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EXCLUSIVE: Toby Jones is to play the solicitor who tried to save Ruth Ellis in ITV‘s upcoming drama about the last woman to be hanged in Britain. Vera producer Silverprint Pictures has
rounded out cast on _Ruth_, with Laurie Davidson (_Mary and Georg_e), Mark Stanley (_Happy Valley_), Joe Armstrong (_Happy Valley), _Arthur Darvill (_Broadchurch), _Juliet Stevenson (_Truly,
Madly, Deeply) _and Toby Stephens (_Die Another Day) _also boarding. Based on Carol Ann Lee’s biography _A Fine Day For Hanging: The Real Ruth Ellis Story,_ the show sees Boynton star as
Ellis, a nightclub hostess who was hanged at the age of 28 after fatally shooting her abusive lover, David Blakely. Famous hangman Albert Pierrepoint carried out the death sentence at
Holloway Prison in 1955. Deadline revealed the project in June. BAFTA-winner Jones, who is also starring as a detective in ITV’s George Kay-penned drama about the Yorkshire Ripper, will play
Ellis’ solicitor John Bickford, who gradually realizes the extent of Ruth’s abuse at the hands of Blakely – and who takes on the fight to make the case for provocation. The show will be
told over parallel timelines, with one half of the story following Ellis’ entry into a dizzying upper-class London and her ultimate downfall, while the other follows Bickford as he unravels
the truth. WATCH ON DEADLINE “We could not have dreamed of a more perfect cast to tell the compelling and complex story of Ruth Ellis,” said Silverprint Creative Director Kate Bartlett, who
is exec producing with Antonia Gordon. _Ruth_ was commissioned by ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill and Drama Commissioner, Huw Kennair Jones. Kelly Jones has written all four scripts and Angie
Daniell (_World On Fire, Vigil, The Long Call_) is producing the series. Lee Haven Jones (_Passenger, Feast, The Long Call_) directs all four episodes. ITV Studios is distributing. Boynton
most recently appeared in ITV’s three-part adaptation of Agatha Christie’s _Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?_. Her other credits include _The Ipcress File _and _Chevalier._ The news come as ITV
greenlit another thriller, _Protection, _starring _Happy Valley’s _Siobhan Finneran and produced by _Des _maker New Pictures. Based on the first-hand experiences of a long serving witness
protection officer, _Protection_ is about what happens when the system breaks down.