There have been mutterings for some time that ITV is keen to resurrect Cold Feet – the tale of three thirtysomething couples living in Manchester. Whether that means it will actually arrive back on screen, or in what form, or indeed when, it is by no means clear. But according to today's Sun, Helen Baxendale has reportedly been asked if she would agree, in principle, to reprise the role of Rachel. That's dead Rachel. And she has apparently told reporters that she'd say yes in a shot. We'll come to that later.
The original show, which also starred Hermione Norris, Robert Bathurst, James Nesbitt, Jon Thomson and Fay Ripley, ran for five very successful series before its demise in 2003 when Rachel was splatted by a massive lorry. Fans of the hugely popular show will surely be reacting to its potential resurrection in one of two ways – with a happy tap-dance or violent head-shaking.
Look, for instance, at what happened when they tried to revisit This Life in This Life +10. The memory of Miles and Anna's exquisitely combative horniness dashed in 80 desperate minutes of knuckle-chewing dreck. If Cold Feet are going to do it, then they'd better do it right.
One idea is reportedly for a prequel – a prequel in which the now fortysomething actors play themselves a number of years ago. They're all pretty well-preserved and Thomson is a fraction of the man he used to be but it would still require trowel-loads of makeup and a mandatory opt-out of HD.
And yet. Cold Feet was an appealing show, mainly because of the incredibly likeable characters. Apart from Rachel. She annoyed everyone. But from the pilot episode where a naked James Nesbitt stuck a rose up his bum in the middle of the street to serenade his gal, the cast charmed and beguiled like no others. I should add: this was before those Yellow Pages adverts that temporarily made Nesbitt a pariah. Some still haven't forgiven him.
Hermione Norris continues to play ice-cool career women and tortured middle-class housewives in shows such as Spooks and the disastrous recent adaptation of Bouquet of Barbed Wire. Robert Bathurst lately donned a beard for Channel 4's enjoyable middle ages romp Pillars of the Earth. Thomson joined the cast of Corrie and Ripley married Reggie Perrin while also becoming the face of Tesco.
Overall, the six actors went on to good (but not better) things and could still curry enough public favour to bring the show back. But how to do it? Which brings us back to that tricky Rachel question: Rachel as a ghost? No. Rachel appears only in flashbacks? A bit lame. Rachel emerges from the shower to find a startled Adam gawping at her, saying he just had the most awful dream about a massive lorry? I do hope not. Rachel in a prequel? Perhaps.
How would you bring the show back? Or would you just, you know, not?
