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Cold Feet returning… The more I heard about this – with the cast repeatedly telling us, here and there, that there is no way that Helen Baxendale would return as a ghost – made me think all the more that there is EVERY way that Helen Baxendale would return as a ghost! But, no, she doesn’t. THAT, I can confirm.
As the teaser showed us, Adam (James Nesbitt) is on a plane and he has something to tell his best friends, but what is it? That, I cannot say, as it’s shrouded in secrecy, but when I did find out, it wasn’t as groundbreaking as, say, if his removed testicle had somehow grown back, after series 3.
I don’t even think I can say why he’s on a plane, or where he’s going to and from, but you’ll find out soon enough once the episode starts. The teaser and trailer show that Adam is either mid-flight or in an airport, so that must indicate he’s going from A to B, but any more about that, my lips – and typing fingers – are tightly sealed.
However, we do know that it’s been 13 years since series 5, so whatever’s happened in the interim, Adam and Pete (John Thomson) haven’t told much about each other’s lives, including Pete losing his job a year ago, but that’s because they spent too long on Skype talking about football. Meanwhile, Adam’s still a cheeky chappie with the ladies, despite his advanced years, his son, Matthew (Ceallach Spellman) has grown up (like all of the characters’ children), while David’s (Robert Bathurst) biggest problem appears to be that he has too many points on his licence and his lawyer wife, Robyn (Lucy Robinson), is unwilling to help him out, but then, as we join them, their marriage is seemingly coming to a natural end.
And, of course, Adam is still missing Rachel, even after all this time, but you knew that would come up as they had to make mention of her in the first episode.
Cold Feet Series 6 is certainly a long-awaited programme for ITV, but this opener plays a very straight bat with no surprises and leaves you thinking that… if they couldn’t pull a rabbit out of the hat with something exceptional in its return, why did they bother? Fay Ripley‘s never short of work, and James Nesbitt proved he can still put forth an incredible turn in the recent ITV drama, The Secret.
I know it’s daft to say “We’ve been here before”, but in this case, it’s because it’s a catch-up with regulars that doesn’t move anything forward in any way. I know the first five series hardly moved at a mile a minute, and were like putting on an old pair of comfortable slippers, but they got from A to B without retreading old ground, and this feels way too familiar.
Sure, I’ll watch the whole series and it’ll be huge hit, but based on this first installment, it really is a series that shouldn’t have happened.
Cold Feet returns on Monday night on ITV at 9pm, and then later on the ITV Hub. The series is available pre-order on DVD, ahead of its release date of October 31st, and you can also buy Complete Series 1-5 on DVD now.
Episode 1 Score: 4/10
Director: Terry McDonough
Producer: Rebecca Ferguson
Writer: Mike Bullen
Cast:
Adam Williams: James Nesbitt
Pete Gifford: John Thomson
Jenny Gifford: Fay Ripley
David Marsden: Robert Bathurst
Karen Marsden: Hermoine Norris
Angela Zubayr: Karen David
Robyn Duff: Lucy Robinson
Matthew Williams: Ceallach Spellman
Eddie Zubayr: Art Malik
Tina Reynolds: Leanne Best
Olivia Marsden: Daisy Edgar-Jones
Ellie Marsden: Ella Hunt
Chloe Gifford: Madeleine Edmondson
Adam Gifford: Jack Harper
Celebrant: Andrew Readman
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.