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For the feeling of anxiety, see Cold feet.
Cold Feet
File:Coldfeettitlecard.png
Cold Feet title card
Created byMike Bullen
StarringJames Nesbitt
Helen Baxendale
John Thomson
Fay Ripley
Robert Bathurst
Hermione Norris
Jacey Sallés
Kimberley Joseph
Sean Pertwee
Country of originUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
No. of episodes33
Production
ProducersAndy Harries
Christine Langan
Spencer Campbell
Emma Benson
Running time50 minutes (27 episodes)
75 minutes (5 episodes)
Original release
NetworkITV1
ReleaseMarch 30, 1997 (pilot) November 15, 1998 (series) –
March 16, 2003

Cold Feet is a British comedy drama set and filmed in Manchester. It was created by Mike Bullen and produced by Granada Television for ITV1. It began with a 60-minute pilot in 1997 and was followed by five series between 1998 and 2003.

The series follows the lives of six thirty-somethings at different stages of relationships and how each copes with births, marriages and divorces, amongst many other things.

Cold Feet was critically acclaimed during its run, and it attracted 8 million viewers each week. It won over 20 awards during its run, including the Best TV Comedy Drama British Comedy Award in 1999 and in 2000 and the prestigious Best Drama Series at the British Academy Television Awards 2002. Granada sold the series to over 33 countries, including the United States where it is broadcast on BBC America and in South Africa where it is known as Love, Life and Everything Else.[1]

A retrospective documentary entitled Cold Feet: The Final Call was produced by Granada and aired on March 11, 2003, days before the final episode.[2] Following the end of the series, repeats were shown on ITV2 and would go on to form the backbone of the new ITV3 schedule. The series has been released in full on VHS and DVD and music from the series has been released on four soundtracks.

An American version was produced for NBC in 1999, starring David Sutcliffe and Jean Louisa Kelly but it was cancelled after four episodes because of low-ratings.

Production

Development

File:Andyharriesmontreux.jpg
Andy Harries (r) receives the Silver Rose for Humour at the 1997 Rose d'Or ceremony.

Creator Mike Bullen, along with producers Andy Harries and Christine Langan, developed the pilot as something that people of their generation and class could relate to, something "in between" working-class soap operas and glossy costume dramas.[3][4] Harries referred to the series as "[tapping] into a post-Thatcher zeitgeist" and "confronting reality, getting married, having kids, holding down jobs".[5]

Bullen's idea for a pilot was a "boy meets girl" story told from both sides of the relationship. In an early script draft the setting was north London but Langan and Harries relocated it to Manchester for reasons of cost, accessibility to an audience and with a plan to secure a series from Granada.[6][4]

The 60-minute pilot centred around the characters Adam Williams and Rachel Bradley. Adam was a serial womaniser and Rachel had just been dumped by her boyfriend. It was produced in 1996 but its broadcast was delayed for almost a year by ITV.[7] It eventually went out on March 30, 1997, 20 minutes after it was billed due to over-running sports coverage.[8] Both Bullen and Harries were sure of securing a full series,[8][6] though due to lacklustre ratings, ITV were not.

Harries entered the pilot in the Rose d'Or and it walked away with a Silver Rose for Humour and (surprisingly[8]) the Golden Rose. Bidding for a series then came from both BBC One and Channel 4 before ITV itself eventually commissioned six episodes for the series' inaugural year.

Casting

John Thomson was the first to be cast for the pilot. He had previously appeared in Mike Bullen's earlier credit, My Perfect Match, which Christine Langan remembered him from. James Nesbitt was next to be cast after being recommended by director Declan Lowney.
Casting director Kate Rhodes James then hired Helen Baxendale, who was arguably the most famous face in the cast, having appeared in Cardiac Arrest.

Fay Ripley originally intended to read for Rachel, but secured the role of Jenny after an audition with Thomson in which she "managed to bodge together a sort of Manchester accent".[9]
Robert Bathurst was known for his role in Joking Apart and arrived for his audition scene "bearded and shaggy", as he was starring in The Rover at that time.[10]. The last of the original cast was Hermione Norris who "made [Karen] sexy and likeable."[5]

In the fourth series Kimberley Joseph joined the cast. An unknown actor in Britain, Joseph had previously presented Australian Gladiators.

