Ruth

I'm old enough to remember capital punishment and well remember the Christie case of 10 Rillington Place because it was so horrific. I can't remember the Ruth Ellis case though but may have just forgotten it. Christie deserved to be executed but Ellis probably not. What bothered me watching this mini series, starring Lucy Boynton as Ellis, highlighted for me how little discrimination there was between the two killers I've mentioned. If found guilty, they were hanged, regardless of the obvious differences in their motives. Ellis' was a crime of passion and caused her to lose control, whereas Christie was just evil. The Ellis case helped to end our barbaric sentencing procedure and blanket death sentences.

To the series, Lucy does a fair job of portraying Ruth although I thought she was a bit posh. Ellis was Welsh and the accent seemed wrong. Toby Jones I love to watch in anything as his mastery of the camera is always a joy. Nigel Havers pops up playing his own grandfather, Cecil, who had to sentence Ruth. Nigel has said that his grandfather was upset with this case and tried unsuccessfully to have it overturned.

Ruth murdered her lover David, by shooting him at close range four times as he came out of a pub. The series shows their relationship and subsequent turn of events. I do wish that current casting didn't distort history as we know Ruth's prison warden was not as shown in the series.

It kept me watching in spite of knowing the outcome, mainly because I like the leading actors and the directing was good.

As with the film Let Him Have It, Iit's hard to do a real life story but, at least 70 years on, there are few people around to state how lose to the truth the characters and the facts are.

There is a top cast here but most of them do seem to be playing themselves. Lucy Boynton is just like the posh girl she played in Why Didn't They Ask Evans, Joe Armstrong does a poor job trying not to remind us of his dad in New Tricks, Toby Jones is Mr Bates, that metal detector guy and all his other roles rolled into one while Mark Stanley puts on a moustache and glasses trying to hope we don't remember him from Happy Valley while Julie Stevenson tries not to play the psychologist from Professor T.

Admittedly, Nigel Havers does a good job playing his grandad assuming his grandad was just like Nigel Havers.

All this window dressing, including great deal on 1950s cars and styles, doesn't hide the fact that in all modern dramas, men are portrayed as weak or evil even in true crime dramas set 70 years ago.

The swipe at the establishment of the day is understandable. Ellis is shown to be a common girl doing well for herself in business but she has no power of the establishment and the old school tie.

A fair watch but you don't put your best shows on tv in the spring. A modern feminist attack on an old story.

I have always liked Lucy Boynton & to be fair she is perhaps a little too pretty to play Ruth Ellis, who was not very attractive. However, with the superb make up & her terrific acting skills she pulls off the role effortlessly. There have been a fair few biopics on Ruth Ellis as her story is a fascinating one. My favourite so far is Miranda Richardson in Dance with a Stranger, but Miss Boyntons portrayal is very close to being just as great. She shows her dedication to her craft which is admirable. For instance she is a non smoker, yet here & in other roles she is shown smoking (although not properly) which fits the character. Other things I enjoyed about this production was the 1950's sets which are superbly done, yet occasionally it is let down by slow screen play & a rather bland script, making parts of this difficult to watch. Also as normal with productions today there is a fair bit of emphasis on the theme of feminism which is not really a problem, only for the fact Ruth Ellis was not a feminist. She admitted her guilt & was certainly not a victim. This does come across in the excellent court room scenes, which I also enjoyed.

All in all this is a good drama, with excellent acting from Lucy Boynton, but I am only giving this a 6 as I feel it was let down by a weak script & occasionally dragging screen play. As well as glaring gaps in the Ellis story in which her son is almost invisible. This was a missed opportunity to show Ellis as a mother which would have perhaps garnered more sympathy for her character. So to enjoy this you should also have an appreciation & understanding of the real Ruth Ellis story. Ruth made her mark on history with a violent crime of passion which resulted in her execution as the very last women to be hanged in Britain.

My father a WW2 veteran, he volunteered from Jamaica to serve in the RAF aged 18. After he was demobbed he returned to the UK in 1947. He was here when a great number of the notorious capital cases were tried & gross miscarriages of justice took place. I asked him about Ruth Ellis when an earlier series was made, he said that whilst she did not help herself by appearing more sympathetic, she should not have been hanged. He told me that he was vehemently against capital punishment. I watched the series and I could not fail to be moved by her situation especially knowing the effect that her execution had on her family as it cast a long shadow. Truly shocking & I am glad that capital punishment has been eradicated from the UK justice system.

Watched> Wednesday, 26th March, 2025 @ Edge Water Studios. Rated 4.5 * * * * Very Good to Excellent - 8/10 < Cert. Would be a 15 > Four Part Mini Series by ITV. Great acting performance from Lucy Boynton, as Ruth Ellis, followed by very good performances from Toby Jones, as John Bickford, Mark Stanley, as Desmond Cussen and Laurie Davidson, as David Blakely. This is a Notoriously TRUE STORY, that changed British history, because of Ruth Ellis (age 28) who was the last woman in Britain to be sentenced to death, by hanging, on Wednesday, 13th July, 1955 at 9 am. She was WRONGLY CONVICTED, as evidence was with held, which meant she could have received a life sentence, instead of The DEATH Penalty. Badly handled by the authorities at the time, SHAME ON THEM!! This 4-part film can be dark and solemn, with upsetting scenes. Their are lighter moments at times, but mainly this is such a tragic story of a young lady who wanted to live her life to the full, right or wrongly. (ps)