ITV's 'A Cruel Love' Revisits Ruth Ellis, the Last Woman Hanged in the UK

The drama explores Ellis's tragic life, her abusive relationships, and the trial that fueled the abolition of capital punishment.

• The four-part ITV series, 'A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story,' premieres on March 5, 2025, and is available for streaming on ITVX.
• Lucy Boynton stars as Ruth Ellis, a nightclub manager who killed her abusive lover, David Blakely, in 1955 and became the last woman executed in the UK.
• The series is based on Carol Ann Lee's biography 'A Fine Day for a Hanging' and examines Ellis's rise from poverty, her abusive relationships, and the controversial trial.
• The case highlighted issues of class prejudice and domestic abuse, with Ellis's trial excluding evidence of her suffering at Blakely's hands and her claims about Desmond Cussen's involvement surfacing too late.
• Ellis's execution sparked public outcry, with 50,000 people petitioning for her pardon, and contributed to the eventual abolition of the death penalty in Britain by 1969.

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