| "Pilot" | |
|---|---|
| Cold Feet episode | |
&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Cold_Feet_pilot.jpg) Promotional material | |
| Directed by | Declan Lowney |
| Written by | Mike Bullen |
| Featured music | The Other Two |
| Production code | Granada Television |
| Original air date | 30 March 1997 |
| Running time | 52 minutes |
Cold Feet is a British television pilot directed by Declan Lowney. It stars James Nesbitt and Helen Baxendale as Adam and Rachel, a couple who meet and fall in love, only for the relationship to break down when he gets cold feet. John Thomson, Fay Ripley, Hermione Norris and Robert Bathurst appear in supporting roles. The programme was written by Mike Bullen, a BBC radio producer with little screenwriting experience, who was tasked with creating a one-off television production that would appeal to middle-class television audiences, who the executive producer Andy Harries believed were underepresented on British television.
After filming was completed in 1996 the commissioning network ITV shelved it for a year. It was eventually scheduled for broadcast on the evening of 30 March 1997, as part of the network's Comedy Premieres strand, but overrunning sports coverage delayed it for an hour. Ratings were low and critical reviews were minimal, but positive; critics enjoyed the comedy drama format and praised the writing and performances of the leads. Harries entered Cold Feet in the Montreux Television Festival, where it was awarded the Rose d'Or, the festival's top prize, resulting in ITV quickly scheduling a repeat broadcast. At the end of the year it won the award for Best Comedy Drama (ITV) at the British Comedy Awards and the incoming director of channels ordered a full series, which ran for five successful years from 1998 to 2003 followed by a revived series from 2016 to 2020.