Vera fans seriously distracted by nod to Brenda Blethyn’s ‘real family’ in series 11 finale

VERA fans were all left saying the same thing as they spotted a member of Brenda Blethyn's 'family' during the latest episode.

The popular North East-based ITV drama finished its eleventh series last night but not without one last treat for its loyal viewers.

In the episode, DCI Stanhope was back solving a brand new case alongside her right hand man Aiden Healy, played by Kenny Doughty.

But it was a scene when Vera was in her office chatting to Mark Edwards (Riley Jones) that left fans distracted online.

In the scene, eagle-eyed viewers noticed that the photo of a dog on Mark's desk was actually that of Brenda's real-life dog, Jack.

Riley shared a post to Twitter to get fans talking about who they thought was behind the murder but was instead greeted to a whole host of replies about the adorable pooch.

One fan said: "No idea but love ya dog photo on ya desk. Is it ya real one?"

As another added: "It's @BrendaBlethyn dog Jack."

Picking up on the replies, the star commented: "Jack always steals the limelight when it’s a shot of my desk! We always try to get him in."

Brenda regularly talks about her beloved pet and has admitted she hates having to leave him behind.

She said: "You couldn’t get anything done if Jack was actually on set — he’d keep hanging on the back of my leg!"

She went on: “My dog Jack can’t be with me in the North East for all of that time.

"He’s all right after I’ve been away for a little while.

"But if I happen to manage to come home for a few days in between filming Vera episodes, he goes mad and then my husband has a merry time of it when I go away again with the dog wondering where I am."

Despite the eleventh series coming to a close, Vera will be back on Sunday for the launch of the twelfth series after the eleventh featured a number of unexpected delays.

Vera returns for series 12 on Sunday at 8pm on ITV.