The British miniseries A Merciless Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, premiering on the streaming service BritBox on February 17, “exposes the timeless British obsessions of sophistication, intercourse, and demise” by way of the story of Ruth Ellis, in line with its logline.
Ellis, as viewers will see on display screen, was a nightclub hostess and convicted assassin whose 1955 hanging marked the final time a lady was executed in the UK. However A Merciless Love’s logline says Ellis was “condemned … by a system which judged her for excess of her crime.” Right here’s the backstory.
Who was Ruth Ellis?
Ruth Ellis was a Welsh mom of two who labored as a nightclub hostess, mannequin, and one-time background actor. (She had an uncredited function within the 1951 movie Girl Godiva Rides Once more.) On April 10, 1955, Ellis, then 28, fatally shot David Blakely, a 25-year-old racing driver with whom she’d been in a relationship, outdoors a pub within the Hampstead space of London, as The Guardian reported.
Ellis was arrested, and her ensuing trial lasted little greater than a day. “It’s apparent after I shot him I supposed to kill him,” Ellis informed the prosecutor, per The Guardian.
However Ellis additionally informed the jury that Blakely had been violent along with her, saying that he “solely hit me together with his fist or fingers” and that he “thumped [her] within the tummy” shortly earlier than she had a miscarriage.
However, the jury convicted Ellis, the choose sentenced her to demise, and Ellis was hanged on July 13, 1955. Gwilym Lloyd George, the house secretary of the U.Ok. on the time, denied petitions for a reprieve in Ellis’ case.
Capital punishment for homicide was absolutely abolished in the UK by 1973, making Ellis the final U.Ok. lady to be executed.
Nevertheless, there’s ample proof that Blakely had abused Ellis — which, in one other period, might need downgraded Ellis’ homicide cost to manslaughter — and there are suspicions that one other lover named Desmond Cussen had urged Ellis to kill Blakely, per The Guardian.
In 2003, nonetheless, a U.Ok. courtroom dismissed an attraction filed by Ellis’ sister to overturn the conviction. The judges of that appeals courtroom determined Ellis was rightly convicted of homicide below the legislation on the time.
What’s A Merciless Love: The Lucy Ellis Story, and who’s starring?
A Merciless Love: The Lucy Ellis Story is a four-part dramatization about Ellis’ life and demise, debuting on BritBox on Monday, February 17. Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody) performs Ellis, whereas Toby Jones (Mr Bates vs the Put up Workplace) performs John Bickford, Ellis’ solicitor.
Different solid members embrace Laurie Davidson (Will), Mark Stanley (Recreation of Thrones), Joe Armstrong (Completely satisfied Valley), Arthur Darvill (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), Juliet Stevenson (Professor T), and Toby Stephens (Percy Jackson and the Olympians).
Lee Haven Jones (Passenger) directed all 4 episodes and serves as government producer alongside Kate Bartlett and Antonia Gordon for Silverprint Photos. Kelly Jones (The Lengthy Name) wrote all 4 scripts with enter from Carol Ann Lee, on whose ebook A Superb Day for a Hanging: The Ruth Ellis Story the collection relies.
A Merciless Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, Collection Premiere, Monday, February 17, BritBox
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