Dead End 

An old antagonist teams with frost to investigate the kidnapping of two bus drivers and the death of a clown.

Director:

Roger Bamford

Writers:

R.D. Wingfield (characters creator), David Gilman (screenplay)

Stars:

David Jason, Bruce Alexander, John Lyons

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
David Jason	...	Insp Jack Frost
Bruce Alexander	...	Supt Mullett
John Lyons	...	DS Toolan
Cherie Lunghi	...	DS Annie Marsh
Dearbhla Molloy	...	Linda Heal
Stephen Kennedy	...	Andy Heal
Sarah Ball	...	Sarah Heal
Jason Maza	...	John Heal
Vicki Hopps	...	Jessica Green
Daren Elliott Holmes	...	Mark Harrison
Joe Renton	...	Tony Woods
Arthur White	...	Ernie Trigg
Brett Allen	...	Robert Trusham
Vincent Riotta	...	Philip Townsend
James McKenna	...	Sgt Brady (as James Mckenna)

Storyline

The Heal family is appalled to see the man whose lorry killed three of their members some years earlier is driving a bus. Because the lorry's mechanism was faulty he was acquitted of dangerous driving but the Heals are not happy and Andy Heal goes to the bus depot for a confrontation. Later the driver and his conductress are abducted from their bus. The conductress is diabetic and needs her insulin shots and, after a television appeal, she is dumped, alive, in town, not far from an alley where a clown is found dead. He recently entertained at a children's party where one of the mothers has a pathological phobia of clowns, and believes she attacked him without knowing. However, it turns out that he was also a thief, robbing the houses he visited and his killer may have been somebody else. In solving the death and finding the bus driver Frost's work is not helped by having to work with a female sergeant who had once reported him for being unprofessional.

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Plot Keywords:

bus | clown | bus driver | kidnapping | diabetic | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Quotes

DS Annie Marsh: You can't win them all... not every case.
Insp Jack Frost: I can try.

User Reviews

Frost as Classic Hero; Doesn't Quite Work

For some reason, I could not get involved in this episode. It follows on the heels of one of the better offerings of the year. In this one, a driver and a conductor are kidnapped. He, because of revenge; she, because she sees the face of the kidnapper. They are put in a place not unlike the victims on "Criminal Minds." They are terrorized by this man and made to believe that their days are numbered. This brings into play the fact that the man had lost control of a bus and ran down members of a family. There is a lot of intrigue involving a band of young punks who are going around flexing their muscles. The conclusion, considering what we know about Frost, seems rather improbable. The other thing that seems really strained is Frost's adversarial interaction with a former partner, who turned on him, betraying him to his superiors. It just comes up a bit short.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 October 2008 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ITV Productions, Excelsior

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min (DVD)

Color:

Color