An Australian ‘super-fan’ of Vera has booked a plane ticket to make a 21,000-mile round-trip for a second time to attend a special event in Newcastle.
Christine Bennett, known as Chris, made headlines last summer after news of her beloved crime drama coming to an end prompted her to make the long journey over to the North East. With its star Brenda Blethyn having announced that the locally-set series being made at the time would be her last, the 70-year-old arrived in the city – via London – in the hope she might be able to watch some of the last-ever episodes in progress.
The timings however did not work out, as her solo trip happened to coincide with a short break in filming, but Chris could not believe how her trip turned out. She ended up meeting both Vera creator Ann Cleeves, who is her favourite author, and Blethyn who has made the role of her mac and hat-wearing detective very much her own on-screen.
The chance to meet the award-winning actress came at a local charity fair she opened and, with word out about the super-fan’s visit, author Cleeves, who lives in Whitley Bay, invited Chris to chat over afternoon tea. The delighted Chris, who also packed in visits to several Vera filming locations across Northumberland and North Tyneside during her near-three-week June stay, said at the time: “Meeting my favourite actress Brenda Blethyn and my favourite author is one of the biggest highlights of my life.”
She added: “It was a dream come true, I could not believe it” and said: “Brenda was exactly how I imagined she would be – warm, genial, funny and so kind.”
(Image: Christine Bennett)
On travelling home to Essendon, in the state of Victoria, Chris considered her first ever time in what she calls “Vera-land” to mark her last long-haul journey. News of it had spread over there too and she was interviewed about it by a leading Australian magazine.
Vera is hugely popular in the country, as it is in many locations worldwide, and Chris is member of several fan groups. Having described her Geordie experiences to her friends – who refer to her as ‘Vera’s number one Australian fan’ – she resigned herself to watching re-runs of her favourite show. But her decision not to undertake any more big trips was soon forgotten about when she heard about a special farewell Vera event taking place in Newcastle – and she simply could not resist.
She managed to book a ticket for Vera: End of an Era at the 02 City Hall on March 13 which is a near-sell-out and which will see Brenda Blethyn and Ann Cleeves team up again for a special celebration of the series. As previously reported, the pair both picked up Outstanding Contribution award at this February’s regional Royal Television Society Awards for their work on Vera, with Blethyn also winning best drama performance.
They will be interviewed on stage by TV presenter Steph McGovern – and joined by some special guests – at the event which marks 25 years since Cleeves’ first Vera Stanhope novel was published. Cleeves and Blethyn – who has played her character for 14 years over 14 series of the ITV drama since the first of the best-seller book series was adapted in 2011 – will reminisce about favourite scenes and talk about the latest book and final TV adaptation The Dark Wives.
The 6.30pm event, which is being held in association with Forum Books. and has very few tickets remaining, is billed as ‘an unmissable chance for fans to bid a fond farewell to a much-loved show and celebrate one of crime fiction’s greatest detectives’. So, it’s no surprise that Chris didn’t want to miss out.
Her flights are booked and she is currently preparing for her 22-hour journey from the other side of the world. It is to be a shorter visit this time: just a week.
Having missed out on watching any filming last year, she thinks that this will complete her Vera ‘journey’. She loved what she saw of the region during her debut visit last time – which marked her third trip over to the UK – saying then: “Just everything – the beaches, the castles, the countryside – blew me away”. And it seems she has enjoyed her Vera journey to date so much that she has been inspired to widen horizons even further.
While this March’s second North East visit will be for just a week – as she is expecting the weather to be too cold for her – she says she is hoping to return to the UK for a fifth time in the summer “to visit other areas where I haven’t been”.
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/vera-super-fan-brenda-blethyn-31077374
