It’s rare that a serial-based television show comes along that manages to combine wicked humour and that certain “I know how it feels” kind of realism, and combine it deftly. Too often we just get lumped with ever-so-pretty actors or utterly preposterous scripts, which while offering a quick diversion don’t really manage to speak any truth to any of us normal human beings. Cold Feet eventually hit our screens a few years ago and brought a breath of fresh air – combining realism and silliness perfectly, like “real life” tends to do to us all. Needless to say it’s a British production then...
This two-disc DVD set features the pilot episode, actually made sometime before the series was finally commissioned, along with all six episodes that made up the first season.
Set in the Northern England city of Manchester, the show essentially revolves around the lives of three couples. There’s the down to earth mouth Jenny and her rather hapless but loveable hubby Peter, pretty-girl Rachel and her charming Irish beau Adam and the posh but human Karen and her pompous and pathetic weasel dork of a husband in David. There are links between some of them to bring all three couples together – Pete and Adam have been mates since school, while Karen and Rachel have been best friends for six years. If this sounds rather like Friends to you then please perish the thought – comparing Cold Feet to that is somewhat akin to comparing Gone With the Wind to Shallow Hal.
Here’s a basic rundown on what to expect from this set...
Pilot: Time to establish those characters, then... Jen and Pete are trying to conceive, so they’re poring over ovulation charts and timing their shagging to maximum effect. Rachel and Adam meet by accident and eventually go out on a date. Being a serial three months then “dump” type, Adam is concerned that his feelings for Rachel may go all the more deeper than usual. Meanwhile, Karen is trying to convince her stick in the mud husband David that they need to get a nanny for their baby Josh. Needless to say David is having none of it, until...
Episode 1: Flash forward sometime a year or so, and Jen’s close to popping out a little one. Pete is being a doting dad, studying, attending classes, obsessing over paint colours – and driving Jenny half mad in the process. Adam and Rachel are having territorial disputes, as they bounce between each other’s flats which are on opposite sides of the city. Karen has her nanny, Ramona, and has returned to work.
Episode 2: Rachel and Adam get a place together – but it turns out there are skeletons in closets to be dealt with. Meanwhile, an investment that David made has soured, losing them 15,000 quid – understandably Karen is none too pleased on hearing the news...
Episode 3: Uh-oh, somebody’s got Fosters flop – and some may say it couldn’t happen to a more deserving chap. Chinese whispers get out of hand, leading to a shag in a shop window and Pete is getting hairy palms...
Episode 4: Karen is freaking out when she’s offered an editing job on a Booker prize-winning author’s new work – and freaking more when she finds herself considering having an affair with him. Elsewhere, Jenny’s outlaws have come to stay, which is bad enough in itself without the constant bickering between Pete and his dad, who are each as stubborn as the other.
Episode 5: Most everybody seems to be getting on each others’ nerves, however a touch of partying seems to help the situation. Things are icy between Karen and David – with potential affairs abounding Karen thinks it time to see a marriage counsellor, however a certain haughty git is having none of it.
Episode 6: The gang are all off to one of David’s work functions, however there’s somewhat of a disagreement between his boss and Jenny that could cost him quite a bit. Meanwhile somebody’s pregnant – now who could it be, and who should she tell?
There have been many fabulous transfers of television shows popping up on DVD of late, and sadly most have been better than this. Coming to us full frame, we miss out on the programme how it was intended to be seen – in a ratio of 1.78:1 – and it certainly shows on many occasions, especially during the credits within the first episode.
Other than the image being the wrong format, the main issue here is with grain. People, we have a super chock-a-block stuffed-to-bursting-point silo or two’s worth here! As much as this appears to be an issue with the source material, it is a little disappointing that things don’t scrub up a bit better. Detail tends to suffer because of this, some times more often than others. There are some speckles at times, and some rather noticeable aliasing (notably on the grille of a Mini). Both discs are dual layered, the first has no discernable layer change, whilst the second disc has a rather obvious one in the fifth episode which could have been placed much more subtly if they had waited a sum total of about four seconds.
Otherwise, at least colour cannot be faulted – it’s all very realistic and England-like (in other words, not the brightest).
Standard Dolby Digital Stereo, as accompanies most television fare, is what we get, and as the format tends to do it serves the programme admirably, without ever being amazing. Synch is spot on, and dialogue levels are well balanced. The only potential issues for some would be strong accents – Adam’s Irish brogue and Jenny’s mumbling in particular. Needless to say this is another stay at home for the subwoofwoof.
The soundtrack varies quite considerably between the pilot episode and the actual series. The Other Two, a side project of Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris of Manchester’s finest ever export New Order, provided the theme and all incidental music for the pilot. It’s light, catchy electro-pop and suits proceedings nicely.
Come time for the first season, Mark Russell was brought in to provide incidental tunes and themes. It is rather more subdued, but does do a sterling enough job. As seems typical for anything vaguely 30-something related the soundtrack does carry some woeful adult FM tracks at times, however the use of Space’s brilliant Female of the Species for the closing credits deserves applause (and to think, they’re from Liverpool!)
Alright, so the video quality isn’t excellent, however it is no worse than free to air. The main issue here is that we didn’t get a 1.78:1 transfer, although to be fair the UK release suffered the same fate. Regardless, this set offers a marvellous way to keep a brilliantly crafted series that easily sustains repeated viewings up on your shelf in one neat little package, and should find itself a more than welcome addition to the shelves of many.
Face it; any show that casually drops lyrics from The Smiths into pub conversation has a lot to recommend it – for as many of us can attest to, being 30-something isn’t simply about giving up all semblance of taste and buying Wet Wet Wet CDs...
