Cold Feet’s James Nesbitt makes a special delivery in Peacehaven

Actor James Nesbitt was in Peacehaven on Friday (January 18) to help mark the end of an era.
Alistair Wagstaff and James NesbittAlistair Wagstaff and James Nesbitt
Alistair Wagstaff and James Nesbitt

For many years the star of television’s Cold Feet featured in commercials for the iconic Yellow Pages, which was first printed in Brighton in 1966.

Nesbitt helped deliver the final copies of the telephone directory, owned by Yell, and his round included a visit to J. Wagstaff Funeral Directors in South Coast Road, Peacehaven.

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The independent family business was featured in the very first edition of Yellow Pages, and the last copy was presented to Director Alistair Wagstaff.

Nesbitt, 54, said: “The Yellow Pages is such a much-loved piece of history. Almost every household including my own had one by their telephone, and it helped to connect us to local businesses in our towns and cities. The Yell brand has been great to me over the years and I thoroughly enjoyed filming the adverts, so I’m really honoured to have played a part in the final delivery too.”

The brand had some memorable TV adverts, which included JR Hartley’s “Fly Fishing” and a campaign which launched in 2003 starring James as the hapless character “Adam” who uses the Yellow Pages to get himself out of some tricky situations.

The Yellow Pages has been delivered to more than 27 million UK households, with almost one billion copies printed over its 53-year run. More than a million independent businesses have advertised in it, from hairdressers and plumbers, to artificial eye merchants.