Cold Feet cast call for beloved series' return: "That appetite never goes away"

With Cold Feet having aired its very first episode all the way back in 1998 and its final one in 2020, it's safe to say that the ITV drama continued to stand the test of time and remain beloved by many.

At the end of the more recent ninth season, it was revealed that the show would be on a hiatus for the foreseeable to "give them all a little time to move on, to put clear water between the stories we’ve told thus far and the issues they’ll be exploring when they are empty nesters staring down the barrel of grandparenthood," according to series creator Mike Bullen at the time.

Well now, the Cold Feet cast have weighed in on whether now is the right time to return to the series, with fans continuing to bestow praise on them all for their parts in it.

Cold Feet cast members James Nesbitt, Fay Ripley and John Thomson all spoke during a special reunion podcast recording for Reasons To Be Joyful with Gaby Roslin. In the episode, Nesbitt revealed the lasting appeal of the series, saying: “I am constantly stopped and asked when Cold Feet is coming back. That appetite never goes away.”

Ripley also said: “The very fact people responded in the way they did suggests there’s no reason why it shouldn’t come back. When the show returned after all those years it reminded everyone how much fun it was.”

With any returning series after a while, there would always be some understandable trepidation and a way to test those waters would be through a special episode, says Thomson.

He added: “After the success of Gavin & Stacey bringing back their Christmas special, why not test the water with a Cold Feet Christmas special?”

Reflecting on his experience shooting the series, Nesbitt revealed: “What I remember most is that it was fun. When we first got together it was just magic — and that translated to the audience.”

He added: “People still love it and still talk about it. That’s very special.”

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In 2020, at the time that the last episode of Cold Feet aired, series creator Bullen did say that "we’re looking forward to returning at a later date to document the agony and the ecstasy of the third age…”

As for when that "third age" will be, fans will just have to wait and see. It's been six years now since that last instalment aired on our screens so whether that's a long enough gap for the storylines and for the cast to be faced with the prospect of being grandparents remains to be seen.

Although the series had the rather simple premise of just following various couples through their love stories and life in Manchester, Cold Feet definitely struck a chord with viewers at the time. Last year, in an interview with Radio Times magazine, series star Robert Bathurst reflected on its legacy.

He said: "Cold Feet was essentially about nothing apart from six people and how they got on. It was the first of those generally middle-class domestic shows, but what really made it stand out was that it was set, very firmly, in Manchester. Next year, it will be 30 years since we made the pilot, and in that time, kitchen island drama really has taken over the world."

Cold Feet is available to stream on ITVX.

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