Rupert Holliday-Evans' performance in this episode is even remarkable compared with the considerable acting prowess typical of this series.
8 Reviews
Normal, who defines normality?
ygwerin112 July 2022
A young girl Sally Martin goes missing after playing with her school mates, a full scale search is mounted throughout the surrounding area, but unfortunately with tragic consequences.
A young man named Billy Conrad with Down's syndrome lives on the same estate, and has been well liked locally with children and their families, but unfortunately for him he was seen with Sally Martin.
What leaps out at me about this episode is the deplorable attitudes of all and sundry towards Billy Conrad, which is downright ignorance and prejudice that personally highlights, those prevailing around anyone considered different from the perceived normality.
The police in particular those in charge of the investigation, appeared as particularly bloody minded in their belligerent attitude towards Billy Conrad, they treated him with the same contempt as Frost normally reserves for what he knows as "pond life".
A young man named Billy Conrad with Down's syndrome lives on the same estate, and has been well liked locally with children and their families, but unfortunately for him he was seen with Sally Martin.
What leaps out at me about this episode is the deplorable attitudes of all and sundry towards Billy Conrad, which is downright ignorance and prejudice that personally highlights, those prevailing around anyone considered different from the perceived normality.
The police in particular those in charge of the investigation, appeared as particularly bloody minded in their belligerent attitude towards Billy Conrad, they treated him with the same contempt as Frost normally reserves for what he knows as "pond life".
Intriguing, engaging episode
grantss14 June 2022
prepare to have your attitude challenged.
hexafoil23 July 2010
Billy Conrad is 20 and has Downs syndrome. He is accepted by the local children as a playmate. He lives at home with his loving parents and life is fine.
Suddenly it all goes badly wrong. He is he prime suspect for the murder of a little girl.
As the story progresses we learn more about Billy and discover the person behind the label. He is vilified, labelled, taunted, tolerated or championed, depending on the attitudes of the people concerned. Seeing these different approaches to Billy causes us to reflect inwardly about our own standpoints.
Frost is rightfully angry about the death of the girl. But watch how his attitude develops throughout the film. There is some superb acting and some excellent small touches easy to miss. Look for the officer escorting Billy in the van. He appears to "do the right thing" but listen to his comments and wonder. The interaction between the two mothers is poignant.
The star of the show is Billy himself - excellent acting, courageously done.
Suddenly it all goes badly wrong. He is he prime suspect for the murder of a little girl.
As the story progresses we learn more about Billy and discover the person behind the label. He is vilified, labelled, taunted, tolerated or championed, depending on the attitudes of the people concerned. Seeing these different approaches to Billy causes us to reflect inwardly about our own standpoints.
Frost is rightfully angry about the death of the girl. But watch how his attitude develops throughout the film. There is some superb acting and some excellent small touches easy to miss. Look for the officer escorting Billy in the van. He appears to "do the right thing" but listen to his comments and wonder. The interaction between the two mothers is poignant.
The star of the show is Billy himself - excellent acting, courageously done.
Frightening, Touching Episode
Hitchcoc10 September 2015
This is so well done. A little girl appears to have been murdered. She was last seen playing with her friends. While the mother is out and the father is left to watch her, the group breaks up and she disappears. A young man named Billy Cameron, played by Timmy Lang (in an amazing performance), lives with Down Syndrome. Someone saw him with the little girl and immediately leaped to the conclusion that he has done her harm. He is locked up and interrogated viciously by know-it-all DCI Hawkes, who is working to get a name for himself. This is one of those episodes where conclusions have been reached and color all other evidence. Frost and the rest of us are educated in the types of issues mentally handicapped adults and children face from a public that doesn't care about them. Once he is charged, the neighbors and people in the streets begin to demand "justice" be done. Frost has an epiphany when he realizes how flimsy the evidence is. Because Billy can't really understand the justice system, he becomes an easy mark. There is a subplot, involving a guy, impersonating a cop, who rides around on a motorbike, taking pictures. He is part of a perfect metaphor for this episode, having to do with appearances. Denton Station has a snooker tournament against their arch rivals. They eventually get snookered as their desire to win clouds their judgment. This episode is excellent. By the way, the title comes from an adult that is assigned to a mentally challenged person to look out for them in situations they don't understand. The woman who plays this role is outsanding, bring issues of the rights of all people to the surface.
Superbly told story
jamiecostelo586 December 2006
Down's Syndrome sufferer Timmy Lang is absolutely superb as Billy Conrad, a gentle young man who was the last person to see an 8-year-old girl whose gone missing. It must have taken him great courage to pursue this part, but it is carried out with great poise, while David Jason continues to be immensely watchable. However, the real star of the show is Rupert Holliday Evans as Richard Martin. Fans will see why.
