Misplaced Pages

Dark Angel
Genre	Crime drama Thriller
Based on	Mary Ann Cotton: Britain's First Female Serial Killer by David Wilson
Written by	Gwyneth Hughes
Directed by	Brian Percival
Starring	Joanne Froggatt Alun Armstrong Penny Layden Laura Morgan Jonas Armstrong Sam Hoare Emma Fielding John Hollingworth
Theme music composer	Michael J McEvoy
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	3
Production
Executive producer	Gwyneth Hughes
Producer	Jake Lushington
Running time	180 minutes (inc. advertisements)
Production company	World Productions
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	31 October (2016-10-31) – 7 November 2016 (2016-11-07)

Dark Angel is a British three-part television drama miniseries, based on the adaptation of the book Mary Ann Cotton: Britain's First Female Serial Killer by David Wilson. The series was broadcast on 31 October and 7 November 2016, and starred Joanne Froggatt as protagonist Mary Ann Cotton, widely regarded as Britain's first known female serial killer, who was found guilty of murder in March 1873 for the murder of three of her husbands, allegedly in order to collect on their insurance policies. The series was produced by World Productions and distributed by Endemol Shine.

The series co-starred Alun Armstrong as Mary Ann's step-father, George Stott, and Jonas Armstrong as her main love interest, Joe Nattrass. Penny Layden, Laura Morgan, Sam Hoare, and Emma Fielding also took starring roles in the two-part drama.

Production

In July 2015, production and filming began on Dark Angel, starring Joanne Froggatt of Downton Abbey as Mary Ann Cotton. Alun Armstrong, Jonas Armstrong and Emma Fielding also had roles in the series. Inspired by the book Mary Ann Cotton: Britain's First Female Serial Killer, the drama used writer David Wilson as a consultant during the script-writing stage. The drama is the seventh in a series of ITV mini-series featuring notorious British murder cases of the past two centuries, following on from This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper (2000), Shipman (2002), A Is for Acid (2002), The Brides in the Bath (2003), See No Evil: The Moors Murders (2006), and Appropriate Adult (2011). It was followed by an eighth ITV mini-series entitled White House Farm and a ninth entitled Des (both 2020).

Cast

• Joanne Froggatt as Mary Ann Cotton, serial killer
• Alun Armstrong as George Stott, Mary Ann's stepfather
• Penny Layden as Margaret Stott, Mary Ann's mother
• Laura Morgan as Maggie Cotton, Mary Ann's best friend
• Jonas Armstrong as Joe Nattrass, Mary Ann's secret lover and later, fifth partner
• Sam Hoare as James Robinson, Mary Ann's third husband
• Emma Fielding as Helen Robinson, James's sister
• John Hollingworth as Dr. John Maling, district GP

Recurring characters

• Tom Varey as Billy Mowbray, Mary Ann's first husband
• Thomas Howes as George Ward, Mary Ann's second husband
• Isla McMonigle as Isabella Mowbray, Mary Ann and Billy's daughter
• Hayley Walters as Elizabeth Robinson, James' daughter
• Alexander McMonigle as James Robinson, Jr., James' son
• George Kent as William Robinson, James' son
• John Bowler as Mr. Johnson, life insurance agent
• Ferdy Roberts as John Quick-Manning, Mary Ann's final love interest
• Phil Cheadle as Dr. Kilburn, district GP
• Joanna Horton as Sarah Edwards, Mary Ann's neighbour
• Mark Holgate as William Edwards, Sarah's husband
• Mark Underwood as Fred Cotton, Maggie's brother and Mary Ann's fourth husband
• Jake Lawson as Charlie Cotton, Fred's son
• Seamus O'Neil as William Calcraft, hangman

Minor characters

• Laura-Jane Matthewson as Jane Headley
• Jacob Anderton as Issac Headley
• Jamie B. Chambers as Robert Evans
• Shaun Prendergast as Sergeant Hutchinson, local policeman
• George Potts as Mr. Wensolom, an insurance agent
• Paul Brennen as Mr. Riley, a local grocer and chemist
• Edward Gower as Mr. Stranger, a vicar
• Bill Fellows as Mr. Brownlee
• Niall Ashdown as Mr. Draper
• Paul Bentall as the Seaham Minister
• Mike Burnside as the Sunderland Doctor
• Michael Culkin as the Sunderland Vicar
• Nigel Cooke as the Sunderland Minister

References

1. Griffiths, Eleanor Bley (7 November 2016). "Meet the cast of ITV's Dark Angel". Radio Times. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
2. "Joanne Froggatt to star in new ITV drama Dark Angel". ITV Press Centre. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
3. "Dark Angel". Press Centre. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
4. Productions, World. "Dark Angel - World Productions". World Productions. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
5. Hodgson, Barbara (26 August 2015). "ITV drama about Durham serial killer Mary Ann Cotton called 'Dark Angel' starts filming". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
6. Armstrong, Neil (31 October 2016). "Dark Angel: the gruesome true story of Mary Ann Cotton, Britain's first serial killer". The Telegraph. telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
7. "Dark Angel". imdb.com. 1 January 2000. Retrieved 31 October 2016 – via IMDb.
8. "ITV commissions three part drama, Des - with David Tennant as Dennis Nilsen". ITV Press Center. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2020.

External links

• Dark Angel at IMDb

• 2010s British crime drama television series
• 2010s British television miniseries
• 2016 British television series debuts
• 2016 British television series endings
• British serial killer films
• British English-language television shows
• ITV television dramas
• Television series by ITV Studios
• Television series by World Productions
• Television series set in the 1850s
• Television series set in the 1860s
• Television series set in the 1870s
• Television shows set in Tyne and Wear
• Television shows shot in Yorkshire
• True crime television series
• Cultural depictions of serial killers
• Cultural depictions of British people