Writing

The first two series were written entirely by Mike Bullen, with David Nicholls joining him to write four episodes of the third series. Mark Chappel co-wrote one episode of series four and Matt Greenhalgh co-wrote one episode of series five.

Before Cold Feet, Mike Bullen My Perfect Match had been his only script. His technique for this new series was to base the characters on people from his own life; Adam was based on himself, Pete on his friend from childhood Mark Taylor. Rachel was originally written as a combination of the qualities of the "perfect girlfriend", along with another friend, Clare Rowland.

By the time of the fourth series, Bullen's writing style had shifted so significantly that the characters were no longer based on his friends, rather on the actors who played them.[11]

Input from the actors was also taken in during the writing and other production stages. The location of the stag weekend storyline in series three could not be decided upon; Dublin and Blackpool were two possible locations until James Nesbitt suggested Portrush.[12][13] At other times problems with the cast would force rewrites or production changes; Rachel's pregnancy was brought forward by two episodes in series four when Helen Baxendale's bump showed earlier than expected and the fourth episode of series five was filmed before the third, to accommodate Fay Ripley, who was nearing the end of her own pregnancy.[14]

A theme in the writing that was a departure from what was normally seen on British television was the fantasy scenes, which Bullen said was added for "sophistication" and "credence".[15]

Music

The theme song is "Female of the Species" by Space, a track personally chosen by producer Christine Langan after hearing it on The Chart Show.[16] She remained in overall charge of the music that appeared during the first three series, sometimes selecting the latest single to hit the high street and sometimes an old classic.

"Female of the Species" did not appear in the 1997 pilot. For that, original music was composed by Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert (The Other Two). The successful use of popular music in the series led to four soundtracks being released.

The main score of the series was composed by Mark Russell.

Filming

Studio filming took place at Granada Studios in Manchester and it was common for filming to take place on location. The characters' houses were located in Didsbury (Adam and Rachel, Pete and Jenny) and Bowdon (Karen and David) and the producers tried to remain consistent with external shots but would sometimes have to find a new, similar location when they returned if the house had a different owner.[17]

Scenes in bars, pubs and clubs would be filmed during after-hours, though on at least one occasion a club shoot was done with real punters.[18] The urban renewal of central Manchester meant that a lot of the new developments formed a backdrop for the characters' jobs; Rachel's and David's (original) separate workplaces were filmed in and around Bridgewater Hall.[19]

Sometimes the cast and crew would leave Manchester altogether to shoot in such places as Lindisfarne (episode #2.6)[20] and Portmeirion (episode #5.4)[21] but the biggest by far was the shoot in Sydney for the final episode of series four, which involved flying out Nesbitt, Thomson, Norris, Bathurst, Joseph and Sean Pertwee as well as hiring a local production crew, due to the expense of flying out the whole Granada team.[22][23] Because she was at such a late stage of her pregnancy, Baxendale did not join the rest of the cast and all of her scenes were filmed in Manchester and blended with location shots months later.[23] The Sydney episodes were filmed in October 2000.[24]

Characters

File:Coldfeetcharacters.jpg
(l-r) David, Pete, Adam, Rachel, Karen and Jenny look at a castle David has taken them to for a holiday.

Template:Spoiler The series always revolved around the six core characters, who were described by Langan as "regular people, not distinguished by their careers or by crime."[16] The pilot introduced Adam Williams (played by James Nesbitt), a serial womaniser and systems analyst who meets advertising executive Rachel Bradley (played by Helen Baxendale).
Adam's friends Pete and Jenny Gifford (played by John Thomson and Fay Ripley) are both trying for a baby. In jest, Thomson and Ripley have described their characters as "all ego and vanity".[25] Rachel's friends David Marsden (played by Robert Bathurst), a management executive and Karen Marsden (played Hermione Norris), a publisher, already have a child and are arguing over whether to hire a nanny for him.

The first series added Pete and Jenny's first child, baby Adam, and the Marsdens hired Spanish au pair Ramona Ramirez (played by Jacey Salles) who was a recurring character until the fourth series, when she became a regular.

