Vera star Kenny Doughty has lined up his project following the end of the iconic detective drama earlier this month.

DCI Vera Stanhope (played by Brenda Blethyn) officially hung up her trench coat at the start of 2025 after 14 years of solving crimes in the Newcastle-set ITV drama.

But it was the season before last that her crime-solving partner DS Aiden Healy (Kenny Doughty) left following almost a decade, having initially joined the show in season five.

DS Healy decided it was time for a fresh start during the 2023 special The Rising Tide, when he left the team to start a new life in Perth, .

Now, the 49-year-old actor is moving on from Vera, having landed his first project since his days as the detective sergeant.

Doughty is going to star in the upcoming Channel 5 thriller The Au Pair, which is currently in post-production.

The Vera actor isn’t the only familiar face starring in the four-part drama, either. Sir David Suchet, best known for playing Hercule Poirot for more than two decades, will also be starring.

They will be joined by Not Going Out and Beyond Paradise star Sally Bretton and Lupin actress Ludmilla Makowski.

In the mini-series, Suchet is behind George, a diabetic dad who moves to live next door to his grownup daughter Zoe (Sally Bretton) and her successful husband Chris (Kenny Doughty).

Zoe hires Sandrine (Ludmilla Makowski) as an au pair, triggering some suspicious activities in the household.

It is said that The Au Pair is going to delve "into the complexities of family, trust and hidden truths, against the backdrop of the picturesque British countryside".

There has been no official release date yet, but it could air on Channel 5 in the coming months.

Vera is available to watch on ITV and ITVX.