"Cold Feet"s cast and crew were frequently praised for their depiction of real-life social issues on the series. When "Cold Feet" began, Christine Langan stated, "The real challenge was to overcome the traditional view that many of the issues we cover—jealousy, guilt, money, sexual problems, parental death—are ordinary issues, hardy perennials and, as such, not interesting enough for drama." The fourth episode of the first series was controversial due to its depiction of the characters freely discussing their sex lives; in the left-wing "New Statesman", Andrew Billen praised it as a homage to "La Ronde" and, despite the sex-talk, being "intricately constructed as a farce". A complaint was made by a viewer to the Independent Television Commission—the commercial television regulator—about the depiction of sex, but it was not upheld.