In the second episode of the fourth series, Jenny emigrated to America, and to keep a cast of six, Jo Ellison (played by Kimberley Joseph) was introduced. Recurring characters would appear for a finite amount of time (such as Rachel's husband Kris Bumstead, played by Lennie James) or would reappear at various moments in the series (such as Pete's mum Audrey, played by Doreen Keogh, who appeared three times). Some minor characters would reappear in the stories of a particular character, such as Natalie, David's boss (played by Lorelei King) or Mark Cubitt (played by Sean Pertwee).

Plot

The series focuses on three couples as they move through their lives and relationships. Starting out with one fledgeling couple, one having a child and one with a child and careers, the status quo was soon upset as characters would have affairs, marry, divorce, have children, have cancer treatment, adopt, and, ultimately die. No character ended the series in the quite the same way as they began it. Template:Endspoiler

Critical reception

Reaction to the pilot was not forthcoming due to it running so late, and as a result of the delay in transmission, the ratings were bad.[26] The first episode of the series proper fared little better, with the acting and writing criticised; The Independent described the pacing as "arthritically slow".[27]

A year later, at the start of the second series, it became one of the most popular programmes on television. Figures in the third series improved and 9.1 million viewers watched Adam and Rachel marry in that series finale.[28] Previews of the fourth series noted a change in style, with The Observer describing it as "back with a darker edge, switching the emphasis from commitment to falling apart."[29] Following the first episode, the series was criticised as "flabby and dull"[30] and ratings had dipped due to a weak lead-in.[31] It had already been decided that this would be the final series, to stop it from "going stale".[32]

However, high ratings (the fourth series finale scored 8.3 million viewers[33]) meant that the show would return for one final series, which was announced in October 2001.[34] Ratings for the fifth series steadily grew, with the first two episodes each drawing 8 million viewers each.[35][36] The penultimate episode drew 9.4 million viewers[37] and overnights for the series finale showed 10.2 million viewers with a 42% audience share[38] burying it nearest rival on BBC One.[39]

While often described shorthand as a British Friends[40][41] Cold Feet had little else in common with the American sitcom beyond the principal cast being three males and three females (one of whom was called Rachel). Kimberley Joseph dismissed the comparison, suggesting that "Friends [...] glosses over topics and doesn't really go deep, into the heart of life".[42] Former Friends guest actor Baxendale was more blunt, calling Cold Feet "more real".[43]
The comparison was lost on American audiences; reviewers noted that it had much in common with Ally McBeal[44] (something British writers would later pick up on).[45]

Mike Bullen's quest to bring a television series to an audience of people like himself led to thirtysomethings being dubbed "the Cold Feet generation" by media.[46] The series also sparked a surge of "flirtysomething" dramas based around co-operative friendship groups.[47]

Awards

The series picked up multiple awards over its run, beginning with the Golden Rose of Montreux (and a Silver Rose for Humour) in 1997. The first series was nominated for an RTS Television Award for Best Situation Comedy or Comedy Drama but did not win. It was nominated for the same award after the second series and this time won, along with a Broadcasting Press Guild Award (jointly) and TRIC Award.

1999 also saw the first BAFTA nomination for the series, for Peter Middleton's photography and lighting. Both Fay Ripley and James Nesbitt were nominated for British Comedy Awards in the Best TV Actor/Actress categories. In 2000 the series secured another TRIC Award and British Comedy Award wins for the show as Best Comedy Drama and James Nesbitt as Best TV Comedy Actor. In 2001 there were BAFTA nominations for actors, writers and directors, British Comedy Award nominations for Nesbitt, Thomson and Norris and an International Emmy Award nomination. There was also another RTS win for the series in the Best Sound category.

After a few years of nominations, Cold Feet finally won a BAFTA in 2002 for Best Drama Series. It also took away the "People's Choice Award" at the British Comedy Awards but lost Best Comedy Drama. For its final year it won another British Comedy Award (for Best TV Comedy Drama) and Nesbitt won Most Popular Comedy Performance at the National Television Awards.[48] As well as the NTAs the series has fared well in other popular polls; it was named the fourth best TV finale in a survey conducted by NTL in 2004.[49]

US version

In 1999 NBC commissioned a remake of the series for broadcast in its fall season, replacing the cancelled Homicide: Life on the Street.[44][50][51] 13 60-minute episodes were initially contracted.[52]

The series was a co-production between Granada and Kerry Ehrin Productions (with Ehrin an executive producer) and starred David Sutcliffe in the Adam role and Jean Louisa Kelly in the Rachel role (renamed "Shelley" in this series). It also starred Dina Spybey, William Keane, Alicia Coppola and Anthony Starke as Jenny and Pete "Lombardi" and Karen and David "Chandler".

