Dandelion Dead

• Director: Mike Hodges
• Genre: Drama
• Movie Type: Whodunit, Crime Drama
• Themes: Murder Investigations
• Release Year: 2002
• Country: UK
• Run Time: 208 minutes

Plot

A man who knows the importance of clearing out the weeks in one's garden begins to wonder if the same principles apply to the people around him in this made-for-TV drama, inspired by a true story. Maj. Herbert Armstrong (Michael Kitchen) was an attorney and clerk to the magistrate in the Welsh community of Hay-on-Wye in the early 1920's. One of Armstrong's great passion was gardening, and he took unusual pride in the appearance of the greenery around his home. Cursed with a patch of stubborn dandelions, Armstrong purchased a large supply of an arsenic-based weed killer to put an end to the problem once and for all. But when Armstrong's wife Catherine (Sarah Miles) and rival in business Oswald (David Thewlis) -- both of whom had recently raised Armstrong's ire -- both turned up dead, apparently poisoned with arsenic, investigators began to wonder if this was really a mere coincidence. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Cast

Michael Kitchen - Maj. Herbert Armstrong; Sarah Miles - Catherine; David Thewlis - Oswald

Credit

Mike Hodges - Director, Sarah Wilson - Executive Producer, Barrington Pheloung - Composer (Music Score), Patrick Harbinson - Producer, Michael Chaplin - Screenwriter