''The Frost Report'' is a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

show hosted by

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ' ...

. It introduced

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...

, Ronnie Barker, and Ronnie 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.

Cast and writers

The main cast were Frost, Corbett, Cleese, Barker, Sheila Steafel, and

Nicky Henson Nicky Henson ( Nicholas Victor Leslie Henson; 12 May 1945 – 15 December 2019) was a British actor. Early life Nicholas Victor Leslie Henson was born in London, the son of Harriet Martha ( Collins) and comedian Leslie Henson. Adam Henson, a fa ...

. Musical interludes were provided by

Julie Felix Julie Ann Felix (June 14, 1938 – March 22, 2020) was an American-British folk singer and recording artist who achieved success, particularly on British television, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She later performed and released albums on h ...

, 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 Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor Order of the British Empire, OBE (17 July 194012 April 2020) was an English actor and comedian best known as a member of The Goodies. He became active in performing in comedy sketches while at the University of Cam ...

(of

The Goodies The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor (17 July 1940–12 April 2020), Graeme Garden (b. 18 February 1943) and Bill Oddie (b. 7 July 1941). The trio created, wrote for and performed in their eponymous television comed ...

Barry Cryer Barry Charles Cryer (23 March 1935 – 25 January 2022) was an English writer, comedian, and actor. As well as performing on stage, radio and television, Cryer wrote for many performers including Dave Allen, Stanley Baxter, Jack Benny, Rory B ...

, Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett,

Dick Vosburgh Richard Kennedy Vosburgh (27 August 1929 – 18 April 2007) was a Grammy-nominated, Tony-nominated American-born comedy writer and lyricist working chiefly in Britain. Early life Vosburgh was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He persuaded his f ...

, Spike Mullins (who would write Corbett's ''Two Ronnies'' monologues), Antony Jay ('' Yes Minister'' and ''

Yes Prime Minister ''Yes Minister'' is a British political satire sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can b ...

''), and future

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

members Graham Chapman, John Cleese,

Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broadwa ...

, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. 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. A special compilation from series 1, titled "Frost over England" (featuring the classic Cleese/Barker/Corbett class sketch, which parodied the British

class system A social class is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation, incom ...

) won the Rose d'Or at the 1967 Montreux festival. A special one-off reunion was broadcast on

Easter Monday Easter Monday refers to the day after Easter Sunday in either the Eastern or Western Christian traditions. It is a public holiday in some countries. It is the second day of Eastertide. In Western Christianity, it marks the second day of the Octa ...

(24 March) 2008. It ran for ninety minutes and was followed by "Frost over England".

Archive status

The entire second series (with the exception of "The Frost Report on Women") and the "Frost Over Christmas" special are missing from the BBC archives and are considered

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

. Home recorded audio tapes are known to exist for all of these.

Episodes

Series overview

Series 1 (1966)

Special (1967)

Series 2 (1967)

Christmas special (1967)

Similar shows

David Frost hosted related comedy shows with similar casts. These included ''Frost on Sunday'' in 1968 with the two Ronnies,

Josephine Tewson Josephine Ann Tewson (26 February 1931 – 18 August 2022) was an English actress, best known for her roles in British television sitcoms, such as Edna Hawkins ("Mrs H") in '' Shelley'', Elizabeth "Liz" Warden in ''Keeping Up Appearances'' (19 ...

, and Sam Costa. The same year, he presented ''Frost on Saturday''. There was a reunion show, ''The Frost Report is Back'', broadcast in 2008.David Frost – IMDb
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"Lord Privy Seal"

A sketch in ''The 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 the

Lord Privy Seal The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...

(a senior Cabinet official) with images, in quick succession, of a lord, a

privy Privy is an old-fashioned term for an outdoor toilet, often known as an outhouse and by many other names. Privy may also refer to: * Privy council, a body that advises the head of state * Privy mark, a small mark in the design of a coin * Privy Pur ...

, and a seal balancing a ball on its nose.

References

External links

* * Comedy Guide
British Film Institute Screen Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frost Report, The BBC television sketch shows Lost BBC episodes British satirical television series 1966 British television series debuts 1967 British television series endings 1960s British television sketch shows Black-and-white British television shows English-language television shows