Ruth Ellis filming locations: Where was the ITV series about the UK’s last woman to be hanged shot?

IF you’re a fan of ITV dramas, then you’ll want to add A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story to your watch list.

The brand-new series is set in 1955 – the year Ruth Ellis became the last woman to ever be hanged in the UK.

RexA Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story has arrived on ITV[/caption]

Ellis’ execution

In 1955, Ruth Ellis found herself on trial after fatally shooting her lover David Blakely.

Prior to Blakely’s death, Ruth landed herself in a love triangle – the other man in question was Desmond Cussen.

He was a wealthy accountant and was ready to tie the knot.

However, her relationship with David Blakely was a lot more tumultuous and eventually led to his murder on April 10, 1955.

Back then, the death penalty was mandatory for murder, which meant she was executed on July 13, that same year.

Filming locations

After the first episode of the ITV series aired on March 5, 2025, many viewers were left wondering where A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story was filmed.

Although the show is set in London and focuses on the capital’s club-land, several filming locations were used to bring the real-life events to TV.

The production team shot scenes across the UK during 2023.

London

GettyThe Magdala pub in Hampstead was where David Blakely was killed[/caption]

As you may have already guessed, part of the drama was filmed in London.

The film crew took to the streets of the capital in 2023 to shoot scenes at the Magdala pub in Hampstead – the location where Ruth Ellis shot David Blakely dead.

To shoot the scenes after her arrest, the production team used the corridors of the Old Bailey and the former Magistrates Court.

Discussing filming in London’s historic locations, Lucy Boynton, who plays Ruth Ellis said: ”The days I filmed in court were very intense because for legal reasons obviously and for accuracy, all dialogue is verbatim from the court transcripts.

”So we got a totally vivid experience of what that trial was like. How frustrating it was to sit through the misinformation and misrepresentation of Ruth’s experience.

”Because Blakely was a member of the upper class it was deemed inappropriate to talk about his ugly behaviour, so none of the physical and emotional abuse he inflicted was mentioned, and therefore the case was entirely imbalanced and Ruth misrepresented.”

Dorset and Kent

Filming for the series also took place in Dorset, with Dorchester prison being used as a backdrop for scenes of Ruth in her cell.

In real-life events, Ruth was executed in London, however, for the filming of the series, the crew used the entrance to The Historic Dockyard Chatham in Kent to portray Holloway prison.