Brenda Blethyn has conceded a Vera fan was 'right' after they took exception to her character's Geordie pronunciation in the hit ITV drama.
BAFTA and Golden Globe winner Brenda has been playing her much loved alter-ego DCI Vera Stanhope for 12 years, delighting fans the world over as she brings Ann Cleeves; popular fictional detective to life on screen. The most recent run of Vera came to an end in dramatic fashion at the weekend, with Brenda front and centre in eerie mystery The Darkest Evening, which involved an abandoned baby, a grim death and Vera being faced with her family and her rather fraught past.
The end of another Vera series has left fans willing more more ASAP and, just like during every episode, viewers have been quick to air their opinions on what they saw. And one fan was very forthcoming when it came to the way Brenda says Vera's second name. Contacting the show's leading lady directly on Twitter to wish the 77-year-old happy birthday, they wrote: "Happy belated birthday, it would have been my mum’s 83rd yesterday. Love Vera but married to a Geordie and he says nobody up there would say ‘Stan-hope’ it would be a more clipped sound at the end with no H sound at all. He points it out every series."
READ MORE: ITV's Vera 'replacement' confirmed as upset fans make new series demand
Brenda took the critique very well, responding a few hours later to tell the woman: "your husbands right. it’d be more Stan’up. he should be on her team. but she’s has her reasons and occasionally pronounces it as he’d like"
The actress got another tweet from the same viewer, who told her: "That’s exactly what he keeps saying, thank you for being a good sport, he’s now chuffed to bits… as we say in Yorkshire."
Another of Brenda's many followers waded in on the discussion, commenting: "Unfortunately there's so many variations in Northumberland/Tyneside, I'm constantly caught out & greeted with a friendly snigger at my mispronunciations of Cambois, Ulgham, Cowpen. As a geordie tend to pronounce as written. Anything with ford (fud) or hope (up) on end a lottery"
And clearly another huge fan of Vera, a fellow Twitter user responded: "Stan-up of course but Vera’s enunciation adds to her charm, Happy Birthday dear lady"
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