Dandelion Dead is a British TV mini-series produced by LWT for ITV that aired in two parts on 6 and 13 February 1994. It tells the true story of Herbert Rowse Armstrong, a solicitor in the provincial town of Hay-on-Wye, Wales, who was convicted and hanged in May 1922 for the murder of his wife and the attempted murder of a fellow solicitor and business rival, Oswald Martin.

Dandelion Dead
Written byMichael Chaplin
Directed byMike Hodges
StarringMichael Kitchen
Sarah Miles
David Thewlis
Lesley Sharp
Peter Vaughan
Diana Quick
Opening themeBarrington Pheloung
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes2
Production
Executive producerSarah Wilson
ProducersPatrick Harbinson
Mayank Velhankar
CinematographyGerry Fisher
EditorMalcolm Cooke
Running time203 minutes (including commercials)
Production companyLWT
Original release
NetworkITV
Release6 February (1994-02-06) –
13 February 1994 (1994-02-13)

The series starred Michael Kitchen as Major Armstrong, Sarah Miles as Catherine Armstrong, David Thewlis as Oswald Martin and Lesley Sharp as Constance, Martin's wife. It was directed by Mike Hodges and won a BAFTA in 1995. As well as telling the main story of Major Armstrong's crimes, the series develops the courtship of Martin and his wife and shows the effects of events on Armstrong's children.

Cast

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Reception

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Ray Loynd, writing for the Los Angeles Times, called the series "full of rich atmosphere, ripe characters and black humor". He noted that "The movie’s real accomplishment is in catching the fabric of a whole town, almost in the manner of a Victorian novel."[1]

References

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  1. ^ Ray Loynd (29 October 1994). "A Winning Masterpiece". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
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