A Cruel Love: The Real Ruth Ellis Story | Preview (ITV1)

The untold story of Ruth Ellis, the nightclub manageress and convicted murderer who was the last woman to hang in the UK.

Told over two parallel timelines, Ruth reveals secret truths about the case which have remained hidden for decades, poses tantalising questions about what really happened in the months before Ruth killed her lover David Blakely, and sheds light on the life of one of Britain’s most infamous murderesses.

A compelling legal and emotional rollercoaster which explores Ruth’s arrest and trial and the subsequent race against the clock to reprieve her.

The powerful mystery of what compelled Ruth Ellis to take the life of the man she was in a passionate but toxic and volatile relationship with will reveal that there was more to this crime of passion than Ruth was prepared to say. Her silence, and resistance to speak of what happened between her and dashing racing driver, Blakely, is far more complex than she admitted.

Ruth’s solicitor, the low-status but intelligent and sensitive John Bickford, starts to realise some of what she has suffered and believes they must make a case for provocation.

With stakes that could not be higher, literally life or death, Bickford begins his own investigation and uncovers details that could have saved her life had those facts been aired in court.

A Cruel Love is available now on ITVX with the documentary airing Wednesday 2nd April on ITV1.