VIEWERS of ITV’s A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story say they’ve ‘given up’ watching after just one episode due to spotting an annoying habit on the series.
The ITV show, which premiered yesterday, details the true story of the last woman to be hanged in Britain.
The drama is based on Carol Ann Lee’s biography A Fine Day for Hanging: The Real Ruth Ellis Story and featuresLucy Boynton as Ruth, who is sentenced to death for shooting her lover, David Blakely, outside the Magdala pub in Hampstead, north-west London.
Ruth, who was just 28 when she was hanged, blamed David for her having a miscarriage after he punched her in the stomach.
She told the court her lover Desmond Cussen had given her the gun and instructed her on how to use it.
But while many viewers are already gripped by the powerful story, others have said they find the structure “confusing” and complained about the story “jumping back and forth”.
One wrote on X: “Just tried to watch the first episode of #ACruelLove on ITVX. What’s the thing about switching from past to present in a single sceen? It’s confusing. Gave up.”
Another viewer: “Unpopular opinion but this just isn’t gripping me. Too much jumping back and forth and I don’t find her likable at all. Hoping the next episode livens up.”
A third likened it to a “pogo stick”, saying: “Brilliant Ruth Ellis drama but it jumped back and forwards like a pogo stick. I kept wishing it would settle down and relate the story more smoothly. Roll on the next episode”
A fourth wrote: “Back and forth, cigarette by cigarette.”
The first episode begins on the day of Ellis’s execution, in 1955, where we see her refusing an offer of drugs to “calm” her.
It then skips back several months to the night she was arrested after the shooting and then back again a few years, to where it all began.
We see Ruth being interviewed for a job as the manager of a London nightclub.
However despite the flip-flopping, many fans praised the first episode.
One person wrote: “When you are moved to uncontrollable tears , and have such empathy for the lead character – you know you are watching a class act @ITV @LucyBoynton1 #ACruelLove . A wonderful actress .
Another wrote: “Lucy Boynton is doing a great job portraying Ruth Ellis #ACruelLove #RuthEllis.”
The drama is even more poignant in the show due to the casting of Coronation Street’s Nigel Havers as Justice Cecil Havers, who was the judge who presided over Ellis’ trial.
Justice Cecil Havers, who was appointed a High Court judge in 1951, oversaw Ellis’ trial at the Old Bailey on June 20, 1955.
Despite the mandatory death sentence, Havers was deeply troubled by the verdict and actively sought to save Ellis from execution.
He wrote to the Home Secretary pleading for clemency, an appeal that was ultimately ignored.
Following Ellis’ execution, Havers continued to support her family, sending money each year to help care for her son, Andy and daughter Georgina.
Nigel Havers, best known for his roles in Coronation Street, Chariots of Fire, and Empire of the Sun, was immediately drawn to the opportunity to portray his grandfather.
Executive producer Kate Bartlett revealed that, while the team initially thought Havers might hesitate to take on the role, he was eager to do so.
She told OK!: “We had lots of conversations going, ‘Oh, do you think he might?’ And he leapt at it. We couldn’t quite believe it.”
“So, it was just amazing that he was playing his grandfather, it was extraordinary.”
Havers, who retired in 1967 and passed away in 1977, is remembered not only for his legal career but also for his compassion.
His grandson has spoken warmly of their relationship, saying, “I adored him really. He was a kind-hearted man, and I do know he had great sympathy for Ruth.”
Ellis’ case remains one of the most controversial in British legal history, fuelling debates about misogyny and class bias in the justice system.
It also contributed to the eventual abolition of the death penalty in the UK a decade later and led to the introduction of diminished responsibility as a legal defence.
The series also stars Toby Jones as John Bickford, the solicitor representing Ellis, Laurie Davidson as Blakely, and Mark Stanley as Cussen.
You can watch A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story on ITV1.