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Season 1 – A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story

Play trailer Poster for Season 1 – A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story Feb 2025 History Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
94% Tomatometer 16 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Ruth Ellis's hidden story exposes British obsessions with class, sex, and death; in 1955 London's club-land, Ruth, 28, becomes the capital's youngest club manager; her success unravels due to an abusive relationship with racing driver David Blakely.
A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story — Season 1

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Critics Consensus

Illuminated by Lucy Boynton's superb lead performance, A Cruel Love restores a pivotal figure in the history of capital punishment into a multidimensional human being.

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Critics Reviews

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Amy Amatangelo Tellyvisions Jul 26
Davidson is certainly good-looking and possesses an innate charm. He consistently “love bombs” Ruth with romantic gestures only to break her. But A Cruel Love never really examines why Ruth loves him so. Go to Full Review Lenny Ann Low The Age (Australia) Jul 17
3.5/5
...the series is so beautifully shot that the lighting, set and costume hues and poetic positioning of faces and body turn every frame into an Edward Hopper painting. Go to Full Review Anita Singh Daily Telegraph (UK) Mar 8
4/5
It’s a thought-provoking drama powered by a strong central performance from Lucy Boynton, who seems to offer little more than clipped tones and a gimlet glare in the early scenes but comes into her own in the final episode... Go to Full Review Julia Raeside iNews.co.uk Mar 17
4/5
Lucy Boynton's titular anti-heroine is everything you'd want from a glamorous killer. Go to Full Review Alison Rowat The Herald (Scotland) Mar 11
Watching anything with Toby Jones in it, here playing Ellis’s solicitor, John Bickford, is never time wasted, and so it proved here. Go to Full Review Barbara Ellen Observer (UK) Mar 9
3/5
Boynton brings Ellis’s humanity and vulnerability to the fore and it’s very powerful. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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nudnike @nudnik Jan 8 After watch I still don´t understand why Lucy Boynton have not received any award for her fenomenal acting as Ruth Ellis. Maybe I missed it? See more Alain E @AlainE Dec 30 Masterpiece television! We know the ending from the beginning, nonetheless the four episodes held my interest for the duration. We can agree that the heroine did not make the best decisions, but it appears that she jumped after she was pushed. Acting is good and is served by excellent photography. A few years after the episode UK got civilized and eliminated the death penalty. We can’t say the same thing about the other side of the Atlantic. See more Edward L @Glyndower Aug 30 Another take on the Ruth Ellis case with some good performances although Toby Jones' 'drab little man' act is becoming somewhat repetitive. None of the characters have much to recommend them and the obsession with the last woman hanged in Britain is odd given that she was a rather stupid prostitute obsessed with a nasty piece of work in Blakely. She may not have deserved to hang but she was undoubtedly guilty as the law stood then and any talk of a pardon, as one reviewer suggested is a nonsense. See more TANYA B Apr 18 Brilliantly made limited series ! Acting is phenomenal. A must watch . See more sean f Mar 14 Not too bad but no comparison to Dance with a Stranger starring the amazing Natasha Richardson as Ruth. See more bill s Mar 9 Just watch this as it's Bafta stuff and will get both Lucy and Toby Jones more nominations for awards plus maybe Ruth's case will be reviewed and she'll be finally pardoned. See more Read all reviews
A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story — Season 1

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Cast & Crew

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Lucy Boynton

Ruth Ellis

Toby Jones

John Bickford

Adam Lawrence

DI Peter Gill

Ed Sayer

Anthony Findlater

Pierre Bergman

Reporter

Tim Potter

Albert Pierrepoint

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Feb 17, 2025 When Ruth Ellis is arrested following the shooting of her lover David Blakely, it is revealed how the two became embroiled in a relationship. Details Episode 2 Aired Feb 17, 2025 Ruth is on trial for murder as the court hears how she came to kill David Blakely and why a woman who seemingly had it all did so. Details Episode 3 Aired Feb 24, 2025 Ruth is due to hang in three weeks and the campaign for reprieve picks up as she has a chance to confess the truth to save herself. Details Episode 4 Aired Mar 3, 2025 The final part of the drama based on real events; Ruth is due to hang in 24 hours as she tells her lawyer the full story of what happened before David's murder. Details

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A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story — Season 1

A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story View more photos

Season Info

Director
Lee Haven Jones
Executive Producer
Kate Bartlett, Antonia Gordon
Screenwriter
Kelly Jones
Network
BritBox
Genre
History, Drama
Original Language
British English
Release Date
Feb 17, 2025