This is reflected by the way the media in these countries have represented UFOs and ufologists. In the States ufologists are played as hero investigators as in the case of Fox Mulder in The X-Files, or we even get real ufologists played by film stars (e.g. Richard Gere plays John Keel in The Mothman Prophecies; Francois Truffaut plays Jacques Vallee in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and in the same film you even get a glimpse of the late UFO investigator, Dr. Hynek).
This situation came to mind when viewing the 'Close Encounters' episode of A Touch of Frost (screened on ITV1 on March 3, 2003, at 9pm). The opening sequence has a young ufologist, Laurence Burrell, watching the night sky near Denton Quarry. Strange lights come towards him but they resolve into the headlights of a jeep. Men wearing motorbike helmets - giving them an alien appearance - get out of the vehicle and start wrecking and setting fire to the buildings and equipment in the quarry. In the chaos a quarry worker is hit and killed by an iron bar.
Laurence goes to the Denton police babbling about alien abductions, implants, CIA plots and Majestic 12. Not being a ufologist familiar with these topics Detective Inspector Frost laughs at him and ignores him. When the murdered man is found Laurence is promptly regarded as a prime suspect and locked up in the Denton police station cells.
Laurence’s parents reveal that he’s autistic, so he is an expert on UFOs and astronomy, but he takes everything as literally true and has no social skills.
There is a sub-plot about newcomers getting their homes burgled, and an associated case of a missing boy. Through his powers of deduction, and not a little cunning, Frost finds the boy. It transpires that his Father, who works for a removals company, has made a profitable sideline tipping off the burglars.
Through the aid of a local journalist Frost discovers that the owner of the quarry is in dispute with a former business colleague. When the quarry owner is found dead in his wrecked car, Frost’s dullard colleagues are led to believe it’s an ordinary road accident. With his sharp little eyes Frost soon sees that the car was pushed off the road. His investigation leads to the jeep driven by the vandals at the beginning of the programme, and it becomes clear that Laurence was not responsible for the murder at the quarry.
In the meantime, Laurence escapes from his police cell and it’s not long before he’s plundering the explosives shed at the quarry. With this track record he should be a secret agent rather than a ufologist. Like any self-respecting villain he climbs to the top of a rickety tower. It is down to Frost to defuse this potentially explosive situation...
This episode recycles virtually every element of previous Touch of Frost episodes, Frost:
a. Talks someone out of a hostage situation.The only thing missing from this episode is a sub-plot where Frost falls in love with someone but is unable to sustain the relationship due to his police work that dominates his life.
b. Deflates his boss’s pompous attitude.
c. Tracks down a child and befriends him.
d. Is involved in a chase sequence, which would shame a snail.
e. Indulges his taste for take-aways.
f. Always spots things that no one else notices.
The UFO angle is no more sensible than the holes in the rest of the story. For example, Laurence easily escapes the police station and as easily gets hold of the explosives, which makes you wonder if he had help from the aliens after all. Certainly aliens could have helped with this script.
David
Jason as Inspector Frost is a cross-between Dixon of Dock Green
and Columbo. Joe Joseph in The Times (4 March, 2003) describes
him as looking ‘something between a harassed school caretaker and the man
the mortgage company sends round to value your house before deciding how
much to lend you. ‘ As Frost he might look like a shabby pensioner looking
for fag-ends in the gutter but Jason is always worth watching.
Cast List
I would like to thank Linda Green who runs the highly recommended Theatre, Musicals and Actors Web for this list.
A Touch of
Frost
'Close Encounters'
broadcast Monday 3rd March 2003
Character: Actor
Insp
Jack Frost: David Jason
Ben
Stokes: Samuel Graham
Supt
Mullett: Bruce Alexander
Oscar
Manning: Andy De La Tour
DS
Hazel Wallace: Caroline Harker
Les
Jameson: Wayne Foskett
DS
Toolan: John Lyons
Bill
Duggan: Mike Savage
Charles
Lightfoot: Jimmy Yuill
Dr
McKenzie: David McKall
Stuart
Mackintosh: Maurice Roëves
Sgt
Brady: James McKenna
Janet
Carter: Jane Gurnett
Alec
McGuiness: Michael Jenn
Laurence
Burrell: Jim Sturgess
Police
doctor: Stephen Rashbrook
Martin
Burrell: Rob Spendlove
Mr
Weston: Ian Barritt
Helen
Burrell: Elizabeth Rider
Mrs
Weston: Cate Fowler
Colin
Stokes: Paterson Joseph
Takeaway
delivery man: Norman Beg
Sally
Stokes: Sheila Whitfield
Removal-firm
guard: Liam Fox
Web References
A profile of David Jason can be found at: Theatre, Musicals and Actors Web .
Contains an episode
guide.
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