The show was created and written by Charlie Brooker and Daniel Maier as a parody of British police procedural dramas, airing on Sky One.

The title is a play on the detective series A Touch of Frost and the British slang expression 'touching cloth,' a euphemism for a desperate need to defecate.

Actor Todd Carty played a character named D.C. Todd Carty, sharing his own name, in the first two series.

Karen Gillan joined the cast in series 3 as D.C. Kerry Newblood.

The series featured numerous guest stars across its three seasons, including Brian Cox, Anna Chancellor, Stephen Dillane, Adrian Dunbar, and even television personality Richard Osman.

A joke trailer for a fourth series was shown at the end of the final episode of series three, but no further series was ever produced.

In 2015, star John Hannah stated he believed the show had been cancelled, explaining that Sky wanted more episodes but that Charlie Brooker was unsure he could sustain the format over twelve episodes, leading to the show quietly ending after three series.

The show received mixed reviews, with critics such as The Guardian and Radio Times noting its joke-dense style was hit-and-miss, sometimes 'deliriously' funny and sometimes overwhelming.