A Touch of Frost

One of the UK's most iconic coppers

Sir David Jason has managed to create an iconic TV detective with his portrayal of Detective Inspector William Edward Frost, GC,. The series is based on the fictional character created by R. D. Wingfield in his series of novels Frost at Christmas (1984), A Touch of Frost (1987), Night Frost (1992), Hard Frost (1995), Winter Frost (1999), A Killing Frost (2008) and was first broadcast in the UK almost 17 years ago.

A Touch of Frost is set in the fictional town of Denton, which appears to be in or near Oxfordshire, more precisely in the upper Thames Valley. There in fact are at least ten places in the UK named Denton, including one in Oxfordshire, though the town in the series is not directly identified with any of them.

Detective Frost has a tough approach to the rules and tends to become emotionally involved in cases. He is well liked by his fellow officers and it’s clear that many of the younger detectives seen in the series look up to him as a role model.

Frost is regarded, he feels unjustifiably, as a hero because he was once shot while on duty, for which he was awarded the George Cross. The reality is that he was depressed (he had planned to leave his wife but stayed because of her terminal illness) 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 is his get out of jail card whenever he runs foul of his nemesis 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 takeaways.


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:

More regular characters include a newspaper journalist named 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). Frost's most frequent love interest is nurse Shirley Fisher, played by Lindy Whiteford, who appears in eight episodes.

At a press conference in London on the 15th of September 2008, David Jason announced that he will quit the role of DI Jack Frost. Jason's main reason for quitting the role was that he is now the oldest detective on television and he felt that it was 'natural' to retire as Frost. Sir David said: "You wouldn't want me to play Frost in a wheelchair, would you?"

"Frost is getting a little long in the tooth. I still enjoy doing it and it's a great part but I just think he's got to retire. It'll be a sad day."


Series Cast
    David Jason    ...     D.I. Frost / ... (42 episodes, 1992-2009)
    Bruce Alexander    ...     Supt. Mullett / ... (42 episodes, 1992-2009)
    John Lyons    ...     D.S. Toolan / ... (39 episodes, 1992-2009)
    Arthur White    ...     Ernie Trigg / ... (27 episodes, 1994-2009)
    James McKenna    ...     Sgt. Brady / ... (24 episodes, 1995-2008)
    David McKail    ...     Dr. McKenzie / ... (20 episodes, 1992-2008)
    David Gooderson    ...     Pathologist / ... (18 episodes, 1992-2006)
    Paul Moriarty    ...     Sgt. Wells / ... (15 episodes, 1992-1997)
    George Thompson    ...     P.C. Simms / ... (12 episodes, 1992-1996)
    Caroline Harker    ...     W.P.C. Hazel Wallace / ... (11 episodes, 1992-2003)
    Bill Stewart    ...     Sandy Longford (10 episodes, 1992-1999)
    Stuart Barren    ...     Sgt. Johnson / ... (10 episodes, 1992-1996)
    Bill Rourke    ...     Sgt. Hanlon / ... (10 episodes, 1992-1995)
    Jon Sotherton    ...     D.C. Howard / ... (9 episodes, 1992-1996)
    Lindy Whiteford    ...     Shirley Fisher (8 episodes, 1992-2000)
    Billy Riddoch    ...     Hammond / ... (7 episodes, 1997-2003)
    Julia St. John    ...     Amanda Chase / ... (7 episodes, 2003-2009)
    Reece Andrews    ...     Officer / ... (6 episodes, 2001-2008)
    Neil Phillips    ...     D.C.I. Allen (5 episodes, 1992-1994)
    Ian Driver    ...     P.C. Jordan / ... (5 episodes, 1992-1999)
    Christopher Rickwood    ...     P.C. Stringer / ... (5 episodes, 1992-1994)