The Lady review — Mia McKenna-Bruce excels in this Jane Andrews drama
ITV’s new four-part series The Lady, which premiered on Sunday night, puts jane andrews back in the spotlight and has prompted an emotional response from the family of the man she was convicted of killing more than 25 years ago.
Jane Andrews at the centre of the drama
The Lady follows the life of Jane Andrews, the former dresser to the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson. ITV describes the drama as a "gripping true crime drama" and the production comes from the makers of The Crown; the series is presented as a four-part dramatisation and premiered on Sunday night.
Mia McKenna-Bruce's performance singled out
Critics have praised the acting: one review headlined that "Mia McKenna-Bruce excels in this Jane Andrews drama, " and another noted Mia McKenna-Bruce as an "excellent rising star" opposite Natalie Dormer, who plays Sarah Ferguson. The four-parter opens with a working-class Jane trying to fit into royal life while managing worsening mental health, a thread the drama follows through the episodes.
Warwickshire family left 'very, very tearful'
Rick Cressman, a business owner from Warwickshire and the brother of the murdered man, said watching the series brought him to tears. "By the time we got into the final episode, I was feeling very, very tearful, " he said. Rick Cressman described long-standing concerns about fictionalising a living story: "It is a problem to fictionalise 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. "
He said ITV gave him a private screening after he expressed worries about the commission and that protecting his brother's memory has become increasingly important to him over the years: "I can't have my brother's memory and legacy being besmirched by people just creating stuff. " He added that the announcement in December of 2024 about the four-part fictionalised drama was a major issue for the family, and he said another production involving ABC News and Disney Plus is now underway, which he said would be the 12th TV production related to the case.
The killing, conviction and background
Tom Cressman, a businessman, was murdered in London in 2000. Rick Cressman's brother Tom was attacked with a cricket bat and fatally stabbed by his partner Jane Andrews while he slept at their London home in 2000. Andrews, from Cleethorpes in north-east Lincolnshire, had been employed by Sarah Ferguson for nine years and was later involved in police efforts to track her down.
The then-34-year-old denied murdering Tom Cressman on the grounds that he would not marry her but was convicted of his murder and in 2001 was ordered to serve at least 15 years in prison.
The Lady is on ITV as a four-part series that premiered on Sunday night; Rick Cressman has said he was given a private screening, and he has highlighted that another production by ABC News and Disney Plus is in development and would be the twelfth televised production about the case.
