Dandelion Dead - The Complete Series

This BAFTA-award winning mini series about the real life case of Herbert Rowse Armstrong – the only solicitor in Great Britain to have been executed for murder – features a stellar cast and offers a fair re-telling of the events that led up to Armstrong’s downfall.

Michael Kitchen heads as Herbert Rowse Armstrong, a seemingly gentle soul devoted to his three children, his profession and his treasured garden. Based in Cusop Dingle in Herefordshire and working in Hay-on-Wye, it would appear that Armstrong was blessed with a happy and successful life were it not for Catherine (Sarah Miles), his constantly bickering dragon of a wife who takes every opportunity to turn his life into hell on earth. And yet, Armstrong takes her outbursts in his stride and continues to behave as politely as possible towards her – there are strong parallels between this and Donald Pleasence’s performance as ‘Dr. Crippen’ in the 1962 movie.

The side story of this drama tells of the courtship between Constance Davies (Lesley Sharp) and ambitious solicitor Oswald Martin (David Thewlis), an exceedingly shy man with a slight speech impediment. The spirited and strong-willed Constance, on the other hand, is adamant not to end up as a spinster. She leaves no stone unturned to win the heart of Oswald, much to the chagrin of her traditional mother and father Mr. Davies (Bernard Hepton), who implies that Martin may not be the right choice for his daughter, and never mind the fact that Oswald seems “a rather weird chap”.

Of course, main story and side story soon merge because not only does Oswald Martin eventually become a serious rival to Armstrong’s top dog position but Constance’s father happens to be the local chemist who keeps selling rather large amounts of arsenic to Armstrong. He, in turn, doesn’t raise the slightest suspicion because his reason for the on-going toxic purchases is to kill off the unwanted dandelions in his garden. Not even after Catherine Armstrong becomes increasingly more ill and delusional is the finger of suspicion pointed at Armstrong – far from it, we are all happy for him when Dr. Hinks (Peter Vaughan) finally decides that Catherine ought to be transferred to an asylum. Perhaps this is where the story could have ended were it not for the fact that Catherine makes an unexpected recovery and returns to the family home – something that doesn’t exactly please the long-suffering Armstrong. Meantime, he is forced to acknowledge that the unassuming Oswald might become a serious threat to his position and it’s not before long that he, too, falls ill with the same symptoms as Catherine Armstrong, who by the way dies shortly after her release from the asylum.
It’s only now that chemist Davies and Dr. Hinks start to put one and one together, prompting the police to exhume the body of Catherine. What’ya know, pathology discovers copious amounts of arsenic in her remains…

Herbert Rowse Armstrong was found guilty of murder and attempted murder. He was hanged on 31st of May at Gloucester Prison, though he claimed to be innocent to the last moment.
This intriguing case is brilliantly re-enacted and in particular Michael Kitchen, Sarah Miles and David Thewlis add much gravitas to this sordid saga.