Where did we leave the Cold Feet gang and where are they at the start of series 7?

Series one ended with James Nesbitt’s Adam celebrating his 50th birthday. Having married and split up with Angela (Karen David) over the course of the last series, he finally got together with landlady Tina (Leanne Best), who chose the cheeky Irishman over her boyfriend Jamie.

But not before Adam and best mate Pete (John Thomson) nipped off to find booze for the bash and found themselves in the middle of an armed robbery which turned into a hostage situation. In typical Cold Feet style, it led to Adam realising how much he loved Pete– as well as how much he wanted to be a dad to his teenage son Matthew.

Art Malik’s Eddie, boyfriend to Karen, showed up to the party with a proposal (and a sparkler) which incensed Karen’s ex David (Robert Bathurst), who had decided he wanted her back. The two men ended up on the floor, spitting and brawling at each other on a Twister mat and rather sensibly Karen decided she wanted neither of them in her life.

John Thomson's Pete had got over the worst of his depression and was back to his old self – joshing with wife Jenny (Fay Ripley) and repairing his relationship with daughter Chloe who had discovered that he wasn't her real Dad.

And here's where we'll finding them as the new series kicks off...

Adam (James Nesbitt) and Tina (Leanne Best)

As we rejoin them in the new series Adam and Tina have been happily together for the past ten months – living across the hall from one another, they're rarely apart and have even told each other that they are in love. Adam is keen to move their relationship forwards and is wondering whether to “take things to the next level” with Tina, who comes with baggage of her own (let’s not forget that she nursed her first dying husband in the same flat where she lives, so it holds all sorts of resonances for her).

Tina is now very much part of the gang. In fact, writer Mike Bullen told RadioTimes.com ahead of writing the series that he now regards Tina as the sixth Cold Feeter, replacing Rachel (Helen Baxendale), Adam’s first great love (and the Mother of son Matthew) who was killed when the first run of series ended in 2003. As well as being firmly a part of Adam’s life, Tina gets on extremely well with the teenager.

Adam appears to have put his last wife Angela behind him – indeed he doesn’t even mention her in the first episode – but as well as sorting things out with Tina he needs to find a new job.

Karen (Hermione Norris)

She has launched her new publishing house and is busy overseeing the release of its debut novel with a writer who seems wonderful on the surface but may just be more of a pain in the backside as the series progresses.

Will shepherding authors – and having to employ wayward nanny Ramona (Jacey Salles) as her receptionist– replicate the drudgery of bringing up her teenage twins Ellie and Olivia who are living at home and primed for all sorts of trouble? Or, for that matter, will it remind her at all of being married to manchild David? Despite all that, she seems in a very good place when the action starts and also appears to have cracked her drinking problem – though whether she sustains that we’ll have to wait and see.

Pete (John Thomson) and Jenny (Fay Ripley)

Pete (played by Bafta-nominated John Thomson) has managed to shake off his acute depression, which was so movingly and responsibly explored in series one. We find him in series two happier and on a more even keel looking for more in life than his job as a chauffeur – and a blast from his past volunteering work in the old people’s home may well present that opportunity.

There are changes at work for wife Jenny (Fay Ripley) – offering difficulties but also unexpected opportunities. She also has to adjust to the arrival of the sixth Cold Feeter Tina and worries that the newbie may be moving in a little too strong on her best mate Karen.

In series one, Pete and Jenny’s 14-year-old Chloe discovered that Pete wasn’t her real Dad (and who can forget the ghastly real one, played by Robert Webb, when he appeared) and looks set to play up in the way teenagers do this series. In the opening episode, she appears to be skiving off school – will this be the start of more serious behavioural problems?

David (Robert Bathurst)

Poor David, he is probably the Cold Feeter most on his uppers after narrowly escaping a fraud conviction in the last series.

Even though he escaped jail he is still now unemployable in the world of finance and business and we find him selling life insurance door-to-door to unsuspecting pensioners – a job he hates. He also doesn’t seem to have much of a home and is crashing at Adam’s house; though the confident public school boy isn’t one for self-loathing, he’s getting close. But an opportunity does soon arrive involving some financial work for the wealthy Cheshire set. Knowing David, he may not be able to help himself mixing pleasure with business, especially when there are inappropriate women on the horizon….

The new series of Cold Feet starts on ITV on Friday 8th September at 9pm