seeing his "wonderfully expressive face" in a Persil advertisement. At the audition, Nesbitt asked to do the reading with his own accent, believing that Northern Irish characters rarely appeared in contemporary British drama without "political baggage". Langan found Nesbitt's approach to be refreshing and he was cast as Adam. Halfway through the casting process, Cardiac Arrest actress Helen Baxendale became available. BAFTA Scotland award-nominated Baxendale was seen as a coup, though she was hesitant to audition as she believed that she could not do comedy. Harries persuaded her that she was more than qualified, citing her comedic performance in Cardiac Arrest. She was cast as Rachel on the basis of her chemistry at the audition with Nesbitt. Fay Ripley assumed that she would be reading for the role of Rachel, and was surprised to be auditioning for Jenny. Many of the actresses seen for the part were "finger-wagging" and "predictable", an approach Ripley did not take. Raised in Surrey, Ripley had to adopt a Manchester accent for the part. She "managed to bodge together a sort of Manchester accent" for the audition, assuming that she would not get the part. When she was cast, she worked on improving the accent by spending time talking to local people. Robert Bathurst was appearing in The Rover during casting and arrived at his audition "bearded and shaggy". He did not expect to win the part of David, the "smooth" management consultant, assuming someone "a lot shinier and flashier" than him would be cast. Langan had seen him in Joking Apart and some other sitcom pilots and was attracted to his "disciplined comic energy". Hermione Norris first read for Rachel but Lowney asked her to read for Karen because her social class matched that of the character, and she had a good rapport with Bathurst. Other actors appearing are Mark Andrews as Howard, Mark Crowshaw as the waiter, John Griffin as Andrew, David Harewood as the Police Sergeant, Kathryn Hunt as Pru, Pauline Jefferson as the Old Lady, Jeremy Turner-Welch as the Neighbour, and Lewis Hancock as the Evangelist. Mike Bullen makes a cameo appearance as the actor. Bullen insisted on having a line as when he visited the set of The Perfect Match he "felt like a spare part". Filming and music Filming was scheduled over a 12-day period on Granada's sets and on location around Manchester, following a week of rehearsals. It