Rachel Louise Bradley is a fictional character portrayed by Helen Baxendale in the British comedy-drama television series Cold Feet. Rachel is introduced in the pilot episode (1997), where she begins a relationship with Adam Williams (James Nesbitt). Their relationship has highs and lows throughout the series; Rachel reveals a secret husband in the first series (1998) and has an abortion in the second (1999), which supposedly prevents her from conceiving a child in the future. She and Adam marry in the third series (2000) and are surprised to discover that she is pregnant in the fourth (2001). They both begin raising their child in the fifth series (2003), but Rachel's life is cut short when she is killed in a car crash.

The character was originally devised as "the fantasy girlfriend", and was constructed as an amalgamation of writer Mike Bullen's female friends. As the series was developed, input into Rachel's storylines was provided by Cold Feet's producers Andy Harries and Christine Langan; Rachel and Adam attempt in vitro fertilisation in the third series, which Harries and his wife had also tried. It was originally planned for Rachel and Adam to adopt a child during the fourth series, but Helen Baxendale's real-life pregnancy meant the storyline had to be rewritten.

Both character and actress received mixed reviews from critics throughout the series; Baxendale received the Best Actress award from the Broadcasting Press Guild for her portrayal of Rachel in the pilot and was nominated for a British Comedy Award. However, television reviewers criticised the character when the series began. Rachel's diagnosis with Asherman's syndrome in the fourth series drew criticism from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which had been consulted during the writing of the storyline. When the series ended, there was a 20% increase in the number of people taking out life insurance policies with one provider, Tesco Personal Finance, which a spokesperson for the company attributed to Rachel's premature death.^{[dubious – discuss]}

Rachel Bradley was devised by writer Mike Bullen as one of the two central characters in the pilot episode of Cold Feet, the other being Adam Williams.

Helen Baxendale, then popularly known for her starring role as Dr Claire Maitland in the BBC medical drama Cardiac Arrest, became available halfway through the casting process of the pilot, and was invited to audition. Baxendale was initially reluctant to read for the role, as she believed that she would not be able to give a good comic performance. Executive producer Andy Harries persuaded her that she had already performed black comedy in Cardiac Arrest, and so would be well-suited to the part of Rachel. Producer Christine Langan described Baxendale as "perfect for the idolized Rachel" and her reading with Nesbitt as having "unmistakable chemistry". Hermione Norris also auditioned for the role, but Baxendale was eventually cast. By the time of the third series, Baxendale's initial concerns had gone and she felt comfortable acting with the comic actors. Speaking retrospectively, she found Rachel difficult to play:

I was playing the nice girl. It's really hard to play. All the other characters came from somebody and I said to Mike [the writer], 'Where do I come from?' And he said, 'You were the fantasy girl.' I found it hard to make anything of that. In the end I felt the only thing I could do was to make it as hyper real as I could. I'm not a natural comedienne.

The character's backstory is presented in Cold Feet: A Man's/Woman's Guide to Life, which was compiled by Jonathan Rice from Mike Bullen's scripts. Rachel read French at the University of Manchester, then spent a season working as a chalet girl in the French Alps. There she met Karen (Hermione Norris) who became her best friend. When both returned to England, Karen married David Marsden (Robert Bathurst) and Rachel began a career in the advertising industry.

At the beginning of the pilot episode, Rachel is dumped by her boyfriend Simon Atkinson (Stephen Mapes), who has recently taken a job in Hong Kong and does not want to "burden" Rachel with deciding whether to emigrate with him. Shortly afterwards, her car collides with that of Adam Williams on a supermarket car park. The two get into a row over whose fault the crash was and he smoothes things over by giving him her phone number, ostensibly in case there is a problem with the insurance. She writes her number in the muck on his rear windscreen but it later washes off in the rain. Some time later, Rachel's friend Karen advises her to call Adam and go on a date with him. Their first date does not go well, but they see each other again. Three months later, they row, and Rachel gets back together with Simon, who has returned from Hong Kong. Adam wins her back by serenading her while wearing nothing but a rose between his buttocks.