| Rachel Bradley | |||||||||||||||
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| Cold Feet character | |||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Helen Baxendale | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1997–2003 | ||||||||||||||
| First appearance |
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| Last appearance |
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| Created by | Mike Bullen | ||||||||||||||
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Rachel Louise Bradley is a fictional character portrayed by Helen Baxendale in the British comedy-drama television series Cold Feet. Rachel is introduced in the pilot episode (1997), where she begins a relationship with Adam Williams (James Nesbitt). Their relationship has highs and lows throughout the series; Rachel reveals a secret husband in the first series (1998) and has an abortion in the second (1999), which supposedly prevents her from conceiving a child in the future. She and Adam marry in the third series (2000) and are surprised to discover that she is pregnant in the fourth (2001). They both begin raising their child in the fifth series (2003), but Rachel's life is cut short when she is killed in a car crash.
The character was originally devised as "the fantasy girlfriend", and was constructed as an amalgamation of writer Mike Bullen's female friends. As the series was developed, input into Rachel's storylines was provided by Cold Feet's producers Andy Harries and Christine Langan; Rachel and Adam attempt in vitro fertilisation in the third series, which Harries and his wife had also tried. It was originally planned for Rachel and Adam to adopt a child during the fourth series, but Helen Baxendale's real-life pregnancy meant the storyline had to be rewritten.
Both character and actress received mixed reviews from critics throughout the series; Baxendale received the Best Actress award from the Broadcasting Press Guild for her portrayal of Rachel in the pilot and was nominated for a British Comedy Award. However, television reviewers criticised the character when the series began. Rachel's diagnosis with Asherman's syndrome in the fourth series drew criticism from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which had been consulted during the writing of the storyline. When the series ended, there was a 20% increase in the number of people taking out life insurance policies with one provider, Tesco Personal Finance, which a spokesperson for the company attributed to Rachel's premature death.[dubious – discuss]