I have just finished watching all the episodes of A Touch of Frost on Netflix, and I was hoping for something that didn't happen. In one of the early episodes there is a murder at an Indian grocery, a sort of mom-and-pop store run by a Indian couple, and the wife is murdered. Frost thinks the murder was committed by two suspects that he has in custody for some other reason, and he leans on the husband to identify them as his wife's killers. However, the man insists that he was upstairs and did not see the killers, and refuses to make an identification. As far as I can remember, the suspects are eventually "nicked" for the other crime, but no arrest is ever made for the murder of the Indian woman. I always had it in the back of my mind that there was in fact a robbery, but the husband used the robbery as a cover and killed his wife himself. I thought a later episode would reveal that, but it never did.

The most obvious plus, is the perfect performance of David Jason, who brings a sense of grit and humour to his role. Frost is definitely the most memorable of all the post-Morse detectives. His scenes with Superintendent Mullet are truly hilarious. Another plus is the quality of the script, funny, gritty and tense, a little reminiscent of the Sweeney. The episodes are interesting and sometimes touching. One standout scene, was when Frost is seen in tears as he says goodbye to a murdered colleague in the morgue. That was truly sad, and anyone who's seen the last Morse episode will probably find some similarities between the two scenes. My only criticism is that one or two of the later episodes lack the ingenuity of the early episodes. A good example is the episode with the crocodile, it just seemed more serious, and had a disappointing ending. (the murderer I seem to recall was given away halfway through) All in all, a truly entertaining gem. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I'm an avid watcher (and reader) of British Detective/Crime movies, serials and novels... and this is one of the best. Second only to the Inspector Morse series, David Jason has created a singular character in Jack Frost. Frost is a tenacious and insightful detective whose reserve of empathy and feelings make him appear to be a bit of a misanthrope. In fact, in this respect I think that there are some real similarities between Morse and Frost, though their characters are in most ways quite different.A Touch of Frost isn't a police procedural-- it's much more psychological. The relationship between Frost, his boss (Superintendent Mullett), his colleagues, a potential romantic interest (rarely is the difficulty of someone's attempts to make romantic contact more realistically portrayed) and his rotating group of partners is often just as interesting as the mystery at hand.I don't think I've ever been compelled to comment in IMDb before... but this series should be seen by anyone who enjoys mystery series!

Five years into the reign of John Thaw as Inspector Morse, ITV decided to treat viewers with another detective series. Unfortunately, David Jason can't cut it as a policeman. He is just far too short to be remotely convincing as a man who must have presumably joined the force in the 1950s or 1960s. I also think that, as an actor far better known for comedy work, he tries too hard in this series to play serious (he is simply better at comedy). A Touch of Frost also lacks the attractive locations which were a staple of Inspector Morse, resulting in it being far more dreary to look at. Some may argue that makes it more realistic, but I would recommend Between the Lines or Spender if viewers want to see gritty series' of that kind.To summarize, I would have to say that A Touch of Frost, while not being an utterly terrible series, fails to reach the standard to match the best series' in the genre of police drama. The main problem, as I have previously stated, is with the lead actor. Had they cast another actor, instead of casting the big name comedy star desperate to prove he can cut it in the drama stakes, this series might have stood a better chance.