It’s always difficult writing about an upcoming show when you don’t really know when it’s air date is, but following a last-minute release of information from ITV we were finally able to get behind the return of Cold Feet, which arrived back on our screens last night (5th September 2016). The initial information was only a general teaser, but it did provide the biggest indication that the new series would be hitting TV in the UK in 2016, which has gone on to be the case.
It’s clearly taken a long time and what sounds like a fat cheque book to bring the original cast members back together, with a massive gap of thirteen years since the show ended with Series 5 in 2003, and scarily, a whopping righting years since it debuted in winter 1998. If you’re not too sure what to expect after such a long period of absence, ITV has released a promo trailer (below) to give us all a little glimpse of the aging gang back together once again.
Air date
While the air date for the first episode of Series 6 remains to be officially confirmed, ITV has announced that Cold Feet is “expected” to air in Autumn 2016, so even if there ends up being a slight delay, it should close out before the end of the year. If it can recapture the magic of the original five series then it should see the channel racking up a lot of sofa attention as the clocks go back, nights get shorter and the air gets a little bit chillier.
The new series will feature eight episodes in total running weekly, so if it starts in October it should right right the way through until early December 2016.
Story
Series 6 picks up things with Adam, Pete, Jenny, Karen and David in 2016 as they try to do pretty much what the rest of us are working; finding their way in life as best they can. A lot older, but maybe still none the wiser, they’re now in their fifties, but feel like they’re still the thirty-something whipper-snappers they used to be.
The 5th series closed things out with the sad death of Rachel, Adam’s wife, in a car accident three months after the arrival of their son, Matthew, so the new series should give us a glimpse of how he’s managed to cope as a single father. The other two couples had pretty significant relationship issues to work through the last time we saw them on the TV, with divorce, separation and infidelity being the big talking points, so it’s going to be interesting to see whether or not the years have seen them patching things up, smoothing things out or increasing their animosity.
Cast
Helen Bexendale (Cuckoo: Series 3) won’t be returning to the show following the death of her character, Rachel, in the previous series, but the rest of the original cast will be back on ITV. James Nesbitt (James Nesbitt’s New Zealand) will play Adam once again, with John Thomson (Up ‘n’ Under) starring as Pete, Fay Ripley (The Stretford Wives) as Jenny, Hermione Norris (Doctor Who: Series 8) as Karen and Robert Bathurst (Downton Abbey) as David.
Production
Cold Feet series creator and writer, Mike Bullen, will be back at the helm of the show, writing the new material for the show once again. It’s been directed by Terry McDonough, Juliet May and Jamie Jay Johnson, produced by Rebecca Ferguson for Big Talk Productions, and executive produced by Bullen and Big Talk Productions CEO, Kenton Allen. Filming has taken place on location in Manchester throughout 2016.
Theme music
The title track has been written by Elbow front-man, Guy Garvey, and Peter Jobson or I AM KLOOT fame. It’s called The Rover Returns, which sounds a lot like a random reference to Coronation Street, which is a bit weird. We’ll have to wait for the show to arrive to listen in on how it sounds.
First impressions
It’s way too early to call right now, but with the huge success of the opening five series, you’ve got to expect Cold Feet Series 6 to pull in some hefty viewing figures for the episode 1 air date premier in the very least. It’s going to be tough to land anywhere near as well as their original run, but it looks like their going to have a lot of fun in the process, so hopefully there will be some decent comedy-drama TV in and among the production.
