In 1993, Kate Jackson spotted the book by Sue Henry called, "Murder on the Iditarod Trail." Kate read the book and loved it. She told her lawyers that she wanted to buy the rights to the book to make the movie. However, things came up and it slipped through the cracks.

In 1994, Kate again inquired about it, only to learn that it had already been optioned. Kate contacted Carla Singer (who had purchased the rights) and expressed interest in the movie. Kate took it to CBS and was enthusiastic about it. They bought the movie and Kate Jackson was the executive producer of the film. It was filmed in Alaska and Yukon Territory, Canada, by Carla Singer Prods.

Kate Jackson did most of her own mushing and was trained by real-life Iditarod musher Kate Persons, and says she'll never forget the experience. "I went up there a couple of weeks early and we worked days and nights. It was, honest to God, such a good experience and so much fun. I met people who really do the Iditarod....They're really adventurers and really unique, different people. They all have their reasons for trying to go the distance. It was fascinating to get into their world." Jackson says she also fell in love with Alaska. "It is so incredibly different and beautiful....In spring and summer it stays light five minutes longer each day. When the movie was over I traveled all over Alaska and by the time I'd left, the sun didn't go down until midnight. It's the greatest trip."

The Iditarod, the punishing sled-dogs-and-driver race from Anchorage to Nome, is the setting for this great thriller toplining the credible and extremely likable Kate Jackson. The breathtaking scenery -- telepic was filmed in Alaska and Canada's Yukon Territory -- and the TV star power of Jackson, Corbin Bernsen and Michael Damian may draw viewers, but the plotting and meager payoff will leave auds somehow cold. Jessie Arnold (Jackson) breeds champion huskies for competitive dog-sled racing, but has fallen on economic hard times. Arnold really needs her dogs to run and win the Iditarod to prove the new breed she's developed is the best.

On the eve of the race, her musher and brother, recovering alcoholic Robb Pierce (Philip Granger), is killed, it seems, in a drunken fall. It's up to Jessie to mush now. At the race's start, she meets race rookie Alex Jensen (Bernsen) and Bomber Gates (Damian), a hot-headed musher who will do anything to win; the three become friends, helping each other along the trail.
But as the race heats up, mushers star dying "accidentally," and the fix is in: The participants offed were the race leaders. Considering that the prize money is $ 50,000, the killer seems to be going to a lot of trouble. Lots of ineffective contrived scares, red herrings and an incongruous romance, which slow the pace considerably, are off-putting. It's obvious who the killer is right away; the transparent plot undermines the thrills.
The only genuine thrill involves Jackson's sled team.  "Cold" makes exceptional use of its beautiful locations and it's obvious Jackson & co. have done a lot of research into the race. Kudos to the adorable dogs.