Cold Feet

Old wives' tales have had a bad press down the years. If you drop a fork it means a man is coming to visit. A loaf, once cut, cannot be turned upside down. Brexit means an end to straight bananas (or, indeed, Brexit means Brexit). But just occasionally, the biddies get it right: Cold Feet, warm heart.

It washed back all over our screens, marred only by the kind of breathless media hype that might have embarrassed Adolf at Nuremberg, and reminded us of some oddly hopeful days back in '97, when Mr Blair had yet to settle on his cabinet and his chosen faces for sad and happy, let alone on his fascinating career path of millionaire war criminal. The theme tune had changed, sadly (few songs speak to our fin de siecle with the redolence of Space's Female of the Species), but the title typeface was still there in all its spiky, pulsing horror. It was as close as the British got to Friends, with gratifyingly less glucose: Manhattan would never have dared to kill off its Rachel.

And it was by far the finest reheating of leftovers in this season of retro-love. Always well written, treading that tightrope between emotion and sentimentality that Manchester somehow seems always to get right, unlike some of its more shouty neighbours, this return also simply reminded us of the quality of the original cast. Witness how many have since carved out singular successes, or in James Nesbitt's case, multiple, having proved himself one of the few actors - Olivia Colman's another, and recently, Tom Hollander - equally adept at smart comedy and at drama that truly punches the kidneys.

The action has obviously moved on to midlife crises, and we can expect much filthy angsting over John Thomson's all-too-believable depression and Robert Bathurst's equally credible lack of capacity for self-examination. There's been a snaring in Singapore by Adam (Nesbitt) of a new wife, who has nothing at all going for her except youth, beauty, wit, money, wisdom, empathy and humour, and who is obviously wrong for him. All Manc life is here, which is to say all life is here, and I am hooked, line and sinker, all over again.

They've apparently moved on in Cornwall too, from tin to copper. Damn your eyes, progress!

Karen David on joining established cast of Cold Feet

Joining an established cast of well-loved characters might faze some, but Karen David embraced her role in Cold Feet.

Cold Feet is the smuggest thing on TV, and I enjoyed it

How the bejaysus did Adam manage to pull a drop-dead gorgeous Singaporean beauty like Angela? Trust me, no one is that charming.

Cold Feet review

So did the actors slip back seamlessly into their roles? Well I thought the girls did, but I'm not so sure about the boys.

Mike Bullen: 'I felt I had something new to say'

The much-loved show returned this week after a gap of 13 years. The writer says he wanted to wait until the characters hit their post-kids crises.

Cold Feet, ITV, review

Mike Bullen's drama tackles midlife as if it's never been away.

Cold Feet review

Cold Feet made its return to our screens after 13 years - and, within minutes, it was as if it had never been away.

Cold Feet gets warm welcome as 6m tune in for series

It was 13 years since Cold Feet last aired new episodes, but the sitcom's fans proved as loyal as ever with more than 6 million tuning in to its return on Monday night.

Cold Feet fans reckon they know series ending already

Fans reckon Adam - who lost his wife Rachel (Helen Baxendale) in a car crash in the original series - will ditch Angela in favour for Tina by the end of the new series.

Meet new Cold Feet star Karen David

She plays Adam's new flame Angela in the returning drama.