A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story distances itself from previous “hysterical” portrayal
A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story aims to be a more nuanced depiction of the last woman to be hanged in the UK, according to the ITV drama’s executive producer.
The four-part miniseries dramatises events leading up to the fatal shooting of racing car driver David Blakely (Laurie Davidson) by nightclub hostess Ellis (Lucy Boynton).
The two had been in an abusive relationship for some time, which was a key motivation behind the crime, although this was not given significant consideration by authorities at the time.
The sad story was previously dramatised in 1985 film Dance with a Stranger, starring Miranda Richardson as Ruth Ellis, but the feature was not an influence on this latest interpretation of the true story.
In fact, executive producer Kate Bartlett told attendees of an advance screening that the team sought to get away from the “hysterical” depiction of Ellis that was put forward in the earlier work.
“I think, while Miranda Richardson was amazing in it, it was a slightly more male view of the story, in terms of the writers, the directors – and she was seen as slightly more hysterical,” she commented.
“And I think that’s what we’ve really tried to show: Ruth as she was, the person she was, what caused her to do what she did, and who she was as a woman.”
The producer also noted that Dance with a Stranger ends “at the point that Ruth shot David”, whereas A Cruel Love shows the “elements afterward” – including an extraordinary trial where Ellis was represented by solicitor John Bickford (Toby Jones).
[image id="1994826" size="full" title="THE RUTH ELLIS STORY" alt="An image of Lucy Boynton as Ruth Ellis in A Cruel Love. She is smoking a cigarette, wearing a pink dress and smiling." classes=""] Lucy Boynton as Ruth Ellis in A Cruel Love.
On recreating those scenes, star Lucy Boynton said: “We played out the trial verbatim for legal reasons and accuracy, and it was so sickening sitting there as a contemporary woman to hear, as you sit silently, unable to defend yourself, these men talking about female hysteria.
“They weren’t allowed to talk about David Blakely’s abuse, because it was seen as inappropriate to talk about ugly behaviour of someone of his social standing, so all of that was left out. And so there was no case. There was no defence.”
Boynton concluded: “So then you just have these psychologists diagnosing her as hysterical, while she sits there knowing that every man in her life, and namely, the one that we’re talking about, was the one who was volatile and erratic and violent.”
In addition to Boynton, Davidson and Jones, A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story also stars Mark Stanley (Trigger Point), Joe Armstrong (Happy Valley), Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who) and Toby Stephens (Lost in Space).
A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story premieres on ITV1 and ITVX at 9pm on Wednesday 5th March 2025.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
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