In recent years, analytical treatments of contacting surfaces and resultant fretting, the initiation and early propagation of fatigue cracks, have been the subject of elastic stress analysis. However, direct observations of fretting damage in optical and scanning electron microscopes indicates that plastic deformation of the contacting surfaces is usually an important feature. In this respect it has some similarity with other surface deformation processes, such as shot-peening and surface rolling, in that residual stresses are developed or existing stresses are modified. Surface films which are there as a result of oxidation or applied as an anti-fretting palliative can be seriously disrupted by plastic deformations of the substrate, resulting in a “tribologically transformed layer” or third-body intervention. Consideration of these factors can play a role in the development of methods to counteract the effect of fretting, and is the basis of this review.