Lucy Boynton will star in a new ITV drama about Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain.


Lucy Boynton will star in a new ITV drama about Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain.

The four-part series, called Ruth, is set in 1955 and over two parallel timelines to reveal secret truths about the case that have remained hidden for decades, pose tantalising questions about what really happened in the months before Ruth killed her lover David Blakely, and shed 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. It follows 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.

Boynton most recently appeared in ITV’s three-part adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? adapted and directed by Hugh Laurie. Her credits also include Bohemian Rhapsody, The Ipcress File and Chevalier.

Ruth is based on Carol Ann Lee’s biography A Fine Day for Hanging: The Real Ruth Ellis Story, and has been adapted by Kelly Jones (The Long Call), who writes all four episodes. Angie Daniell (Vigil) will produce the series and Lee Haven Jones (Passenger) will direct all four episodes.

It will be produced by Silverprint Pictures (Shetland, Vera). Silverprint’s creative director Kate Bartlett (Shetland) will executive produce the series alongside Antonia Gordon, development director for Silverprint Pictures.
 
Ruth will premiere on ITV1 and the series will be available for streaming on ITVX.
 
ITV Studios will handle global distribution.

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