired on ITV back in 2011, so fans were disappointed to learn the drama would be ending after the 14th series.
Blethyn confirmed in April: "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.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Vera's next series will be the last
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With only two episodes left to air before the series concludes, fans have already been speculating on how the series might end.
Some have theorised the iconic trench-coat-wearing protagonist, Vera, might be killed off.
However, producers have remained tight-lipped about the character's fate, with fans having to wait until early 2025 to find out how the show will bow out.
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