A Touch of Frost is a detective television series produced for ITV in the United Kingdom.

It stars David Jason as Detective Inspector William Frost, known as Jack to everyone but his wife. He is experienced and dedicated to his work, but he is always clashing with his superiors, mainly represented in the series by Superintendent Norman "Hornrimmed Harry" Mullett, played by Bruce Alexander . The two have highly incompatible personalities. Mullett is an ambitious buttoned-down by-the-book administrator, and Frost is a down to earth "street copper". Nonetheless they appreciate each other's professional abilities.

Frost has a cavalier approach to the rules, thinking nothing for example of breaking into a suspect's property without a warrant, and can be rude and aggressive to almost anyone, including innocent subordinates. He has a tendency to become emotionally involved in his cases, which Mullet considers unprofessional. However, there is usually someone to guide him back into line before he goes too far, and he does produce the goods. He has a good reputation among his colleagues because, when he is not overwrought about a distressing case, he is approachable and sympathetic, and it is clear that many of the younger detectives seen in the series look up to him as a role model.

Many also regard him as a hero because he was once shot while on duty, for which he was awarded the George Cross, however Frost himself is modest about this, regarding himself as unworthy of the honour. The reality is that he was depressed and drunk at the time and approached the armed man out of recklessness, not caring whether he lived or died. Nonetheless, the incident made him the Chief Constable's blue eyed boy, and this protects him from being fired or retired by Superintendent Mullet. Frost's wife dies in the first episode, leaving him to cope with life on his own, which he finds difficult, throwing himself into his work instead, and living mainly on police canteen sandwiches and chinese takeaways.

The series is set in the fictional town of Denton, which from the geographical references in the series appears to be in Oxfordshire. (In fact there is a Denton in Oxfordshire, though it is only a small village and the similarity appears to be coincidental.) It is apparently supposed to be a reasonably small town, although the series quite often shows council estates of the type that are rarely found outside of cities, and it certainly has a wide range of social problems and a teeming criminal class.

Unlike most TV detectives, Frost does not have a single regular sidekick, and indeed some of his sidekicks are seen in only one or two episodes. There are, however, a number of regular supporting characters who are frequently seen and often promoted to a "sidekick" role:

• DS George Toolan (John Lyons), Jack's long-time friend and colleague, with whom he shares an office. George is about the same age as Jack, but a rank lower. He is more cautious. He appears (in some capacity) in most episodes.
• WPC Hazel Wallace (Caroline Harker ) is a young, happy-go-lucky uniformed officer. At the end of the third series she moved to CID, and though she ceased to be a regular she continued to make guest appearances in later series, and was promoted to detective sergeant.
• DC Clive Barnard (Matt Bardock ), son of the Chief Constable. Most people believe he has only got into CID through his family connections, but Frost sees beyond that and takes Barnard under his wing. Later promoted to DS, but killed off in a 1997 episode.
• DS Terry Reid (Robert Glenister ). A tough London detective, he has often been in trouble in the past for his extreme methods, though he has mellowed by the time we see him.

Other regular characters include nosey newspaper journalist Sandy Longford (Bill Stewart), who is always pestering Frost for information on his latest case, and sometimes has some useful information of his own, and police archivist Ernie Trigg (David Jason's real-life brother Arthur White ).

The most recent episode was "Dancing in the Dark", broadcast on 22 February 2004. No announcement has been made on the future of the series, however no further episodes are currently planned.

The series is based on the novels of R.D. Wingfield

• A Touch of Frost
• Frost at Christmas
• Hard Frost
• Night Frost
• Winter Frost

Episodes

External links

• A Touch of Frost episode guides