Description
Dark Angel dramatizes the events that drew a troubled woman ever deeper into a career of casual murder, while her loved ones and friends, who were also her victims, never suspected a thing.
Born in North East England in 1832, a child of the coal fields, Mary Ann Cotton grew up in poverty with the dream of escaping the hard life of a miner’s family, a goal she came tantalisingly close to achieving. Her chosen means were her good looks, sexual allure, and the dirty secret of nineteenth-century suspicious deaths: arsenic, which is tasteless and easily disguised in a cup of tea.
For authorities, the problem was that arsenic poisoning, if done skilfully, mimicked the symptoms of two of the major public health scourges of the day: gastric fever and typhoid. The passing of a child or husband after a week of severe stomach pains, convulsions, and other portents of disease was all too common—and even less surprising when several members of the same household succumbed.
Mary Ann did tempt fate by taking out a modest insurance policy on her intended victims, whenever possible, but she inadvertently hit on the major success strategies of a serial killer: keep moving, be charming, and exude self-confidence. And along with others in this line of criminality, her body count can never be certain; the current best estimate is at least thirteen, ranking her far above her Victorian male counterpart, Jack the Ripper.
Dispensing death from the spout of a warm teapot, Golden Globe®-winner and three-time Emmy® nominee Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey), plays the notorious Victorian poisoner Mary Ann Cotton. Froggatt is joined by an exceptional cast, including Alun Armstrong (Little Dorrit, Bleak House) as Mary Ann’s stepfather, Mr. Stott; Thomas Howes (Downton Abbey) as her husband number two, George; Jonas Armstrong (Robin Hood) as her long-time lover, Joe; Sam Hoare (Jane Eyre) as husband number three, James; and Laura Morgan (The Hollow Crown) as her best friend, Maggie.
Dark Angel is directed by Emmy® award-winner Brian Percival (Downton Abbey), written by Golden Globe® nominee Gwyneth Hughes (The Girl), and inspired by the book Mary Ann Cotton: Britain’s First Female Serial Killer by noted criminologist David Wilson.