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

A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story - starring Lucy Boynton in the leading role - depicts 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.

The drama depicts Ruth’s entry into a dizzying upper class London world that promises so much, but ultimately delivers treachery. We follow her glamorous lifestyle as a young nightclub manageress, her abusive relationship with the man she later gunned down in cold blood, her arrest, trial and the subsequent legal fight to reprieve her before she was hanged by infamous hangman, Albert Pierrepoint, in Holloway Prison, aged just 28.

A compelling legal and emotional rollercoaster which explores Ruth’s arrest and trial and the subsequent race against the clock to reprieve her. Ruth, is based on Carol Ann Lee’s acclaimed biography A Fine Day for Hanging: The Real Ruth Ellis Story, and has been adapted by Kelly Jones (The Long Call, Des, Baptiste) and will be produced by critically acclaimed producers, Silverprint Pictures, whose portfolio includes Shetland, Vera and Flesh and Blood.

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.

Laurie Davidson (Mary and George, Guilty Party) takes on the role of Ruth’s abusive lover and victim David Blakely, and Mark Stanley (Happy Valley, Dark River) plays Desmond Cussen, Ruth’s devoted admirer and sometime lover who is a regular at the Little Club and becomes caught up in Ruth’s toxic love triangle alongside Blakely.

Further casting includes Joe Armstrong (Happy Valley, Gentleman Jack) as DCI Davies, the detective in charge of Ruth’s case. Arthur Darvill (Broadchurch, Sandman) as Victor Mishcon, Ruth’s charismatic divorce lawyer who took up the fight for her reprieve.

Juliet Stevenson (Truly, Madly, Deeply, Wolf) will play Dr Charity Taylor, Governess of Holloway Prison. Toby Stephens (Die Another Day, Black Sails) plays Ruth’s defence barrister Melford Stevenson QC. Nigel Havers (Chariots of Fire, Coronation Street) takes on the role of Judge Havers.

A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story begins Wednesday 5th March on ITV1.