Illustration ©Darren Murphy.
Popular Conception
In 1873 Mary Ann Cotton was tried, convicted and executed for the murder of 3 of her 4 husbands. She was also suspected of killing up to 21 other people, mainly family members by Arsenic poisoning. Her motivation provided by the prosecution at her trial was primarily financial gain, by collecting their death insurance. She is notable in historical text as Britain’s first documented female serial killer.
In 1873 Mary Ann Cotton was tried, convicted and executed for the murder of 3 of her 4 husbands. She was also suspected of killing up to 21 other people, mainly family members by Arsenic poisoning. Her motivation provided by the prosecution at her trial was primarily financial gain, by collecting their death insurance. She is notable in historical text as Britain’s first documented female serial killer.
The Documentary
An alternative history exists for Mary. The documentary will try to breakdown the myth surrounding her and shall pose the popular media driven version of events against trusted historical documentation (court transcripts etc.) that imply that she may well have been innocent and the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
The Hartlepool Historians group present a great representation of this information on their website maryanncotton.co.uk. They suggest that Mary was convicted on circumstantial evidence alone. Reading their website it’s hard not to agree.
Her case will be compared to a remarkably similar case in America contemporary to Marys that the movie ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ with Cary Grant is based upon.
The first easy big myth to destroy is that she was Britain’s first serial killer, she simply wasn’t. There are over twenty other documented cases of female serial murderers before Mary, so we have to ask ourselves why it was that she received this title
.
An alternative history exists for Mary. The documentary will try to breakdown the myth surrounding her and shall pose the popular media driven version of events against trusted historical documentation (court transcripts etc.) that imply that she may well have been innocent and the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
The Hartlepool Historians group present a great representation of this information on their website maryanncotton.co.uk. They suggest that Mary was convicted on circumstantial evidence alone. Reading their website it’s hard not to agree.
Her case will be compared to a remarkably similar case in America contemporary to Marys that the movie ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ with Cary Grant is based upon.
The first easy big myth to destroy is that she was Britain’s first serial killer, she simply wasn’t. There are over twenty other documented cases of female serial murderers before Mary, so we have to ask ourselves why it was that she received this title
.
Additionally the
production will present a contemporary understanding of the consequences of the
unregulated and frankly unbelievable use of Arsenic based products in the home
that compound this case with a historical backdrop of Victorian Britain draped
in a veil of poison, and why this was.
As I have an
unknown (good or bad) family connection to Mary I think I am in a suitable
position to give a fair account of the known events with reasonable
speculation. I would like to use this in the final production by confirming my
family connection as a conclusion to the end and include a personal journey
aspect into the piece.
The documentary
will remain open minded to argument for and against Marys guilt leaving
ultimate judgement to the audience. Reconstruction scenes showing key moments
following Mary’s arrest, her trial and execution will be used as a vehicle to
personalise her to the audience and highlight her personal plight. It will try
to strip away the monster of legend and allow a fairer chance of judgement by them
at the documentary’s conclusion, opposed to Mary’s jury of peers during her
trial.
 |
| Mary Ann Cotton c.1873 |
Scope of work
The reconstructions will be shot on 16mm motion film, they shall be interspersed throughout the documentary to create a visual distinction from the investigative and analytical aspects of the documentary which is to be captured on digital media.
The aim of the project is to produce a mini documentary 'infomercial' to raise public awareness to this alternative history and generate interest in the production of an hour long version for broadcast.
Primarily conceived for web distribution the infomercial will be no longer than 23 ½ mins (Channel 4 standard half hour evening slot) should the opportunity for it to be broadcast become available.
The reconstructions will be shot on 16mm motion film, they shall be interspersed throughout the documentary to create a visual distinction from the investigative and analytical aspects of the documentary which is to be captured on digital media.
The aim of the project is to produce a mini documentary 'infomercial' to raise public awareness to this alternative history and generate interest in the production of an hour long version for broadcast.
Primarily conceived for web distribution the infomercial will be no longer than 23 ½ mins (Channel 4 standard half hour evening slot) should the opportunity for it to be broadcast become available.
The infomercial
hopes to capitalise on renewed media interest in Mary Ann Cotton due to the
soon to be released ITV drama ‘Dark Angel’ starring Downton Abbey actress
Joanne Froggatt as Mary.
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