The Frost Report

The Frost Report was a satirical television show hosted by David Frost. It ran for 28 episodes on the BBC from 10 March 1966 to 26 December 1967. It introduced John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, and Ronnie Corbett to television, and launched the careers of other writers and performers.

The Frost Report
Opening title from series one
GenreComedy
Written byGraham Chapman
Marty Feldman
John Law
Presented byDavid Frost
StarringRonnie Corbett
Ronnie Barker
John Cleese
Sheila Steafel
Nicky Henson
Julie Felix
Tom Lehrer
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes26 (plus 2 specials)
Production
ProducerJames Gilbert[1]
Running time30 minutes
Release
Original networkBBC1
Original release10 March 1966 (1966-03-10) –
26 December 1967 (1967-12-26)

Cast and writers

The main cast were Frost, Corbett, Cleese, Barker, Sheila Steafel, and Nicky Henson. Musical interludes were provided by Julie Felix, while Tom Lehrer also performed songs in a few episodes.

Writers and performers on The Frost Report later worked on many other television shows. They included Bill Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor (of The Goodies), Barry Cryer, Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett, Dick Vosburgh, Spike Mullins (who would write Corbett's Two Ronnies monologues), Antony Jay (Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister), and future Python members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.[2][1] It was while working on The Frost Report that the future Pythons developed their writing style. The established comedy writer Marty Feldman, as well as the Frank Muir and Denis Norden partnership, were also contributors to the programme.[3]

A special compilation from series 1, titled "Frost over England" (featuring the classic Cleese/Barker/Corbett class sketch, which parodied the British class system) won the Rose d'Or at the 1967 Montreux festival. A special one-off reunion was broadcast on Easter Monday (24 March) 2008. It ran for ninety minutes and was followed by "Frost over England".[4]

Archive status

Almost half of the episodes produced (13 out of 28) are missing from the BBC archives. The 1966 series is complete in the archive; the lost episodes represent nearly all of series 2 and the "Frost over Christmas" special, although home recorded audio tapes are known to exist for all of these.[5][6]

Episodes
Cleese, Barker, and Corbett in the Class sketch broadcast in April 1966
SeriesEpisodesTitleAir datearchival status
11The Frost Report on Authority10 March 1966exists
12The Frost Report on Holidays17 March 1966exists
13The Frost Report on Sin24 March 1966exists
14The Frost Report on Elections31 March 1966exists
15The Frost Report on Class7 April 1966exists
16The Frost Report on the News14 April 1966exists
17The Frost Report on Education21 April 1966exists
18The Frost Report on Love28 April 1966exists
19The Frost Report on Law12 May 1966exists
110The Frost Report on Leisure19 May 1966exists
111The Frost Report on Medicine26 May 1966exists
112The Frost Report on Food and Drink2 June 1966exists
113The Frost Report on Trends9 June 1966exists
n/aSpecialFrost Over England26 March 1967exists
21The Frost Report on Money6 April 1967lost
22The Frost Report on Women13 April 1967exists
23The Frost Report on the Forces20 April 1967lost
24The Frost Report on Advertising27 April 1967lost
25The Frost Report on Parliament4 May 1967lost
26The Frost Report on the Countryside11 May 1967lost
27The Frost Report on Industry18 May 1967lost
28The Frost Report on Culture25 May 1967lost
29The Frost Report on Transport1 June 1967lost
210The Frost Report on Crime8 June 1967lost
211The Frost Report on Europe15 June 1967lost
212The Frost Report on Youth22 June 1967lost
213The Frost Report on Showbusiness29 June 1967lost
n/aSpecialFrost Over Christmas26 December 1967lost

Similar shows

David Frost hosted related comedy shows with similar casts. These included Frost on Sunday in 1968 with the two Ronnies, Josephine Tewson, and Sam Costa. The same year, he presented Frost on Saturday. There was a reunion show, The Frost Report is Back, broadcast in 2008.[7]

"Lord Privy Seal"

A sketch in The Frost Report is responsible for the term "Lord Privy Seal", in the British television industry, to mean the practice of matching too literal imagery with every element of the accompanying spoken script. In the sketch, the practice was taken to an extreme by backing a "news report" about the Lord Privy Seal (a senior Cabinet official) with images, in quick succession, of a lord, a privy, and a seal balancing a ball on its nose.

  • Lord
  • Privy
  • Seal

References
  1. "Jimmy Gilbert, BBC producer who presided over a golden age of light entertainment – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. London. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  2. "The Frost Report". BBC Comedy. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  3. Clark, Anthony (2003–14). "Frost Report, The (1966-67)". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  4. "BBC revives 1960s satirical show". BBC. 16 February 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2008.
  5. "The Frost Report on Missing Episodes". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  6. "The Frost Report on LostShows.com". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  7. David Frost - IMDb
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