Endangered Species (5 Nov. 2006)

Frost is busy with two cases: smugglers trafficking in rare and endangered species and murder and the naked body of an art teacher discovered in the bedroom of returning vacationers.

Director:

Roy Battersby

Writers:

R.D. Wingfield (characters creator), Tony Charles (screenplay),

Stars:

David Jason, Bruce Alexander, Blake Ritson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
David Jason	...	Insp. Jack Frost
Bruce Alexander	...	Supt. Mullett
Blake Ritson	...	D.C. Robert Presley
John Lyons	...	D.S. Toolan
David Calder	...	Kenneth Shaw
Anton Lesser	...	Dennis Prior
Ruth Gemmell	...	Christine Harris
Gary Sefton	...	Kevin Flannagan
Claire Cox	...	Julie Brown
Sian Brooke	...	Carol Haymarsh
Nila Aalia	...	Kiran Desai
Tim Treloar	...	Gerald Harris
Jonny Burt	...	Malcolm (as Jonathan Burt)
Campbell Morrison	...	Colin Edwards
Arthur White	...	Ernie Trigg

Storyline

Frost is summoned to a remote farm-house by criminal Kevin Flanagan who is in a blind panic. At the farm he finds a crocodile and cages full of endangered species as well as a severed leg. This transpires to belong to an oriental man, part of the gang who have been smuggling rare animals, and Flanagan, who has escaped the gang, is used by Frost to help locate its leader. At the same time the Harris family are shocked to find the nude corpse of a local art teacher in their bedroom. A search of his studio yields revealing photos of a female colleague but it is the Harrises' teenage son, who, literally holds the key to events.

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Plot Keywords:

art teacher | crocodile | farm | endangered species | vietnamese | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 November 2006 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Heythrop Zoological Gardens, Heythrop, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

ITV Productions, Excelsior, Yorkshire Television (YTV)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 94 min (DVD)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

D.S. Toolan: Our art teacher put himself out of it, lucky man. Chased the music teacher, bored housewives, long school holidays. Why did I join the police?
Insp. Jack Frost: [Sardonically] Because you can't draw.

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Connections

References King Kong (1933)

User Reviews

Frost grows querulous and tiresome

I have always loved this series for its beautiful characterizations (and characters) but, as it ages along with Sir David Jason, I find the dialogues are less believable and Frost himself is becoming rather tiresome and querulous in his old age; the character is less endearing. To be blunt, he is being played as a bit of a clown and there is a heavy-handedness in presenting him that makes me cringe. For example the interplay between Frost and Mullett was once exquisitely amusing - you could see the point of view of each man as they clashed - but now Frost treats Mullett with such open contempt and rudeness that it no longer works for me. The series seems to have bowed to the current style of packing in more action at the expense of ambiance and character development and I find myself turning to the newer Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) series now on American TV (of all places) to conjure back a similar style to the old Frost episodes.