| The Frost Report | |
|---|---|
 Opening title from series one | |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Written by | Graham Chapman Marty Feldman John Law |
| Presented by | David Frost |
| Starring | Ronnie Corbett Ronnie Barker John Cleese Sheila Steafel Nicky Henson Julie Felix Tom Lehrer |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 (plus 2 specials) |
| Production | |
| Producer | James Gilbert[1] |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC1 |
| Release | 10 March 1966 (1966-3-10) – 26 December 1967 (1967-12-26) |
The Frost Report is asatiricaltelevision show hosted byDavid Frost. It introducedJohn Cleese,Ronnie Barker, andRonnie Corbett to television, and launched the careers of other writers and performers. It premiered on BBC1 on 10 March 1966 and ended on 12 December 1967, with a total of 26 regular episodes over the course of 2 series and 2 specials as well.
The main cast were Frost, Corbett, Cleese, Barker,Sheila Steafel, andNicky Henson. Musical interludes were provided byJulie Felix, whileTom Lehrer also performed songs in a few episodes.
Writers and performers onThe Frost Report later worked on many other television shows. They includedBill Oddie andTim Brooke-Taylor (ofThe Goodies),Barry Cryer,Ronnie Barker,Ronnie Corbett,Dick Vosburgh,Spike Mullins (who would write Corbett'sTwo Ronnies monologues),Antony Jay (Yes Minister andYes Prime Minister), and futureMonty Python membersGraham Chapman, John Cleese,Eric Idle,Terry Jones, andMichael Palin.[2][1] It was while working onThe Frost Report that the future Pythons developed their writing style. The established comedy writerMarty Feldman, as well as theFrank Muir andDenis Norden partnership, were also contributors to the programme.[3]
A special compilation from series 1, titled "Frost over England" (featuring the classic Cleese/Barker/Corbettclass sketch, which parodied the Britishclass system) won theRose d'Or at the 1967 Montreux festival. A special one-off reunion was broadcast onEaster Monday (24 March) 2008. It ran for ninety minutes and was followed by "Frost over England".[4]
The entire second series, with the exceptions of "The Frost Report on Women" and the "Frost Over Christmas" special, are missing from the BBC archives and are consideredlost. Home recorded audio tapes are known to exist for all of these.[5][6]
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| Series | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 13 | 10 March 1966 (1966-3-10) | 9 June 1966 (1966-6-9) | |
| Special | 26 March 1967 (1967-3-26) | |||
| 2 | 13 | 6 April 1967 (1967-4-6) | 29 June 1967 (1967-6-29) | |
| Special | 26 December 1967 (1967-12-26) | |||
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Frost Report on Authority" | 10 March 1966 (1966-3-10) |
| 2 | 2 | "The Frost Report on Holidays" | 17 March 1966 (1966-3-17) |
| 3 | 3 | "The Frost Report on Sin" | 24 March 1966 (1966-3-24) |
| 4 | 4 | "The Frost Report on Elections" | 31 March 1966 (1966-3-31) |
| 5 | 5 | "The Frost Report on Class" | 7 April 1966 (1966-4-7) |
| 6 | 6 | "The Frost Report on the News" | 14 April 1966 (1966-4-14) |
| 7 | 7 | "The Frost Report on Education" | 21 April 1966 (1966-4-21) |
| 8 | 8 | "The Frost Report on Love" | 28 April 1966 (1966-4-28) |
| 9 | 9 | "The Frost Report on Law" | 12 May 1966 (1966-5-12) |
| 10 | 10 | "The Frost Report on Leisure" | 19 May 1966 (1966-5-19) |
| 11 | 11 | "The Frost Report on Medicine" | 26 May 1966 (1966-5-26) |
| 12 | 12 | "The Frost Report on Food and Drink" | 2 June 1966 (1966-6-2) |
| 13 | 13 | "The Frost Report on Trends" | 9 June 1966 (1966-6-9) |
| Title | Original release date |
|---|---|
| "Frost Over England" | 26 March 1967 (1967-3-26) |
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "The Frost Report on Money" | 6 April 1967 (1967-4-6) |
| 15 | 2 | "The Frost Report on Women" | 13 April 1967 (1967-4-13) |
| 16 | 3 | "The Frost Report on the Forces" | 20 April 1967 (1967-4-20) |
| 17 | 4 | "The Frost Report on Advertising" | 27 April 1967 (1967-4-27) |
| 18 | 5 | "The Frost Report on Parliament" | 4 May 1967 (1967-5-4) |
| 19 | 6 | "The Frost Report on the Countryside" | 11 May 1967 (1967-5-11) |
| 20 | 7 | "The Frost Report on Industry" | 18 May 1967 (1967-5-18) |
| 21 | 8 | "The Frost Report on Culture" | 25 May 1967 (1967-5-25) |
| 22 | 9 | "The Frost Report on Transport" | 1 June 1967 (1967-6-1) |
| 23 | 10 | "The Frost Report on Crime" | 8 June 1967 (1967-6-8) |
| 24 | 11 | "The Frost Report on Europe" | 15 June 1967 (1967-6-15) |
| 25 | 12 | "The Frost Report on Youth" | 22 June 1967 (1967-6-22) |
| 26 | 13 | "The Frost Report on Showbusiness" | 29 June 1967 (1967-6-29) |
| Title | Original release date |
|---|---|
| "Frost Over Christmas" | 26 December 1967 (1967-12-26) |
David Frost hosted related comedy shows with similar casts. These includedFrost on Sunday in 1968 with the two Ronnies,Josephine Tewson, andSam Costa. The same year, he presentedFrost on Saturday. There was a reunion show,The Frost Report is Back, broadcast in 2008.[7]
A sketch inThe Frost Report is responsible for the term "Lord Privy Seal" in the British television industry, meaning 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 theLord Privy Seal (a senior Cabinet official) with images, in quick succession, of a lord, aprivy, and aseal balancing a ball on its nose.