It was set in Seattle and shot in Vancouver.[53] NBC placed it in the 10pm Friday night slot and the series premièred on September 24, 1999. Variety gave the première a positive review[53] but viewers would apparently not agree as the series gave NBC its worst-ever ratings when it slid down to just 5.69 million viewers after a few weeks on air.[54][55] After a month on air and four episodes broadcast (with another four filmed) NBC cancelled the series.[56]

Though American reviewers enjoyed it, it received criticism from the UK, not least from Fay Ripley who called it "utterly shit".[57] She described the American Jenny as "like a bloody model, totally thin with a big blonde hair do and she was all, 'Hi there!'"[57]

Despite cancellation, the series did secure a nomination for best music-editing at the MPSE Golden Reel Awards.[58]

International broadcast

Country Channel
Australia Australia Channel Nine
Belgium Belgium Canvas
Finland Finland MTV3
Netherlands Netherlands VARA
Norway Norway NRK1
Sweden Sweden TV4
United States United States BBC America

Merchandise

DVD releases

VCI released all five series between 2000 and 2003. A complete set was released in late 2003 which had two versions; one with a bonus disc and one without. The bonus disc contained the documentary Cold Feet: The Final Call which was not included on the initial series five DVD due to it being released so soon after the series ended.

The region 2 DVDs had static menus with background music while the region 1 releases repeated the montage from the first episode as the menu. This feature was duplicated when ITV DVD re-released the series in region 2 on 20 March, 2006. As well as new menus, each individual series and the 11-disc box set were repackaged.

Music licensing issues meant some minor cuts were made on the DVDs. However, the series five DVD was criticised for not only removing music but re-cutting the episodes from the original four x 90-minute format into six episodes of varying lengths.[59]

The cuts remained on the 2006 release.

DVD Release dates
Region 2 Region 1 Region 4
The Complete 1st Series 2000-09-11 2005-01-25 2006-09-04
The Complete 2nd Series 2000-10-16 2005-04-26 2006-12-04
The Complete 3rd Series 2001-11-05 2005-07-26 2007-02-03
The Complete 4th Series 2002-11-25 — —
The Complete 5th Series 2003-03-24 — —
The Complete Story (10 disc) 2003-11-10 — —
The Complete Story (11 disc) 2003-11-10 — —

Books

  • Cold Feet. Rice, Jonathan (1999, Andre Deutsch Publishing, ISBN 0-233-99732-6)
  • The Best of "Cold Feet". Bullen, Mike; Rice, Jonathan (2000, Andre Deutsch Publishing, ISBN 0-233-99924-8)
  • The Little Book of "Cold Feet" Life Rules. Smith, Rupert (2002, Granada Media, ISBN 0-233-05088-4)
  • The Complete Cold Feet Companion. Smith, Rupert (2003, Granada Media, ISBN 0-233-00999-X)

Soundtracks

  • Cold Feet OST. 1999, Global TV
  • More Cold Feet. 2002, Global TV
  • The Very Best of Cold Feet. 2003, UMTV
  • Cold Feet. 2006, EMI Gold

