Vera star Brenda Blethyn 'nearly took the whole crew out' after failing to put parking brake on

Brenda Blethyn almost "took the whole crew out" when she forgot to use the parking brake on her Land Rover in 'Vera'.

The 78-year-old actress is bidding farewell to playing detective Vera Stanhope in the ITV1 crime drama after 14 years, and she has recalled some of favourite memories from working on the hit show, including accidentally letting the 4x4 roll down a hill in the Northumberland moors and narrowly avoiding her colleagues.

Speaking to Metro.co.uk, she recalled: "One time I had to drive across the moor on bumpy terrain and stop six feet in front of the camera. The Land Rover was adapted for me because

I drive an automatic, so I was used to it. It was on a slight incline when

I stopped. Out of gear, hand brake on, out I get. They said, ‘Fantastic – you’re on exactly the right spot, Brenda, but you’ve got to get out more quickly.’ I had to drive all the way back. On the third take, I jumped out and the Landy started rolling down towards the camera crew. I’d left the hand brake off. I nearly took the whole crew out!”

Sharing the “hardest” parts of playing Vera, she spilled: “The incident scenes are the hardest because I’ve got all that stuff on the board and I’m hopeless with names. Those and the interrogation scenes.

One bit of police procedure I could never remember is ANPR – Automatic Number Plate Recognition.”

Brenda admitted it was “emotional” filming her final scenes and revealed she has kept her character’s signature trench coat and hat as mementos.

She said: “We filmed it in the incident room because most people would be there for it. It wasn’t the final scene of the series. I felt a bit emotional. There were bottles popped and a few speeches.

I made an impromptu speech – I thanked everyone for their kindness and the camaraderie, really.

“Everybody including the supporting artists and the crew have been so loyal to our show. I don’t know if all productions have the same supporting artists for all that time – we certainly did. I’ve kept the mac and the hat.”

‘Vera’ airs on ITV1 and STV on New Year’s Day and January 2 at 8pm. Followed by the documentary special ‘Vera: Farewell Pet’ on January 3 at 9pm.