Misplaced Pages

The third series of the British comedy-drama television series Cold Feet was first broadcast on the ITV network from 5 November to 26 December 2000. The eight episodes were written by Mike Bullen and David Nicholls, produced by Christine Langan and Spencer Campbell, and directed by Simon Delaney, Jon Jones, and Tim Whitby. The storylines, which focus on three couples, continue from the end of the second series; Adam Williams and Rachel Bradley (James Nesbitt and Helen Baxendale) try to conceive their first child, and get married at the end of the series; Pete and Jenny Gifford (John Thomson and Fay Ripley) have separated after he had an affair with a co-worker. They date different people throughout the series but reconcile in the last episode. After Karen Marsden (Hermione Norris) gives birth to baby twins, her husband David (Robert Bathurst) has an affair with a local political activist, which damages their marriage.

Bullen stepped back from writing the series during pre-production, believing no new storylines could be created for the characters. David Nicholls was one of five writers hired to write the series; when the other four writers were dismissed by producers Granada Television because their scripts were not of the right standard, Bullen returned to write half the series. The eighth episode was the highest-rated of the series, getting 9.66 million viewers on its Boxing Day broadcast. The series won a British Comedy Award the following year, and was nominated for Royal Television Society awards, a Banff Rockie award, and an International Emmy Award. Fay Ripley received a nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress.

Cast

• James Nesbitt as Adam Williams
• Helen Baxendale as Rachel Bradley
• John Thomson as Pete Gifford
• Fay Ripley as Jenny Gifford
• Robert Bathurst as David Marsden
• Hermione Norris as Karen Marsden

Recurring

• Jacey Salles as Ramona Ramirez (Episodes 1, 3, 4, 5, 7)
• Nicholas Ball as Felix Bishop (Episodes 1, 2, 3)
• Yasmin Bannerman as Jessica Barnes (Episodes 2, 3, 4, 5, 7)
• Richard Dillane as Miles Brodie (Episodes 4, 5)
• Mel Martin as Heather Childs (Episodes 1, 2, 3)
• Ben Miles as Robert Brown (Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8)
• Pooky Quesnel as Emma Keaton (Episodes 5, 7, 8)

Episodes

Broadcast

The episodes suffered from ITV's late decision to insert a third commercial break into evening programming; like many other series that had already completed post-production, Cold Feet's editors were forced to alter their episodes to allow for the extra breaks. Writing in Revolution magazine, John Owen, the head of media company Starcom, criticised the fact that up to 25 advertisements now appeared during the show. Allied Domecq, who had sponsored the previous two series of Cold Feet with their Cockburn's Port brand, did not renew their contract with Granada. Granada Ventures negotiated a new sponsorship deal with United Airlines, estimated at £1.5 million. The first two episodes were broadcast as a single two-hour episode on 12 November. Episode 8, featuring Adam and Rachel's wedding, was broadcast on Boxing Day—the first time the show aired on a Tuesday.

Awards

References

1. Bullen, Mike (29 October 2000). "Cold comfort fame". The Observer (Guardian News and Media).
2. ^ Phillips, William (19 January 2001). "Christmas Day audience peak neared 30 million". Broadcastnow (Emap Media).
3. Ratings from here onwards taken from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board website.
4. Walsh, Nick Paton (22 October 2000). "ITV drama in turmoil over new ad breaks". The Observer (Guardian News and Media): p. 11.
5. Owen, John (20 December 2000). "Comment: Too many ad breaks spoil the view". Revolution (Haymarket Media).
6. Brech, Poppy (14 September 2000). "United Airlines to back ITV's Cold Feet with pounds 1.5m". Marketing (Haymarket Media).
7. Rogers, Jon (17 November 2000). "Cold Feet returns with a bang". Broadcastnow (Emap Media).
8. ^ "Craft Nominations 2000". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved on 12 August 2008.
9. ^ Bright, Martin (16 December 2001). "Cold Feet frozen out as Skinner has the last laugh". The Observer (Guardian News and Media): p. 12 (Observer Review supplement).
10. "British Comedy Awards 2001 Winners Archived August 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine". British Comedy Awards. Retrieved on 12 August 2008.
11. "RTS Craft & Design Awards 2000–01 Archived October 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine". Royal Television Society. Retrieved on 12 August 2008.
12. Jury's comments: "A really good example of dialogue in busy surroundings. The sound cleverly reflected the pictures switching from stylised to reality—a great example of how to do it." "RTS Craft & Design Awards 2000 Jury's comments Archived October 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine". Royal Television Society. Retrieved on 12 August 2008.
13. Brennan, Steve (9 October 2001). "Int'l Emmy Nominees Inveiled". The Hollywood Reporter (Neilsen Business Media) (archived at AllBusiness.com).
14. "Banff Rockie Awards Nominees 2001 Archived 2008-04-12 at the Wayback Machine". Banff World Television Festival. Retrieved on 12 August 2008.

Further reading

• Nesbitt, James (18 June 2009). "James Nesbitt on Northern Ireland: Drama is borne out of conflict". Broadcast (Emap Media). Retrieved on 30 June 2009.

External links

• Cold Feet at IMDb

• 2000 British television seasons
• Cold Feet