ITV's Vera: the women behind the North East's favourite detective drama have been honoured at awards following their TV exit
The women behind TV’s favourite North East detective were honoured by the Royal Television Society – as the show brought thousands of visitors to Northumberland locations.
Brenda Blethyn, who has played Vera Stanhope on ITV for 14 years and Ann Cleeves, who created the character, were presented with Outstanding Contribution awards at a ceremony in Gateshead on Saturday, February 15.
The audience at the RTS North East and the Border Awards heard that on TV and in publishing, Vera sustained drama production in the North East for more than a decade and brought in thousands of visitors to see the iconic filming locations, including many Northumbrian towns and landmarks.
The Oscar-nominated actor and best-selling crime writer have become firm friends and are often seen together. Though the show recently had its finale as Brenda stepped away from the role after more than 50 episodes, Ann says the character will feature in at least one more book.
Brenda ended the night with two awards because as she also won for Drama Performance.
Joanna Makepeace-Woods, the chair of the RTS in the North East and the Borders, said: "We are delighted our awards can provide a showcase for the talents of programme makers across our region.
TV and film production spend in the North East is said to be increasing year on year – as an 89% increase has been seen since 2022, according to figures from North East Screen.
Joanne added: “There were more than 400 people at the ceremony who work in or support creative industries in the area and they’re all optimistic this year’s increase in production will continue to grow.”