''The Young Poisoner's Handbook'' is a 1995

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

based on the life of

Graham Young Graham Frederick Young (7 September 1947 – 1 August 1990), best known as the Teacup Poisoner and later the St Albans Poisoner, was an English serial killer who used poison to kill his victims. Obsessed with poisons from an early age, Young be ...

, more commonly known as "The Teacup Murderer". It was directed by

Benjamin Ross Benjamin Ross is a writer and film director, born in 1964, based in the United Kingdom. His most noted works are ''The Young Poisoner’s Handbook'', based on a real-life poisoning case, '' Poppy Shakespeare,'' and The Frankenstein Chronicles, ...

and written by Ross and

Jeff Rawle Jeffrey Alan Rawle (born 20 July 1951) is an English actor. He is known for portraying George Dent in the news-gathering sitcom ''Drop the Dead Donkey''. He also portrayed Silas Blissett in ''Hollyoaks'' from December 2010 until 2012. Rawle retu ...

. The film stars

Hugh O'Conor Hugh O'Conor (born 19 April 1975) is an Irish actor, writer, director, and photographer. In 2020, he was listed as number 49 on ''The Irish Times'' list of Ireland's greatest film actors. Career His first film appearance was opposite Liam Neeso ...

in the lead role.

Plot

has been obsessed with death and the

macabre In works of art, the adjective macabre ( or ; ) means "having the quality of having a grim or ghastly atmosphere". The macabre works to emphasize the details and symbols of death. The term also refers to works particularly gruesome in natu ...

since childhood. He is highly intelligent, with an aptitude for

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

. He also dreams of poisoning as many people as he can. In his teen years, he poisons a schoolmate—making him ill rather than killing him—in order to date a girl his schoolmate was seeing. His conversation with his date involves vivid, graphic descriptions of deadly car accidents. He also reads a comic book account of an event in which the Dutch Resistance killed a whole German

army camp A military camp or bivouac is a semi-permanent military base, for the lodging of an army. Camps are erected when a military force travels away from a major installation or fort during training or operations, and often have the form of large cam ...

in the occupied Netherlands during the Second World War by poisoning their water supply with

thallium Thallium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Tl and atomic number 81. It is a gray post-transition metal that is not found free in nature. When isolated, thallium resembles tin, but discolors when exposed to air. Chemists W ...

. Graham is arrested at the age of 14 outside his home in

Neasden Neasden is a suburban area in northwest London, England. It is located around the centre of the London Borough of Brent and is within the NW2 ( Cricklewood) and NW10 (Willesden) postal districts. Neasden is near Wembley Stadium, the Welsh Har ...

after poisoning his father and stepmother with

, killing his stepmother and leaving his father seriously ill. During the struggle with

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

, he drops his "Exit Dose" of thallium, which he intended to use to commit suicide should he be caught. He is hospitalised for nine years in an institution for the criminally insane, during which time a psychiatrist works with him in the hopes of rehabilitating him. Graham's dishonesty becomes evident to the doctor, who can see that Graham is trying to deceive him. Graham apparently has no dreams to share with the psychiatrist so he "borrows" a fellow prisoner's dreams. This source is shut off to him, however, once the fellow prisoner commits suicide. Despite the initial evidence of Graham's deceitfulness, the doctor eventually gets him released. Graham then goes to work in a camera factory and is shown the secret ingredient used in the company's shutter system—thallium. It is not long before Graham starts poisoning people again. He kills two of his workmates by poisoning their tea with thallium stolen from the laboratory, and makes many others ill. For months, the source of the "bug" afflicting the workers at the factory remains a mystery until one unforeseen event leads to Graham's being found out. As a hygiene measure, all the personalised teacups are replaced with uniform ones, leaving Graham unable to poison people selectively. His efforts to memorise which cup is going to which person give him away and his workmates finally realise what is going on. Graham is arrested soon afterwards and he is later sentenced to a lengthy custodial term, this time in an ordinary prison. He commits suicide by poisoning himself with the "Newton's Diamond" he made in the psychiatric hospital.

Cast

–

**Tobias Arnold – Young Graham Young *

Ruth Sheen Ruth Sheen is an English actress. From the late 1980s, she has appeared in British television shows, films and plays. A participant in the films of Mike Leigh, she won the European Film Award for Best Actress for her performance as Shirley in Leigh ...

