Jane Andrews drama brings tears for family of murdered man
More than 25 years after Tom Cressman’s killing, a new four-part drama about jane andrews has left his brother in tears and renewed disputes over fictionalising a real-life crime. The series premiered on Sunday night and follows the life of the woman who killed Mr Cressman in London in 2000.
Warwickshire brother Rick Cressman given private screening and moved to tears
Rick Cressman, a business owner from Warwickshire and the brother of the murdered man, said he was moved by the drama and had been shown a private screening by the broadcaster behind the series. "By the time we got into the final episode, I was feeling very, very tearful, " he said, adding that protecting his brother's memory and legacy had become increasingly important over the past 25 years.
Rick said he had cooperated with the media out of a sense of duty to his brother but was concerned about the decision to commission a four-part fictionalised drama, an announcement he described as very difficult to face when it was made in December of 2024. He warned he "can't have my brother's memory and legacy being besmirched by people just creating stuff" and described fictionalising "a genuine living story we're living and breathing; our family's here and I've always tried to cope with a lot of the intrusions that we've had to cope with. "
The Lady: casting, makers and how the show is billed
The new series, The Lady, stars Natalie Dormer as Sarah Ferguson and Mia McKenna-Bruce as the dresser Jane Andrews. The production comes from the team behind The Crown and has been billed by the broadcaster as a "gripping true crime drama" about Andrews, "whose rise and fall culminated in a brutal murder. " The four-part series premiered on Sunday night.
Crime details: Tom Cressman’s death, Cleethorpes background and Jane Andrews sentence
Tom Cressman, a businessman, was killed in London in 2000. He was attacked with a cricket bat and fatally stabbed by his partner, Jane Andrews, while he slept at their London home. Andrews, from Cleethorpes in north-east Lincolnshire, had worked for Sarah Ferguson for nine years and later took part in police efforts to track her down.
The then-34-year-old denied murdering Tom Cressman because he would not marry her but was convicted of his murder and ordered to serve at least 15 years in prison in 2001.
Portrayal and themes: working-class origins, mental health and critical praise
Reviews and listings have highlighted the drama's focus on Andrews' attempt to fit into royal circles and her deteriorating mental health. One critic noted Natalie Dormer plays Sarah Ferguson "with aplomb" and described Mia McKenna-Bruce as an "excellent rising star" who excels in the role. The four-parter opens with a working-class Jane trying to adapt to a new royal world while managing worsening mental health, a theme central to the drama's opening episodes.
Wider TV night: awards coverage, films and sport on the schedule
The evening schedule that featured The Lady also included coverage of major film awards, with Alan Cumming hosting the night and the most nominated films listed as One Battle After Another, Sinners, Marty Supreme and Hamnet. British films under discussion included I Swear, The Ballad of Wallis Island and Pillion, and a live performance by KPop Demon Hunters was noted for the evening.
Elsewhere in cultural listings, a concert in Lisbon featuring the Gulbenkian Orchestra conducted by Aziz Shokakimov was scheduled to play Ravel's La Valse, Debussy's La Mer and the symphonic poem Vltava by Bedrich Smetana. Film programming referenced Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 Breathless (A Bout de Souffle) alongside a new Richard Linklater film about the making of Breathless, noting Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg's roles in the original.
Sporting fixtures on the same day included Premier League football: Nottingham Forest v Liverpool at 1pm ET and Tottenham v Arsenal at 4. 25pm ET; Women's FA Cup football: Chelsea v Man Utd at 1pm ET on a sports channel (the fifth-round match) and Liverpool v Everton at 4pm ET on a free-to-air channel; and Six Nations rugby union: France v Italy at 2. 20pm ET from Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille.
Ongoing adaptations and family concerns
Rick Cressman noted that the ITV drama is only one of many filmed about the murder over the years and said another production involving a US news organisation and a major streaming platform is already under way, which he expects will be the twelfth TV production. That accumulation of dramatisations has left the family wary of further portrayals and determined to guard Tom Cressman's memory.
