31 Must-Watch British Crime Shows to Stream Now (January 2026)

It’s no spoiler to reveal that Ruth Ellis (Lucy Boynton), the main character of the new four-episode detective series A cruel lovedied by hanging on July 13, 1955. Ruth was a real woman who committed a very real crime: she shot and killed her lover, David Blakely (Laurie Davidson), at Easter, the year of his death. But what made the nightclub hostess commit such a horrible act?

This is the question behind A cruel loveBritBox’s excellent crime drama which explores Ruth’s motivations behind David’s murder, the subsequent trial which dominated the tabloid press and her death by execution, still the last time a woman was put to death for her crimes in the UK.

This story has been told before, most notably in the 1985 film Dancing with a strangerbut never as captivating and detailed as here. As Ellis, Boynton is never better playing a woman who has few options in life. The show convincingly evokes a time when scandal could ruin reputations and a crime of passion could captivate an innocent audience.