A Touch Of Frost - Series 1 (Box Set) (DVD)

I first started watching A Touch of Frost because I had read the books by R.D Wingfield on which the show is based. The books are absolutely amazing and I was not at all convinced that the TV series would be able to recreate the magic of the books. However, I soon realised that this was not the case. There are certainly differences between DI Jack Frost in the books and the one that you meet in the TV version. In the books he is a chain smoker, a ...
...not necessarily mean he is a loveable character. The episodes are generally 1,5 hours and free standing although many of the characters that are introduced in one episode will pop up in later episodes. In every episode, as in the books, Frost juggles multiple cases. David Jason plays the scruffy Jack Frost fantastically well and I doubt anyone else could play this fairly complex character quite as well. Other actors that appear frequently are Bruce ... more

I first started watching A Touch of Frost because I had read the books by R.D Wingfield on which the show is based. The books are absolutely amazing and I was not at all convinced that the TV series would be able to recreate the magic of the books. However, I soon realised that this was not the case. There are certainly differences between DI Jack Frost in the books and the one that you meet in the TV version. In the books he is a chain smoker, a little bit of a drinker and he makes outrages remarks about pretty much every woman he comes into contact with whether they are victims of crimes or not. This is not the case in the series, where he is more politically correct. It is also clear from the books that he never really loved his deceased wife; something the TV series is much subtler in showing. Furthermore, Superintendent Mullett is much more pleasant in the TV series than he is in the books even though that does not necessarily mean he is a loveable character. The episodes are generally 1,5 hours and free standing although many of the characters that are introduced in one episode will pop up in later episodes. In every episode, as in the books, Frost juggles multiple cases. David Jason plays the scruffy Jack Frost fantastically well and I doubt anyone else could play this fairly complex character quite as well. Other actors that appear frequently are Bruce Alexander as Superintendent Mullett, Matt Bardock as D.C. Barnard and Caroline Harker as W.P.C Wallace.

Okay, now that that is cleared up I will move on to the actual DVD.

The first series box set includes 2 DVD cases, the first one containing 2 DVDs the second one just the 1. There are no special features and they are rated PG and 12 respectively.

In the first DVD, Care and Protection, Frost's wife is still alive, although dying. You only get a very brief glimpse of her as Frost peeks into her room but it is obvious that her illness has a profound effect on the Detective Inspector.

This DVD introduces the Frost that we will get to know and love, in spite of all his short comings. He is a bumbling, sarcastic character who cuts corners when he can, does not follow the rules if he can avoid doing it and who is extremely forgetful. To contrast this he has a great heart and truly cares about the people involved in the cases he is working. The first DVD sees the disappearance of a little girl, whose mother is a prostitute. There are several leads, could the mother's client have abducted her or has she been kidnapped for a ransom. Parallel to this an old skeleton with a briefcase chained to its arm is uncovered. This at first seems a hopeless case as the skeleton is old and it proves hard to ID the body. However, when he starts moving closer to the truth, people connected to the case start dying.
Together with D.C. Barnard, the Chief Constable's nephew, and with Mullett constantly on his back to get results, Frost stumbles from false lead to false lead slowly edging closer to the truth. He even has time to get D.C. Barnard to falsify his crime returns somewhere along the way, something of a recurring topic in the series. As D.I. Frost is an old school police man he does not much care for paper work or networking but would much rather spend his time solving the cases he is handling. Even though I always have theories about who the guilty party is, I have found that throughout this series I have ended up being wrong most of the time. Care and Protection is no exception, it left me guessing right until the end.

In the second DVD, Not With Kindness, Frost is coming to terms with his wife's death and the fact that he was not there when she passed away. Unsurprisingly he finds some relief in his work. In this episode, a young couple is being threatened, undertakers are being sent to there home to collect the 'deceased' husband and the threats quickly escalate. Again, there is a missing girl's case where the 15 year old girl has had an argument with the mother. At first it seems likely that she has run away from home but soon it is clear that his is not the case. Surely the mother's new boyfriend cannot have anything to do with her disappearance?
Mr Mullett is also concerned by a recent bout of vandalism in an old church yard (I am not surprised Sir it's a very grave business is Frost's reply to this) and orders surveillance something Frost is not too happy with as he feels there are more important things to concentrate on. However, the surveillance soon unearths some evidence in the missing girl's case. On a more personal note, Frost's sister-in-law comes over from the US to attend the funeral. With her overbearing personality, fake American accent and wish to look after the fiercely independent Frost, she soon starts to get on his nerves even though he tries hard to behave well towards her.

In the last DVD in series 1, Conclusions, Frost has a new sidekick in D.C. Webster, a man who is having problems fitting in at Denton police station. Even Frost, whose sarcastic but good hearted manners somehow seem to win his colleagues over in the end has problems getting through to him something that might give problems later on. In this episode a pensioner is seriously injured by an apparent joy rider. The (very convenient) evidence left at the crime scene lead straight to the son of an MP, who seems to have some problems remembering exactly how his car ended up 'stolen'. Mr Mullett however is very keen to keep this case as low profile as possible as he is intent to keep good relations with powerful people whenever possible. Through unorthodox methods Frost manages to get closer to the truth and upset Mr Mullett in the process. In another case there has been a robbery at the local casino which is run by a woman not too eager on getting the police involved in her business and who is not afraid of taking the law into her own hands. Seemingly unconnected to this, D.C. Shelby gets killed leaving a young family behind and it seems as if he has been leading something of a double life.

This DVD is an absolute must for anyone who likes a good old British crime drama. D.I. Frost is one of the most likeable and believable characters in any crime drama I have seen (this does have a great deal to do with David Jason being the fantastic actor that he is). When I bought this it cost me about £25 but I have seen it in several places now for as little as £10-£15. I have every single episode released on DVD and I watch them over and over again although I think I have to wait for a while before I see them again now as I remember the ending of all of them at the moment…
 

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