Dark Angel (Masterpiece)

For the working class of Victorian England, poverty and disease made survival a chancy proposition at best. Housewife Mary Ann Cotton (Joanne Froggatt), however, discovered how much life insurance proceeds helped a budget--which spurred her to an estimated 21 arsenic poisonings, including three husbands and 11 of her own children. Study of the woman believed to be Britain’s first female serial killer co-stars Alun Armstrong, Jonas Armstrong, Penny Layden, Sam Hoare. 150 min. Widescreen; Soundtrack: English.