A Touch of Frost (TV Series) Widows and Orphans (1994) User Reviews

Frosty Frost is well-depicted by the actor

[Kyoko88 · 8/10 · 2 November 2007]

Jack Frost's sarcastic but rather honest views are well associated with the actor David Jason. A Touch of Frost is right on his tongue and his "comments" make the audience chuckle. I always love a finishing touch of frost at the very end of every show.

Frost is a loner and is not always in pair with sidekicks "for keeps". He is not into a relationship with anyone else and is not eager or keen to pair up with anyone for work. He is a lone wolf. His cynic personality and extreme aloofness can be a snag for perpetual partnership with anyone. New sidekicks always leave for some reason and his new sidekick this time was a female officer with ranks. That was an interesting change also.

According to the trivia of this series, the author of the character Jack Frost did not favor this TV program or the actor David Jason but I think Jason's likable personality with cynic tongue made the character shine through for years. In the original Jack Frost in books the character loves teen-aged girls, but the TV series cannot depict this in any way so that part was basically ignored. Instead, Jason's depiction of Frost added the "snide & snip", so to speak, in his "comments" that he makes to his colleagues and suspects.

In this tale of spiteful young man who was twisted by the difficult old people and his own dark past, Frost's interview to the young man is, although he duly understood how much abuse and difficulty the young man may have been suffered in life, a psychological chase that heats up little by little through discussion with him and his spiteful grandmother.

If Frost was a touch of frost, then that old lady was more than a cup of hot peppers. I did not like her too much, so I felt sorry for that young man who basically became insane because of her abusive rearing of him.

In TV drama the personality of Jack Frost seems to be extremely warm and nice although cynic at the same time, and I like this one better than what he is depicted in the books!!!

Very good

[jamiecostelo58 · 8/10 · 11 December 2006]

Jack Frost and new sidekick D.S. Lawson work together to solve mystery attacks on elderly people....It seems that someone close to home is responsible, but can Jack find out before it's too late?

Actress Sally Dexter was well appointed as Lawson, a glamorous female detective who may has a dark side to her that viewers want to know more about. Christopher Fulford too is very convincing as gentle character Ronald Gould, but is he hiding a deeply hurt conscience?

This is an intriguing edition of A Touch of Frost, with the case arriving at a startling conclusion. A perfectly watchable episode in the franchise. 8/10

Not as good as the previous episodes, still very good

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 20 June 2017]

'A Touch of Frost' is a personal favourite of mine, and one of my favourite shows from the detective/mystery genre. Do have a preference perhaps for the earlier-mid-show episodes over the later ones, but none of the episodes are less than watchable and none do anything to embarrass the show.

So much appeals about 'A Touch of Frost'. Love the mix of comedy (mostly through Frost's snide comments and quips) and dark grit, the tension between rebellious Jack Frost and by-the-book Mullet which has led to some humorous moments, how he interacts with the rest of the staff, the deft mix of one or two cases and Frost's personal life, how Frost solves the cases, the production values, music and of course David Jason in one of his best roles.

There may have been people initially sceptical about whether the show would work, and with Jason (a mainly comedic actor) in a departure from usual in the lead role. Scepticism very quickly evaporated, with the first season containing three consistently great episodes, even with the darker and grittier approach with less humour, that established the tone and characterisation so brilliantly so early on with no signs of finding-their-feet. The second season opener "A Minority of One" was up to their level. "Widows and Orphans" is a slight step down from the previous episodes but is still very good.

It is agreed that things are diminished slightly by the obvious identity of the killer (though the motive is a shocker), revealed a little too early. Otherwise there is little to criticise, and not everybody is going to find this an issue.

Visually, "Widows and Orphans" looks great, matching the dark, gritty tone of the episode beautifully with atmospheric lighting and the stylish way it's shot. The music is haunting without being over-bearing while the theme tune is one of the most iconic in the detective genre (or at least to me it is).

The script is well written, with a few amusing quips from Frost this time round, and thought-provoking, and the story is continually compelling with tension, grit and shocking twists.

Frost is a remarkably well-established character for so early on, and one cannot help love his interaction with the rest of the officers and his chemistry with Bruce Alexander's stern and by-the-book Mullet, who constantly despairs of Frost's unconventional approach. Frost also deals with the tension between him and Tanner, the prejudicial nature showing both characters being at fault while not making them less likable.

Jason is brilliant as usual as Frost, and everybody else supports him just as well. Christopher Fulford is wholly convincing as someone whose actions are not to be condoned but one feels sorry for him too.

In summary, very good if not as good as previously. 8/10 Bethany Cox

"He's what used to be called a Christian"

[ygwerin1 · 8/10 · 11 July 2022]

Yet another officer D. S. Maureen Lawson has drawn the short straw and got lumbered with working alongside D. I. Jack Frost.

May she be having a modicum of an influence on him as he asks an Shirley Fisher out on 'a date', he even spruces himself up with a nearly new jacket from the friendly neighbourhood vicar?

Is a dangerous serial killer stalking the suburbs of Denton assaulting and bumping off old biddies and stealing their pension money, an escalating number of such occurrences are keeping the old bill on their toes. Are there any similarities or points in common between them or at the very least, indicators that might link them together in any conceivable manner.

D. I. Jack Frost has a reputation around Denton Nick for having an unerring Macklemore for fingering the right villain or rather that's more likely to be his boast, or may it be more appropriate to consider it an idle one? He reckons there is one that's a "sure bet" such that he's loathed to bother looking elsewhere but can he really be right this time?

Intriguing mystery

[grantss · 9/10 · 14 June 2022]

An intriguing episode, as always. Some good old-fashioned police work and Frost's nose for the truth ensure the culprit is caught. Some humorous moments too.

Widows and Orphans

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 11 February 2021]

Frost finds himself with a new partner DS Lawson and this time she is female.

Frost is also feeling lonely and is looking for a romantic attachment. He takes a nurse out, one who helped look after his late wife.

He met the nurse while visiting an elderly woman who got battered.

There has been a spate of burglaries affecting the elderly and several have been beaten up. It seems that these elderly people trusted the person and invited them in. Suspicion falls on the people who drive these old folks to various outings.

Just like the previous episode in series two. There are in fact two culprits. The burglar and the attacker.

Frost's snidey humour works better in this story than the previous one. His cunning is more cutting as well as he winds up the suspect so they make a mistake.

However the episode suffers from a mildly well known actor hanging around in the background syndrome. (One who also played a villain in a Sylvester Stallone movie.) It telegraphs just who the attacker will be revealed to be. Only the motive needs to be established.

Not Quite Up to the First Severl

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 9 September 2015]

In this episode, it is Frost's task to find a person who has been murdering old women. Not only does he murder them, he maims and destroys their faces. As with other episodes, many red herrings and misleading characters are thrown at us. There is, of course, Mullett's constant attention to Frost's actions, getting in the way of things. Frost has a different partner again, an attractive middle aged woman, who, like so many others, marvels at what he gets away with. The two begin to connect well. This also introduces us to a love interest for the cynical old guy. Perhaps this will add a new dimension to the show. The story, as is often the case, starts out with few clues, other than these women gathered to play Bingo and had frequent rides from various volunteers. I think that the obvious choice of the culprit sort of diminishes its overall effect.