The four-part drama began on Sunday

Rick Cressman has spoken of being moved to tears while watching the new ITV drama, The Lady, depicting his brother’s killing more than a quarter of a century ago by Sarah Ferguson’s former personal dresser.

Tom Cressman was attacked with a cricket bat and stabbed to death by his girlfriend Jane Andrews as he slept in their London home in 2000. Andrews had served as personal dresser to Ms Ferguson for nine years between 1988-1997.

The four-part series The Lady, produced by the team behind The Crown, launched on Sunday evening and chronicles Mr Andrews’ life story.

Rick told the BBC: “By the time we got into the final episode, I was feeling very, very tearful.”

The brother of Tom Cressman has said he was left in tears after watching the nee show about his brothers murder

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Mr Cressman expressed deep reservations about the decision to dramatise events that continue to affect his family. ITV arranged a private viewing of all episodes before broadcast.

“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.

Safeguarding his brother’s legacy has become increasingly vital to him over the past 25 years, he explained, adding that media cooperation stemmed from a sense of obligation to Tom.

“I can’t have my brother’s memory and legacy being besmirched by people just creating stuff,” Mr Cressman said.

The announcement in December 2024 that ITV would commission the fictionalised drama proved particularly challenging. The Lady represents the 11th television production about the case, with a 12th from ABC News and Disney Plus currently in development.

Left Bank Pictures, the production company behind the series, stated it had reached out to the Cressman family prior to filming and maintained communication throughout.

A spokesperson said: “The aim has always been to approach the story with great care and responsibility, and to respect the people involved and we feel we have achieved this.”

The show is the 11th adaptation of the tragic events, with another on the way

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ITV’s Director of Drama, Polly Hill, attended the private screening and discussed the family’s concerns with them directly.

Mr Cressman revealed the producers had initially sought approval for a six-episode run rather than four.

“I would have preferred them to have been able to include some of the things that I feel have not been included,” he said. “I think that’s actually a shame. But without sufficient time… it’s not possible to include everything.

“For our family, we don’t get a tariff on our sentence of 12 years or 14 years or whatever and our sentence is a genuine life sentence losing Tommy,” Cressman explained.

He described his younger sibling as a “little charmer” and “cheeky little chap” who adored sport, excelling at rugby, waterskiing, fencing and water polo.

Mr Cressman described his younger brother a “little charmer”

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“He was a very charming, likeable, easygoing guy,” Mr Cressman said. “He was a lovely guy that liked to make things happen.”

Andrews, then 34, was convicted in 2001 after denying she killed Tom because he refused to marry her. She received a minimum 15-year sentence and was released in 2019.