We quiz the cast and find out nothing has changed on Cold Feet… except Jimmy has more hair
Britain's favourite sitcom is set to return to screens next month
AFTER 13 years, the wait for the return of one of Britain’s most-loved sitcoms is nearly over.
ITV classic Cold Feet will return to our screens next month with all the original stars – except Helen Baxendale, whose character Rachel was killed off in the last series in 2003.
Here, ANDY HALLS and KATIE EARLAM quiz the cast about what to expect from the upcoming series.
'Hunger for comeback has always been there'
JOHN, 47, says: “The demand for the show was quite incredible, really.
“On a weekly basis over the past 13 years, a complete stranger would stop me in the street – as this show is the thing I’m most recognised for in my career – and ask me when it was coming back.
“The hunger for it has always been there, it was Granada’s flagship show.
“We were on to a winner the first time round.
The popularity of the show was so great and we delivered the goods the first time round.
“I saw it as a challenge to do the same again but even better and more so. Let’s bring it.
'The timing of the new series couldn’t be better'
“The world isn’t in a great place at the moment and I think we all know that.
“There’s a great need for nostalgia – a look back at the days when everything seemed OK, something feelgood that’s inspirational, like Cold Feet.
“The timing of the new series couldn’t be better – it’s not just coming back and starting again, it’s what lies beneath that.
“It’s literally a case of it being down to us and the viewing public to imagine what’s happened to us in the past 13 years and how that’s affected us.
“You find us now – we don’t pick up where we left off as that would have cost the production company a fortune in Botox!”
'I have a feeling the show could be even bigger and better'
JAMES, 51, says: “I have a feeling the show could be even bigger and better than last time, I really believe that.
“I know people say that you should never go back, but I am so delighted we have.
“You really are going to get a shock when you see us all again 13 years older.
“Obviously we have all changed a bit – wait until you see Pete and Jen! – and I have a son.
“And he doesn’t like football. Can you believe it?
'I just hope the show can do for the ratings as it did before'
“It was such a great moment for all of us filming the programme in the ’90s and ’00s – at least I’m pretty sure it was, I don’t remember too much about it.
“I just hope the show can do for the ratings as it did before.”
James was not at the launch yesterday as he was filming Sky drama series Lucky Man, but his hair growth since the original didn’t go unnoticed, with a mention just minutes into the first episode.
Co-star John explained: “Jimmy was happy with it but it had to be addressed!”
'It was weird without Helen but it'll be fun for her to watch and see how we're coping'
FAY, 50, says: “It’s like rediscovering an old jumper, it’s just turning the page.
"The characters have been living their lives, they’re not new.
“I thought the show might be really hard, to be perfectly honest, because I’ve done that before.
“But within a minute it was the same. It was like stepping back in time – we walked back into the classroom.
“We’ve also got a shorthand when we work together, all of us, which is incredibly handy because normally you have to be polite.
“We didn’t have to do any of the polite s**t, though. You go in, you go, ‘I’ve got a blooming headache, my menopause is giving me gyp . . . ’
'It was like stepping back in time'
“We were like a family. We know each other and the support that goes with that on a personal level.
“It was weird without Helen but let’s be absolutely clear that she’s not dead in real life.
“She’s cool with the show, though, she’s happy that it’s going out. I think it will be quite fun for her to watch and see how we all cope without her.
“At the end of the show we’d all had a brilliant time.”
'There's a weight of expectation to make something again that people would love'
HERMIONE, 49, says: “It’s amazing how much we had forgotten.
“I couldn’t even remember how many children my character had – but that’s the nature of acting. It’s a way of life, it’s all so transient, you just move along.
“Cold Feet was so of its time and so loved. I just felt it may be best left as I wouldn’t want to do anything that would’ve undone that.
“There’s a weight of expectation to make something again that people would love.
“In the read through it was amazing how quickly we all fitted into the foundations. It was a real joy watching these characters.
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“It’s not going back, this stage it’s a very difficult chapter of life compared to previous challenges.
“I really missed Helen, in fact we all really missed Helen, but Karen as a character missed her because Rachel was Karen’s best friend.
"I really felt that absence. You can really feel that loss and she’s very, very present in this.
“I just loved working with people my own age. I find as a woman I love being older, there’s a weight of experience you just don’t have as a 30-year-old. I loved it.”
'Personally, it's been really unexpectedly enjoyable'
ROBERT, 59, says: “We all felt apprehension, not just about the project but also personally on how we would be.
“We’ve all moved on and life reflects that and we are seeing life through a different prism, as we all are as we get older.
“David is still the same person and he tries to do his best and cope what life throws at him.
“On a personal level it’s been really unexpectedly enjoyable.
“You don’t have to explain yourselves to each other in some ways and the characters have that same feeling.
'We’ve all moved on and life reflects that'
“The whole thing isn’t a rehash, a reboot or a remake, it’s a development.
“The show is about ordinariness, about people and how they get along together.
“The premise of the show is very difficult to define.
“It’s important we don’t play to our previous constituency, you shouldn’t have had to have done your homework to enjoy it.”