There's sure a lot of black people in Denton.
It's just that they were not present in the first series of A Touch of Frost.
Now there are simmering racial tensions in the housing estates. Not helped that Frost's snout keeps giving him tip offs of all the black people who are up to no good such as burglaries.
This is something that is noticed by Frost's new partner DC Carl Tanner (Lennie James.) A black officer who might be a beneficiary of positive discrimination.
When his informant Natalie Bell a single mother is killed, everyone predicts a riot.
Frost and Tanner need to find both Natalie's killer and get to the bottom of all the burglaries in the area. Superintendent Mullett hopes that the real culprits are white.
There was some clunky writing here. Frost playfully using words with black in a humorous manner to Mullett when describing his new partner. It might look funny in script form but I am not sure it comes across as the writer intended on the screen. The same goes for that Keystone cops chase scene when a black man escapes from the police cell and is chased down the corridors by everyone and no one seems to be able to apprehend him. It was done so Frost could come up with a punchline.
Well Frost might not be racist but for such a clever chap, he did not notice that the informant only gave him names of black suspects.
It is just a case of ITV wanting to deal with racial issues and it leaves everyone dissatisfied with the final product. I will assume that after this episode, the rest of the second series will cease to show a multicultural Denton.