Lucy Boynton

ITV releases first-look image of Lucy Boynton as Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in UK

A woman indoors looks at the camera, smoking a cigarette

The four-part drama stars Lucy Boynton (Murder on the Orient Express) as the real-life 1950s London club manager, then the youngest in the capital.

Ellis later found an entirely different kind of fame, becoming the last woman in Britain to be hanged, after shooting her partner David Blakely. The drama is based on A Fine Day for Hanging: The Real Ruth Ellis Story, the biography by Carol Ann Lee.

A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story follows the impresario’s story through clubland and the abusive relationship she had with Blakely.

Lucy Boynton to star as Ruth Ellis in new ITV drama about last person to be hanged in Britain

Ruth Ellis (Boynton) was hanged in 1955 at age 28. Over two parallel timelines, Ruth will examine what really happened in the months leading up to Ellis killing her lover, the race car driver David Blakely.

Across four parts, the drama will show her rise into London’s upper classes as a nightclub manager, and the abuse she suffered at the hands of Blakely in her toxic and volatile relationship.