David Jason reveals A Touch of Frost nearly returned but TV bosses pulled plug
We may be sick of the cold winter but everyone would be up for a Touch Of Frost.
No one more so than Sir David Jason, who played beloved detective Jack Frost in the hugely popular series.
After 18 years cracking cases, DI Frost retired from the force and became a court usher in 2010.
But Frost was so nearly brought back in from the cold.
Sir David told the Sunday People: “There was a script about coming back. It was well written.
“He could come back as the character was never killed off.”
Sir David’s wife Gill Hinchcliffe, 60, agreed: “It could have been another like Death in Paradise. It is interesting to have a character in retirement.”
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With Sir David’s amazing track record there’s little doubt an older Frost would recapture his former fans and win over many more.
He said: “You have got Midsomer Murders, Vera, Grantchester and Death in Paradise. They are all the same but people love that. People love a detective series.”
TV bosses pulled the plug on another spell of Frost but if Sir David was disappointed, it was not for long as he has another police show in the pipeline.
He said: “I have been sent a script about another character who was an actor who became a policeman who is now retired.
“This young female police officer investigating a murder comes along. She recognises him from his acting glory days and he says to her, ‘Oh it wasn’t him who did the murder’.
“This young detective and older character start solving crimes. I liked it. I thought it was a little twist on the whole thing about detectives on TV.”
After a staggering 55 years in showbiz, Sir David – who was knighted in 2005 for services to acting and comedy – shows no sign of slowing down.
He is currently filming a More4 documentary called Great British Inventions but first found fame alongside Ronnie Barker in Porridge.
Sir David went on to star as the hapless Granville in Open All Hours for 12 years from 1973, then revived the role for six more series in Still Open All Hours from 2013.
He also won an army of fans as Pop Larkin in ITV’s 1991 adaptation of H. E. Bates’ comedy drama The Darling Buds of May.
But it was as dodgy market trader Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter in Only Fools and Horses that Sir David really won his place in the nation’s heart. The hit comedy ran for 22 years and attracted around 24.3 million viewers.
And there must have been something in the Peckham Spring water Del tried to flog as next month Sir David, whose daughter Sophie is just 18, turns 80.
While he and Gill often talk about his return to television, they have ruled out bringing back Del.
Following the death of Only Fools writer John Sullivan in 2011, Gill said was “no chance” of the show coming back as “David has always famously said he could not do it without John”.
Entering a ninth decade would be cause for a fanfare for most people, but not Sir David.
“Lunch out with my family and that will be it,” he said. “Time goes quick and I am trying to pretend it is not happening.
“I am not a person who enjoys a lot of fuss and I am not very gregarious and so to make a big issue of it, I find a bit difficult to cope with.
“My family will enjoy a quiet dinner together, and I am not telling you where we are going to go. We like to keep a low profile.”
Gill joked: “David is too much in shock to make a song and dance about it. I don’t know anyone more energetic than David.
“That is why he does not like to acknowledge his big birthday because he does not feel his big birthday and feels he still has a lot to give.”
One of the things Sir David is still keen to give is his opinion on the use of bad language on screen. And with such an amazing TV pedigree, programme makers would do well to listen to him.
He said: “Today, with drama, everybody has to use bad language. When we were doing Frost, in the second or third series we always monitored the language we used. We never used graphic language like today.
“I never had a member of the public say to me, ‘I never enjoyed your show because you swear’.
“In other words, if you have a strong character with a good script and a good director, we would not even know that you would have sworn.
“If you are telling the story well enough, I believe it is gratuitous.
“I think we are moving downwards all the time, which is a shame.
“I think it has become a fashion. The attitude is, ‘Hey, we have not got any swearing in this, let’s put in a few’. If you can get away
with the F-word and showing half a breast, the next generation will come along and say: ‘Will we see him without his shirt on this time?’
“And, ‘What about the C-word? Can we get him to take his trousers off?’
“So then we have a situation where the character will get out of the shower naked.
“It is pushing the barriers of what is acceptable.”
But there is also a chance the audience will be unable to hear what is being said.
Actors mumbling is another of the veteran star’s pet peeves. Sir David said: “There is a lot of that. That is really bad for an actor to do it for themselves and not for the audience.
“I’ve heard about actors on TV who mumble and there are also shows where the plot is too difficult to follow. It is a shame and nothing will change.”
As a national treasure, Sir David is still the target of fans’ attention.
Gill said: “The affection, generally, is palpable. But sometimes it does get dangerous when we are outside. Last year, we could not set off in the car as he was mobbed. It was a bit hairy.”
Sir David is also penning a programme about his life.
He said: “I am doing a documentary about all the work I have done over the years so watch this space. Turn on the telly.
“I’m a fan of the business. You can’t stop yourself. It is like a vocation. It is a bit like being a priest or something. I don’t know why I still do it, really.”
Sounds like a mystery Jack Frost could solve…
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