James Lance

Rescue Me is a British romantic comedy television series produced by Tiger Aspect Productions and broadcast on BBC One in 2002. It was created, and principally written, by David Nicholls and stars Sally Phillips as Katie Nash, a woman who is recovering from a divorce while at the same time writing relationship features for Eden, the women’s magazine she works on. The series was filmed from November to December 2001. It ran for six episodes, averaging 3.4 million viewers and a 15% audience share in its Sunday night timeslot. The low ratings meant it was not recommissioned for a second series, leaving an unresolved cliffhanger. Nicholls had written four episodes of the unmade second series before discovering Rescue Me had been cancelled. As a result, he took a break from screenwriting to concentrate on his debut novel Starter for Ten. A cover version of “Rescue Me”, performed by Oliver Darley, is the series theme tune.