''A Touch of Cloth'' is a British television

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

series created and written by

Charlie Brooker Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...

and

Daniel Maier Daniel Maier (born 1968, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England) is a comedy writer and performer for television, radio, print and the stage. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School of Newcastle upon Tyne. Between 2002 and 2012, he was part of the wri ...

, shown on

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

. A

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

of British

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eith ...

dramas, it stars John Hannah as Jack Cloth, a police detective with personal problems, and Suranne Jones as Anne Oldman, his colleague. The title is a play on the title of the detective series '' A Touch of Frost'' and the British euphemism "touching cloth". The DVD of the first series was released in the UK on 3 September 2012, and the second and third series were released on 1 September 2014.

Cast

* John Hannah as D.I. Jack Cloth * Suranne Jones as D.C/D.I. Anne Oldman * Julian Rhind-Tutt as A.C.C. Tom Boss * Navin Chowdhry as D.C. Asap Qureshi * Adrian Bower as D.S. Des Hairihan *

Daisy Beaumont Daisy Beaumont (born 5 May 1974) is an English actress. Career Beaumont's television work includes a variety of shows, among others '' The Border'', ''EastEnders'', '' Hotel Babylon'', ''A Touch of Cloth'', ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'', ''Mu ...

as Dr. Natasha Sachet * Todd Carty as D.C. Todd Carty ''(Series 1–2)'' * Karen Gillan as D.C. Kerry Newblood ''(Series 3)''

Series overview

Episodes

Series 1 (2012)

Guest stars in this series include Raquel Cassidy as Claire Hawkchurch; Theo Barklem-Biggs as Darren Crossway; Brian Cox as Bill Ball and

Kate Fleetwood Kate Fleetwood (born 24 September 1972) is an English actress. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance as Lady Macbeth in ''Macbeth'', which first opened at Chichester Festival Theatre and was transferred to the West End and Bro ...

as Kate Cloth.

Series 2 (2013)

Guest stars in this series include

Anna Chancellor Anna Theodora Chancellor (born 27 April 1965) is a British actress who has received nominations for BAFTA and Olivier Awards. Background and early life Chancellor was born in Richmond, England to barrister John Paget Chancellor, eldest son of ...

as Hope Goodgirl; Stephen Dillane as Macratty; Gwyneth Powell as Mrs McClusky; and guest appearances from

Graham Cole Graham Cole OBE (born Graham Coleman-Smith on 16 March 1952) is an English actor. Early life Cole was born in Willesden in 1952 to Victor and Freda Coleman-Smith (née Coleman), the youngest of three children. He was part of the film crew of ...

, Peter Dean, Konnie Huq, Rufus Hound and Richard Osman.

Series 3 (2014)

Guest stars in this series include Jessie Morell as Ivy Branch and Adrian Dunbar as Damien Vull.

Series 4

A joke trailer for the fourth series ended the last episode of series three. John Hannah claimed, in 2015, that the series has been cancelled. "I imagine that's dead. I think it's been too long. I loved that show. Charlie wanted to do more, everyone did. It was Sky I guess. There might have been something to do with the negotiations, I don't know. We did the first one, then they wanted a lot more and Charlie wasn't sure he could sustain it over twelve episodes. So we did two more and then by the third one, they had figured out what they were doing. I think it's dead, it's a couple of years since we did that now. Normally when these things go, they go pretty quickly because people have other commitments, and Charlie is busy. It's a real shame. I doubt I'll be playing DI McDoodah for the next few years!"

Critical reception

''A Touch of Cloth'' received mixed reviews. In its review of the first series, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote that the show is "stuffed to the rafters with jokes", noting the variety of both good and bad jokes. ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' also commented on the hit-and-miss nature of the show: "while a lot of he jokesdon’t stick ... when it’s funny, it’s deliriously so." Series 2 received a similar critical response, with ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' giving 3 out of 5 stars to the first episode and 2 out of 5 stars to the second episode. Again the show was both criticised and praised for its relentless jokes, with one critic calling the second series "black-hole dense with good gags" and noting that "there may be nothing quite so brilliant on British TV this year", but saying he "couldn't wait for the experience to end", observing Brooker's use of "cop drama clichés" to "strangle he viewerwith unremitting genius."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Touch of Cloth, A 2012 British television series debuts 2014 British television series endings 2010s British black comedy television series 2010s British crime comedy television series 2010s British police procedural television series 2010s British police comedy television series British detective television series British parody television series English-language television shows Murder in television Sky UK original programming Television series created by Charlie Brooker Television series by Banijay Television series by Zeppotron Television shows set in London