A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Told over two parallel timelines, A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story 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.

Series details

• Title: A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama, Crime, History
• Premiere date: 2025-03-05
• Final broadcast date listed: 2025-03-05
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Web channel listed by TVmaze: ITVX
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 47 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 6.9/10
• TVMaze ID: 69267
• IMDb ID: tt28496144
• TVDB ID: 436052

Cast and credited roles

• Lucy Boynton — Ruth Ellis
• Toby Jones — John Bickford
• Laurie Davidson — David Blakely
• Mark Stanley — Desmond Cussen
• Joe Armstrong — DCI Davies
• Audrey Brisson — Jacqueline Dyer
• Bessie Carter — Carole Findlater
• Toby Stephens — Melford Stevenson QC
• Arthur Darvill — Victor Mishcon
• Juliet Stevenson — Charity Taylor
• Paul Hilton — Christmas Humphreys QC
• Nigel Havers — Judge Havers

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2025-03-05; final listed air date 2025-03-05; episode order: 4.

Source and licence

Adapted from A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.