Cold Feet (series 5)

Mike Bullen vowed that he would not write a fifth series after the fourth ended so well in 2001, but was persuaded to write it when executive producer Andy Harries suggested he should kill off a character.[1] James Nesbitt was not keen to return to do another series but Bullen persuaded him to by offering to have Adam's cancer return with fatal consequences (the character had recovered from a testicular cancer scare in the second series). Despite this, Bullen was unable to make Adam's death funny and, following a meeting with Harries, decided it should be Rachel who died. Harries scheduled a meeting with Helen Baxendale at the Groucho Club, where they discussed the development. The scenes where Adam talks to Rachel's spirit were inspired by Truly, Madly, Deeply and Ghost.[1] Bullen co-wrote the script of episode three with Matt Greenhalgh.[2]

Richard Armitage wore a pair of old boots to his audition for the part of Lee

Richard Armitage secured the role of Lee when he arrived at his audition wearing a pair of old boots, something that greatly impressed producer Spencer Campbell. In order to match the scripted description of his character, Armitage began a heavy workout regimen and took aqua-aerobics lessons to better understand Lee's profession. His first scene was a sex scene with Ramona.[3] Despite leaving the series in 2001, Fay Ripley was persuaded to return to the programme for one last appearance as Jenny in the final episode. To make sure the rest of the cast agreed to return, their salaries were increased to £75,000 per episode, a 50% increase on their pay for the fourth series (though Joseph earned less).

Episodes one and two were directed by Ciaran Donnelly, episode three by Simon Delaney and episode four by Tim Sullivan. Ripley was in the late stages of pregnancy and permitted to work for only a short amount of time, so the fourth episode was filmed before the third.[2] Ripley did not travel to Portmeirion with the rest of the cast, so a make-up artist stood in as Jenny in the beach and clifftop scenes, wearing the prosthetic stomach originally made for Ripley in the first series.[4] A close-up of Jenny standing next to Jo was filmed in front of a similar backdrop in Manchester and edited into the location footage.[4] The producers endeavoured to film on location once per series but the high cost of the Sydney episode and the rising salaries of the cast meant the budget could not permit travel any further than Portmeirion, a village most famous as the location in The Prisoner.[1] Rachel's car accident was filmed on location in Moston, Greater Manchester in the early hours of 6 October 2002.[5] Following the completion of filming, the sets were dismantled and moved to landfill sites.[6]

Robert Bathurst was displeased with the development of David and Robyn's relationship; he told The Times, "I had a long run-in with the producers. Here was an opportunity for the character to have his first friendship and they used the stock telly drama for friendship of having a shag. I said it's shallow and it's sordid. So they wrote a scene with a self-disgusted David saying 'It's shallow and it's sordid.'"[7]

Mark Russell composed an extended score for the scenes depicting Rachel's death and its aftermath, using music software to recreate the acoustics of the Cathedral of Chartres: "We decided what we wanted was quite an elegiac piece of music that becomes more and more emotional so it doesn't reflect the frenzy of the hospital."[8]

The four episodes were broadcast in a Sunday night timeslot from 9 p.m. to 10.35 p.m.

The first and second episodes each secured overnights of 8 million, with the first taking a 33% audience share.[9][10] Ratings grew as the series progressed; episode three scored 9.4 million viewers and the finale drew 10.2 million, with a 42% share.[11][12] Final figures took it to 10.7 million, making it the eighth most-watched drama and 15th most-watched terrestrial programme of 2003.[13][14] During production of the series, tabloid newspapers published stories that four funeral scenes had been filmed and a final decision on which would air would be made close to the broadcast. The Sunday Mirror quoted Andy Harries as being "undecided" over who would die in a report published in September 2002, though by this time production on the last episodes was well under way.[15]

Critical reviews were favourable and the decision to end the series was welcomed; Paul Hoggart of The Times called the formula of the series "less surprising" and audiences had only "residual interest in the characters".[16] Writing in New Statesman, Andrew Billen compared the appearance of Rachel's ghost to that of Gary Shepherd in thirtysomething, and its inspiration The Big Chill. Billen was unsurprised when Mark told Karen he was a "child hater" and that Jo married Pete solely to stay in the country, suggesting that viewers had seen the plots coming for a long time.[17] Reviewing for BBC News Online, Darren Waters wrote that the finale had a "thankful lack of sentimentality", though called the scenes in Portmeirion an "unnecessary coda".[18] The Spectator's Simon Hoggart believed that Baxendale's portrayal of Rachel as a "fraught and snippy woman" was detrimental to the character, causing him to have less sympathy for her and more for Matthew. He praised the strengths and flaws of all the female characters.[19]

Tesco Personal Finance recorded a 20% increase in calls from people wanting to take out life insurance policies. A spokesman attributed the surge to people watching Rachel's death in a car accident.[20]

The series secured the Best Comedy Drama award at the 2003 British Comedy Awards and Nesbitt was voted Most Popular Comedy Performer at the National Television Awards in the same year.[21][22] Other viewer polls placed Rachel's car crash as "Best Drama Moment" at the BBC's annual "TV Moments" ceremony in 2004 and a poll conducted by cable provider NTL in the same year placed the finale as the fourth best of all time.[23][24] Adam's speech at Rachel's funeral came 69th in the Channel 4 poll The 100 Greatest Tearjerkers, broadcast in February 2005.[25] In 2008, Rachel's car crash was ranked at number three in Sky One's 50 Greatest TV Endings.[26]

Video Collection International (VCI) released Cold Feet: The Complete 5th Series on region 2 DVD on 24 March 2003.[27] The four 72-minute episodes were reconfigured into six quasi-episodes of varying lengths,[28] which were rated by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) on 17 March 2003; episode "1" was rated 15, episodes "2", "4" and "6" as 12, and episodes "3" and "5" as PG.[29] The series was re-released in new packaging by Granada Media on 20 March 2006.[30]

• Smith, Rupert (2003). Cold Feet: The Complete Companion. London: Granada Media. ISBN 0-233-00999-X.