A Touch of Frost (TV Series) The Things We Do for Love (1996) User Reviews

Good

[jamiecostelo58 · 8/10 · 13 December 2006]

The heart of a religious community throws itself at Frost as he investigates the murder of a young woman. Teamed up with D.S. Nash, their enquiries lead them to a suspicious character they believe may have had a relationship with the victim....

A drive-in robbery also intrigues, and results in a rather amusing conclusion! The Things We Do For Love contains the usual twists and turns we've come to expect from A Touch of Frost, as well as the humorous parts, making it just as enjoyable to watch as other episodes.

David Jason and Neil Stuke work together well, and Michael Kitchen also thoroughly convinces as Jonathan Meyerbridge, making this edition another highlight in the Frost franchise.

Centers on Religious Hypocrisy

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 15 September 2015]

A very attractive woman receives a phone call to meet a man. She drives across a field and parks near a church. Cut a few hours into the future and we see that she has been brutally stabbed and beaten, covered with blood. What ensues are a hypocritical minister who has had a relationship with this woman, a jealous butcher, and a young woman who has been through the school of hard knocks. Frost must wade through a series of lies and deceptions. Somehow this minister is some kind of chick magnet. Women can't seem to get enough of him. He has a long suffering wife who lives for him, hence the title. As is usually the case, be aware of all suspects as you make your way through this episode.

Great episode

[grantss · 9/10 · 14 June 2022]

Another great murder mystery in the Frost series. The culprit is not obvious and it will take good old-fashioned police work to solve the crime. As always, resourceful Detective Inspector Frost is on hand to work it all out.

Interesting casting in that we have Michael Kitchen of Foyle's War fame as the prime suspect. While his matter-of-fact delivery makes him great in Foyle's War here it is quite irritating as it is cold and brusque.

Jack Frost and the religious community

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 29 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 next two seasons and "Paying the Price" were more than up to their levels, with "Appropriate Adults" and "Paying the Price" being two of the show's best episodes. "Unknown Soldiers" was good if a slight disappointment, but "The Things We Do For Love" is a couple of steps up while not quite a classic.

Visually, as always with 'A Touch of Frost', "The Things We Do For Love" looks great. It matches 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 very amusing quips from Frost, and thought-provoking, while the direction is solid and has more clarity than in the previous episode "Unknown Soldiers". The story is absorbing with some very surprising twists and turns and plenty of suspects, even if there are episodes before and since that had slightly more consistent forward momentum. Despite the subject matter there is absolutely nothing to be offended by.

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.

Jason is brilliant, then again he always was as Frost, while Bruce Alexander, Neil Stuke, John Lyons and the supporting cast (Michael Kitchen the standout) are just as good.

Overall, very good episode if not quite outstanding. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Ain't nothing but mammals

[safenoe · 7/10 · 13 April 2023]

The title of this Touch of Frost episode reminds me of the famous 10CC song, so I wonder if the writers were inspired by that. Anyway, this episode proved controversial because of the perception that it presented the Christian Church in a negative light with hypocrisy and extra-marital affairs.

Frost's new partner, D. S. Nash (Neil Stuke) was in this episode only. It's a shame Nash didn't stay on longer. The very beautiful Lorraine Sass plays a patient at the beginning of this episode, and it's a shame her role didn't grow in the series.

It's hard to believe this episode debuted nearly 30 years ago.

The Things We Do for Love

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 30 June 2021]

Vicky Phillips, a young and beautiful physiotherapist is viciously stabbed to death in her car.

DI Jack Frost and his new sidekick DS Nash who is up from London find the name of an evangelical minister in her electronic organizer.

Jonathan Meyerbridge (Michael Kitchen) claims that he used Miss Phillips for an injury but later admitted having an affair with her. He used the flat of a local butcher to meet her.

Edward Gull a local defence lawyer is very big with this evangelical community, many of them who have closed ranks.

Frost has a good relationship with Nash in this episode. However you know it's not going to last long, his wife his homesick and hates Yorkshire.

It was strange to hear Frost saying that he has never visited the part of Denton much where this story takes place. You would have thought such a veteran would have been all over his patch.

For a criminal detective, you would also have thought he would be more familiar with a criminal solicitor like Gull and his religious interests.

A decent enough story although at the end the reveal of the actual culprit was not something I entirely bought into.

I like Touch of Frost usually . . .

[bradbeevers-87399 · 1/10 · 26 March 2020]

But this episode was a thinly veiled hate message against believing Christians. I seriously doubt the message would have been accepted if it was a mosque rather than a church. There wasn't one even normal person in the church! Every member not only lied, covered up and enabled their minister's immoral behavior, but was otherwise thoroughly unlikeable: harsh, uncaring, cold, clueless, vengeful, scheming, manipulative. Whew! What a bunch of cheap-shots; Christians are soft targets, so hit 'em hard!

A wretched disappointment. I should have skipped this episode.

The parts about the drive-in robbery were, happily, much better. But I stick with my one-star for the completely unacceptable hate-mongering.