Brenda Blethyn: “I didn’t rule the roost on this set”
After finally hanging up Vera’s hat and mac, the 80-year-old actress is back in a new series, A Woman of Substance.
After finally hanging up Vera’s hat and mac, the 80-year-old actress is back in a new series, A Woman of Substance.
It’s been more than 40 years since the TV adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s iconic novel A Woman of Substance hit our screens but the 1985 show remains Channel 4’s most-watched programme.
The rags-to-riches story of Emma Harte – a young kitchen maid from Yorkshire who finds herself pregnant and alone after the son of the rich family she’s working for refuses to support her – captured the nation’s attention as Jenny Seagrove played the young Emma with Deborah Kerr as the older Emma in scenes set later.
Now it’s back on our screens again in a new eight-part series with Jessica Reynolds and Brenda Blethyn portraying Emma at the different ages. And when we were invited to the screening of the show, Brenda was very excited about taking on a new character after being known as Vera for 14 years (the ITV crime drama aired its final episode in 2025).
“It was nice to take the hat and mac off,” she jokes. “It was really exciting, just everything about it – all the designers and make-up artists did a wonderful job, so it took a few years off me – ironed out the skin, you know. Because I did that [Vera] for so long, it really was very nice. I did another job in between Vera and this, which was Dragonfly [a 2024 film co-starring Andrea Riseborough] but this was hot on the heels and I was thrilled to be asked to do it.”
Brenda recently turned 80, but when we ask if she plans to retire, her answer is a very definite “No”.
“I love the job,” she explains. “I love working. I don’t even think about 80 as being anything in particular. People say, ‘How does it feel?’ Well, it just feels normal.
“Emma Harte [her character in A Woman of Substance] had this plan with a capital P. I’ve never had a plan. I’m devoid of ambition. I’ve always been fairly happy. I’m happy with my lot. I’ve been very lucky in my life and career.
“I think I’m quite nice to work with. Who wants to work with someone horrible? You don’t. They could be equally talented people, but one might have halitosis, one might be a kleptomaniac, and one might turn up late. I’m none of those things. I turn up clean. I know my lines usually. And I’ve been so lucky.”
However, she does admit that she was better behaved on this set than she was on Vera.
“I kind of behaved myself on this more,” she jokes. “Because I was Vera, I sort of threw my weight about a bit. And we could have a laugh now and again. But this is a new thing and I didn’t rule the roost on this, so I had to behave myself. We might have had a few laughs here and there, though. I think we had a giggle once or twice.
“Of course I brought Jack [her dog] with me, I mean, how can you go anywhere without Jack? I mean, I think I’ve got to take him on the Lorraine show later this week because I’ve got no one to look after him. In fact, he’s being looked after at the moment by a lady, but she’s got two other dogs there, so I fear the worse when I get back!”
Spanning Emma Harte’s life from 16 to 80, A Woman of Substance was mainly filmed in Yorkshire, but Brenda’s scenes are largely set in New York after Emma has built up her fashion empire to become the richest woman in the world. However, Brenda didn’t get to fly to the Big Apple – her scenes were actually filmed in Liverpool, on a very convincing 1970s set.
“In fact, I went for a walk on the Sunday around Liverpool,” she says. “And I walked along that street and I thought, ‘There’s that store. It’s got some lovely retro clothes in there. When I finish work, I’ll go shopping in there’. I didn’t realise it was the set! I should have looked up and seen the Harte empire sign!”
Despite playing the rich and successful Emma, Brenda says she can relate a lot to the younger Emma as she didn’t have a lot growing up.
“Any story about someone who triumphs over adversity is good to do,” she explains. “But there’s also the story of the other maid, and she’s also treated badly, but doesn’t have the same wit and bravery that Emma does to rise above that. There must have been so many people who were abused in that way. It was just horrible.
“My mum wasn’t abused, but she started life as a skivvy in a big house down in Kent. And that’s where she met my dad. He was a chauffeur. And she used to tell me loads of stories about how hard the work was and for very little pay – she would work about three or four jobs a day to make ends meet.
“I’ve suffered for most of my life from imposter syndrome,” she reveals. “That’s leaving me. I haven’t got that quite so much anymore. We were very, very poor growing up. But mum and dad always used to say, ‘You’re as good as anybody else. And if you work hard, you can achieve it’.”
All episodes of A Woman of Substance are available on Channel 4 on Demand from 11 March.
Hero image credit: Will Johnston
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