Notes

  1. ^ Anonymous (2006-06-23) "Q&A: Hermione Norris", Western Mail. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  2. ^ Simpson, Richard (2003-03-11) "Farewell Rachel but is it the end of Cold Feet?", Evening Standard. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  3. ^ Smith, p.6
  4. ^ a b Cold Feet: The Final Call
  5. ^ a b Smith, p.64
  6. ^ a b Smith, p.62
  7. ^ Billen, Andrew (1998-12-04) "Private lives", New Statesman. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  8. ^ a b c Smith, p.8
  9. ^ Smith, p.75
  10. ^ Smith, p.115
  11. ^ Mike Bullen, Cold Feet Backstage (Series four DVD)
  12. ^ Spencer Campbell, Interviews (Cold Feet: The Complete Collection DVD)
  13. ^ James Nesbitt, Cold Feet Backstage (Series three DVD)
  14. ^ Smith p.252
  15. ^ Mike Bullen, Cold Feet Backstage (Series three DVD)
  16. ^ a b Smith, p.65
  17. ^ Smith, pp.107-109
  18. ^ Smith, p.184
  19. ^ John Thomson on Location (Cold Feet: The Complete Collection DVD)
  20. ^ Smith, p.100
  21. ^ Smith, p.252
  22. ^ Smith, p.202
  23. ^ a b Smith, p.214
  24. ^ Spencer Campbell, Cold Feet Backstage (Series four DVD)
  25. ^ Cold Feet Backstage. (Series three DVD)
  26. ^ Smith, p.8
  27. ^ Barber, Nicholas (1998-11-22), "Comedy drama: What's less believable than Dr Who?", The Independent. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  28. ^ Moyes, Jojo (2000-12-20), "Cold Feet wedding is watched by 9.1 million", The Independent. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  29. ^ Lane, Harriet (2001-11-11), "It's getting a bit chilly out there...", The Observer. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  30. ^ Hanks, Robert (2001-11-21), "Television Review", The Independent. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  31. ^ BBC News (2001-11-27), "Shafted to return next year". Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  32. ^ Wells, Matt (2000-12-27), "Cold Feet over a fifth series of hit show", Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  33. ^ Anonymous Broadcast Now. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  34. ^ Anonymous (2001-10-15), "Cold Feet too hot to drop", The Mail on Sunday. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  35. ^ Cozens, Claire (2003-02-24), "Cold Feet is hot stuff for ITV", Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  36. ^ Deans, Jason (2003-03-03) "Cold Feet clocks up ratings win", Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  37. ^ BBC News (2003-03-10) "Cold Feet ratings hot up". Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  38. ^ Deans, Jason (2003-03-17) "Cold Feet walks away with 10m", Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  39. ^ BBC News (2003-03-17) "Record ratings for Cold Feet finale". Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  40. ^ Lawson, Mark (2003-02-17) "Mark Lawson on Cold Feet", Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  41. ^ Rampton, James (1998-11-14) "Baxendale gets 'Cold Feet'", The Independent. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  42. ^ Kermond, Clare (2003-05-29) "Living the dream with Cold Feet", The Age. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  43. ^ Kingston, Stephen (1998-11-08) "I'm back ... making love in an Oxfam shop window", Sunday Mirror. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  44. ^ a b Shannon, Sarah (1999-05-18) "Cold Feet is hot favourite in US", Evening Standard. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  45. ^ Billen, Andrew (2003-03-24) "Couplings and recouplings", New Statesman. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  46. ^ Womack, Sarah (2002-07-12) "The Cold Feet generation has an early mid-life crisis, The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  47. ^ Ojumu, Akin (2001-12-30) "Hot foot after Cold Feet, Fay leads the way", The Observer. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  48. ^ Multiple authors, "Awards for Cold Feet", Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  49. ^ BBC News (2004-03-19) "Blackadder named best TV finale". Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  50. ^ Lowry, Brian (1999-05-18) "NBC's new shows take a somber turn", The Milwaukee Sentinel Journal. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  51. ^ Hontz, Jenny (1999-05-17) "NBC to cut the laughs", Variety. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  52. ^ Anonymous (1999-09-24) "NBC and GMI to unveil US Cold Feet at Mipcom", Broadcast Now. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  53. ^ a b Richmond, Ray (1999-09-24) "Cold Feet", Variety. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  54. ^ Bierbaum, Tom (1999-10-27) "'Ally' give Fox hope", Variety. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  55. ^ Bierbaum, Tom (1999-10-25) "Thursday, Friday rookies fail to make Nielson cut", Variety. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  56. ^ Adalian, Joseph (1999-11-02) "NBC ices 'Cold Feet'", Variety. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  57. ^ a b Mackay, Neil (2001-09-09) "The talented; Miss Ripley", The Sunday Herald. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  58. ^ Ault, Susanne (2000-02-17) "Sound editors mix in TV noms", Variety. Retrieved on 2007-02-10
  59. ^ Robinson, Dominic "Dom Robinson reviews Cold Feet Series Five", DVD Fever. Retrieved on 2007-02-10

References

Template:Harvard reference

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cold_Feet&oldid=107651531

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