– Molly *

Roger Lloyd-Pack Roger Anthony Lloyd-Pack (8 February 1944 – 16 January 2014) was an English actor. He is best known for playing Trigger in ''Only Fools and Horses'' from 1981 to 2003, and Owen Newitt in ''The Vicar of Dibley'' from 1994 to 2007. He later star ...

– Fred *Norman Caro – Mr Goez *Dorothea Alexander – Mrs Goez *

Charlotte Coleman Charlotte Ninon Coleman (3 April 1968 – 14 November 2001) was an English actress best known for playing Scarlett in the film ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'', Jess in the television drama ''Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'', and her childhood r ...

– Winnie *Paul Stacey – Dennis *Samantha Edmonds – Sue *Robert Dem – Mr Dextereger *

Jack Deam Jack Deam (born Ian Deam; 1972) is an English actor. He used his grandfather's name for his stage name. His most notable performances have been as the pyromaniac Marty Fisher, who has Tourette syndrome, in Channel 4's comedy drama series, '' S ...

– Mick *Peter Pacey – Dickie Boone *Joost Siedhoff – Dr Scott *

Vilma Hollingbery Vilma Jean Napier Brown (21 July 1932 11 September 2021), known professionally as Vilma Hollingbery, was a British character actress. She appeared in various television programmes and films over a span of sixty years, and was known for her app ...

– Aunty Panty *

Frank Mills Frank Mills (born June 27, 1942) is a Canadian pianist and recording artist, best known for his solo instrumental hit "Music Box Dancer". Early life and education Mills was born in Montreal, Quebec. He was raised in Verdun, Quebec and started pl ...

– Uncle Jack *

Rupert Farley Rupert Charles Farley (born 4 August 1957) is an English actor and voice artist. He has had various roles in movies such as ''From Hell'', ''The Young Poisoner's Handbook'', ''Shakespeare in Love'' and ''Mrs Brown''. He is probably best known f ...

– Nurse Trent *Dirk Robertson – Nurse Hopwood *Chris Lawson – Prison Officer * Malcolm Sinclair – Dr Triefus *

Charlie Creed-Miles Charlie Creed-Miles (born 24 March 1972) is an English actor and musician. Creed-Miles was born in Nottingham, and had his first starring screen role, aged 21, in ''The Punk'' (1993). His brief relationship with actress Samantha Morton Sam ...

– Berridge *

Antony Sher Sir Antony Sher (14 June 1949 – 2 December 2021) was a British actor, writer and theatre director of South African origin. A two-time Laurence Olivier Award winner and a four-time nominee, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1982 and ...

– Dr Zeigler *

Cate Fowler Cate Fowler (born 13 June 1949 in Tumut, New South Wales, Australia) is a theatre producer and director specialising in work for children and families and an educationalist engaged in research in the areas of children's performance and creative li ...

– Social Services Worker *John Abbott – Chair *Anna Kollenda – Baby Donna *Katja Kollenda – Baby Donna *

Hazel Douglas Hazel Douglas (2 November 1923 – 8 September 2016) was an English actress. She portrayed Bathilda Bagshot in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1''. Her credits stretch back to the early days of television, and include ''Sun ...

– Edna * Arthur Cox – Ray * John Thomson – Nathan *Jean Warren – Debra *

Simon Kunz Simon Charles Kunz (born 15 October 1962) is an actor on stage and screen. Early life He attended Latymer Upper School, then completed a degree in Theatre Studies at the University of Warwick. Career He appeared in '' The Parent Trap'' as Ma ...

– John *Frank Coda – Billy *

Tim Potter Tim Potter is an English actor in theatre, films and TV since the 1980s. Career Potter's stage work includes playing the role of Salvador Dalí in the original production of Terry Johnson's ''Hysteria'' at the Royal Court in 1993, and Charles I ...

– Simon *Roger Frost – Factory Manager *David Savile – Chief Medical Inspector

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young Poisoner's Handbook, The 1990s black comedy films 1990s crime films 1995 films British black comedy films British serial killer films English-language French films English-language German films French black comedy films French serial killer films German black comedy films German serial killer films Films set in psychiatric hospitals 1995 comedy films 1990s English-language films 1990s British films 1990s French films 1990s German films