There is a great twist to this story which certainly surprised me. Appropriate Adults certainly is a true-to-life story that sends alarm bells ringing through the parent's minds when a child goes missing, but also the emotional aspects as well.
An emotional conclusion to the story lifts the episode extremely coherently, and marked a great start to the third series of Frost.
There is a great twist to this story which certainly surprised me. Appropriate Adults certainly is a true-to-life story that sends alarm bells ringing through the parent's minds when a child goes missing, but also the emotional aspects as well.
An emotional conclusion to the story lifts the episode extremely coherently, and marked a great start to the third series of Frost.
Gut wrenching
TheLittleSongbird22 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, and the otherwise very worthwhile "Nothing to Hide" was let down by a far too obvious ending. "Stranger in the House" was the best of the season and to me one of the show's best episodes.
With "Appropriate Adults", what a way to start the third season. Absolutely superb in every regard, one of the show's gut-wrenching and poignant and one of the show's best episodes overall.
Visually, "Appropriate Adults" 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, and thought-provoking, and the story is continually compelling and incredibly powerful, shocking me, giving me the creeps and moving me to tears. As big a fan I am, there are not many other 'Frost' episodes to evoke that many emotions with me. The ending is a shock and very poignant, and the snooker tournament subplot was a welcome and well-balanced distraction. There are some memorable small nuances and little things too, especially with Billy.
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. Again he shows his less than perfect side but this is a situation where it is understandable.
Jason is brilliant as usual as Frost, while Bruce Alexander and John Lyons are just as good. There are not many 'Frost' episodes where the support acting comes close to stealing the show. "Appropriate Adults" is one such episode in the case of two performances, one being Rupert Holliday-Williams and even more so in a truly courageous role to take on the amazing performance of Timmy Lang, a character you root for every step of the way.
Overall, superb. 10/10 Bethany Cox
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, and the otherwise very worthwhile "Nothing to Hide" was let down by a far too obvious ending. "Stranger in the House" was the best of the season and to me one of the show's best episodes.
With "Appropriate Adults", what a way to start the third season. Absolutely superb in every regard, one of the show's gut-wrenching and poignant and one of the show's best episodes overall.
Visually, "Appropriate Adults" 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, and thought-provoking, and the story is continually compelling and incredibly powerful, shocking me, giving me the creeps and moving me to tears. As big a fan I am, there are not many other 'Frost' episodes to evoke that many emotions with me. The ending is a shock and very poignant, and the snooker tournament subplot was a welcome and well-balanced distraction. There are some memorable small nuances and little things too, especially with Billy.
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. Again he shows his less than perfect side but this is a situation where it is understandable.
Jason is brilliant as usual as Frost, while Bruce Alexander and John Lyons are just as good. There are not many 'Frost' episodes where the support acting comes close to stealing the show. "Appropriate Adults" is one such episode in the case of two performances, one being Rupert Holliday-Williams and even more so in a truly courageous role to take on the amazing performance of Timmy Lang, a character you root for every step of the way.
Overall, superb. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Appropriate Adults
Prismark1021 March 2020
When an eight year old girl goes missing. Twenty year old Billy Conrad is brought in as a suspect. He was the last person to be seen with her.
Billy though has Down's Syndrome and in his police interview. His social worker who is brought in as an Appropriate Adult is concerned by the bullying style of questioning.
Once Billy is charged, his elderly parents face abuse from the locals and are hounded out of the area.
As always Jack Frost looks a little bit deeper into the case.
The actor Timmy Lang who played Billy was very good. The episode highlights the plight of those with Down's Syndrome. The term mental is used several times both by locals and the police.
It seems Billy has a girlfriend but Frost is also told that getting involved in a relationship just causes problems for people like them. I think Frost flippantly replies that it is the same for normal people.
There is one big problem in the story. Even after being cautioned, the appropriate adult should had got Billy a lawyer. This aspect just seemed to have been overlooked by everyone.
I guess it was convenient for the narrative that no lawyer was involved but it was glaring to me when the poor lad was being hectored by the police during his interrogation.
Billy though has Down's Syndrome and in his police interview. His social worker who is brought in as an Appropriate Adult is concerned by the bullying style of questioning.
Once Billy is charged, his elderly parents face abuse from the locals and are hounded out of the area.
As always Jack Frost looks a little bit deeper into the case.
The actor Timmy Lang who played Billy was very good. The episode highlights the plight of those with Down's Syndrome. The term mental is used several times both by locals and the police.
It seems Billy has a girlfriend but Frost is also told that getting involved in a relationship just causes problems for people like them. I think Frost flippantly replies that it is the same for normal people.
There is one big problem in the story. Even after being cautioned, the appropriate adult should had got Billy a lawyer. This aspect just seemed to have been overlooked by everyone.
I guess it was convenient for the narrative that no lawyer was involved but it was glaring to me when the poor lad was being hectored by the police during his interrogation.
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