‘Cold Feet’ has received widespread praise from fans, after it aired its most powerful scenes ever, which saw Pete Gifford contemplating suicide.
John Thomson’s character has been battling depression since the ITV drama returned from a 13-year hiatus last month, and Monday (10 October) night’s episode saw Pete’s story take a devastating turn.
Viewers saw him reaching the decision to end his own life, after his daughter, Chloe, discovered he is not her real father.
The emotional scenes saw taxi driver Pete take his car to a cliff, where he stood on the edge and envisaged himself jumping over, and at first it was unclear that this moment was only in his imagination
However, he was then saved from completing suicide when he received a spam call from a mobile phone salesperson.
Later scenes saw Pete reconcile with Chloe at his son’s band’s gig, as he realised she still needed and loved him.
Fans were left in tears as his son Adam then invited him on stage to perform ‘Teenage Kicks’ - a song which he used to play with best mate Adam Williams (James Nesbitt) when they were young.
The episode proved to be particularly poignant as it aired on World Mental Health Day, and fans on Twitter hailed John’s performance and praised the way the show had highlighted male depression.
John had spoken about how his own battle with depression had helped him with the storyline, as he appeared on Monday’s ‘This Morning’.
“This is what I’ve gleamed from social media - a lot of people say male depression hasn’t been portrayed accurately before, until this,” he said.
“I’ve been depressed. There’s two difference types of depression - there’s clinical depression, which is a chemical imbalance, and there’s circumstantial depression. I’ve suffered circumstantial depression, so I just drew on those personal experiences. But I felt I owed it to Mike [Bullen, the creator and writer] as the master behind that story, to do it as real as possible.”
Mike previously revealed how he penned the storyline for Pete based on his own experiences of depression.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: “I went through a depression. I couldn’t get off my couch. I want to talk about depression in men in the new series, as it is something that isn’t explored often in drama.”
‘Cold Feet’ continues next Monday at 9pm on ITV.
Useful websites and helplines:
- Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393
- Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI - this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill.)
- Get Connected is a free advice service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email: help@getconnected.org.uk