Cold Feet viewers were left in tears after season nine premiere showed Jenny Gifford – played by Fay Ripley – undergoing chemotherapy following her breast cancer diagnosis.
The emotional ep kicked off by showing Jenny sitting at her dressing table, removing her wig to show her thinning hair.
The opening scene set the tone for the rest of the episode, and fans rushed to Twitter to praise her performance in the difficult role.
One person wrote: "That just broke my heart a little. Gorgeous performance from @FayRipley then."
While another wrote: "One mirror, One Fay Ripley, 30 seconds of brilliance."
A third added: "Superb acting. Just right."
Cold Feet's Fay Ripley reveals "huge relief" after public praise cancer storyline
Cold Feet creator Mike Bullen says comedy drama is taking break amid pay row
Fans learned of Jenny's shock diagnoses last series, and many were interested in seeing how the show would portray her character throughout her battle.
One viewer wrote: "I'm a new fan ..saw the last series and was keen to see this."
Another commented: "Fay Ripley is delivering a tour de force here."
While another fan wrote: "Not even 10 minutes into the new series of Cold Feet and Fay Ripley has me in tears."
It comes as last year, Fay has told of her “huge relief” after being deluged with messages following her character’s battle with breast cancer.
In the highly emotional plot Jenny kept her diagnosis a secret, cried alone in a car park, then turned to a stranger for support before teaching her children life skills such as ironing – in case the worst happened.
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The actress, 53, has received hundreds of messages of praise for the realistic portrayal.
She said: “I’m so hugely relieved that I don’t appear to have let people down.
“That was the very thing I was most nervous about. I didn’t want to let people down who were genuinely going through this. What I’m playing is a story – for other people it’s their lives. A misrepresentation would be awful, people take it really seriously.
“I feel such an outpouring of people’s personal stories to me.”
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But the show's creator Mike Bullen has recently revealed the comedy drama is taking a break – amid a row over stars’ pay.
Fay says wages still vary between her and co-stars Hermione Norris, 52, James Nesbitt, 54, Robert Bathurst, 62, and John Thomson, 50.
The actress raised the issue a year ago and said recently: “It’s a really tricky one because it’s not like other jobs.
“Pay is measured on very odd things that are to do with ‘bankability’. It’s not a case of the boys being paid more than the girls, as a whole unit, but we are not all paid the same.”
Writer Mike, 59, said: “I want to take a break. We are going to rest the series.
“We’re not doing one next year. We need to give the characters some space to move on to new stages so that we’ve got stuff to write about.
“We’re talking about doing a one-off special to tide us over.”
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