Vera star praises Brenda Blethyn as he details off-air monent

Vera: DCI Stanhope meets the new pathologist

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Riley Jones joined the cast of Vera in series one as uniformed police officer Mark Edwards. He was later promoted after impressing leading lady DCI Stanhope, (played by Brenda Blethyn) and has been an integral part of the team ever since. Series 12 of the detective drama concluded earlier this year, and while series 13 hasn’t been confirmed, fans are hopeful the series will return.

The cast and crew often share behind-the-scenes snaps while filming is underway.

But in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, Riley has shared what goes on when they’re filming on set.

He went on to praise Brenda, describing her as a “hilarious” person to be around.

When asked what happens in between takes, the actor said: “We have a good laugh.

“I don’t think you could do a show like this for 12 years and not have a bit of fun and a laugh between set-ups and in between scenes.

“We come in of the morning, especially in the incident room scenes, we come in and we do approach it seriously.

“We do sit down with the script, with the scenes we are about to do and break it down with the director, the producer and the script supervisor.

“We will chat through it and we’ll make sure everyone knows what’s going on.”

He continued: “That is all very serious and proper and how it should be.

“And as we’re filming it and we’re feeling more comfortable, then that’s when you can have a bit of a laugh in between takes.

“Like I say, I don’t think you could go for this long without being able to do that.”

Paying a tribute to Brenda, the Mark Edwards star added: “Brenda is hilarious, she is so much fun to be around.

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“It just makes going to work so much easier really.”

Despite having a laugh on set, Riley admitted when filming everyone remains professional and doesn’t break character.

“To be honest, everyone is pretty good,” he explained. “During takes, everyone is on it, it’s when we’re not filming when the cameras are down.

“A three-minute scene in the incident room could take three or four hours to film.”

When he’s not busy filming, Riley said the cast often does a crossword together.

“We tell jokes, this, that and the other,” he said. “But when the cameras are rolling everyone is on it.

“I think that’s why it works so well because Brenda leads from the front, she is excellent at it.

“She could be creased [over] in laughter and when they’re ready to roll, she just turns it on and she’s ready to go.”

Vera is available to watch on ITVX and Britbox.

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