Various (director)
Network DVD (studio)
Cert 15 (certificate)
350 min approx. (length)
12 March 2012 (released)
23 April 2012
Lady Killers is a dramatic reconstruction of seven infamous murder trials – most of which took place in the late 19th Century and the early part of the 20th Century.
The seven hour-long episodes are introduces by Robert Morley, who informs the viewer that the scenes inside the courtroom are condensed but the scenes outside the courtroom are a mix of fact and conjecture.
During the opening titles of each episode, the camera shot glides along various corridors (obviously, these are corridors inside a prison), and finally zooms in on the face of the accused, with a super-imposed noose reflecting from her eye.
These aren’t dramatic reconstructions of the actual murders, but reconstructions of both the courtroom cases and also the going-on inside the prison cell.
We learn about the case of Parisian beauty Marie Marguerite Fahmy, tried for the murder of Prince Ali Kamel Fahmy Bey, who was shot dead in his room in London’s Savoy in 1923.
Other trials include that of Charlotte Bryant (Rita Tushingham), accused of the murder of her husband in 1935, and of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain in 1955. Georgina Hale as Ellis hits the right balance portraying a ‘fallen’ woman whose case (and verdict) divided public opinion.
West End musical star Elaine Page is a revelation as cold-blooded Irish murderess Kate Webster (aka Catherine Lawler) who, in 1879, stood accused of murdering and dismembering her former employer.
Equally disturbing is ‘Carry On’ staple Joan Sims as multiple child-killer Amelia Dyer, who was convicted and hanged in 1895 for her heinous crimes. No comedy capers here for sure, and Sims plays Dyer as a woman as demented as demented can be!
This chilling series (originally broadcast in 1980) comes as a 2-disc DVD set.
