Mrs Wilson

Another great performance by the mesmerizing actress Ruth Wilson who plays the naive third of four wives, Alison Wilson, of the real life bigamist Alexander Wilson, real or imagined, slight of hand is how this cheating husband lived at least four separate lives. Alexander Wilson was an English writer, spy and MI6 officer. Alexander Wilson the author fooled his four wives by writing under the names Alexander Wilson, Geoffrey Spencer, Gregory Wilson, and Michael Chesney. The story line is based on real events of Ruth Wilson's own family tree so who better to play Mrs. Alison Wilson but one of her own grandchildren, Ruth Wilson.

This is a dramatic reenactment of how the lives of the bigamist Alexander Wilson's wives and many children from his four concurrent (and illegal) marriages and parenthood suffered at the hands of a man who although very loving and family orientated, abandoned them all while serving a six (6) month term of hard labor in prison.

Mrs. Wilson is not only well written, but exceptionally acted by all who participated in this 3 episode TV mini-series. Mrs. Shullivan and I both thought that the third and closing episode was superb and allowed the audience to understand and appreciate the pain and suffering that bigamist Alexander Wilson left behind by suddenly dying of a heart attack for his four (4) wives to deal with upon his sudden death.

Usually on here critical of some rubbish I've seen. This though was a wonderful, true story that is quite unbelievable. The acting performances were spot on and the script beautifully delivered. Ruth Wilson who really annoyed me in The Affair I have to say puts on breath taking performance playing the part of her Grand mother. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't be blow away by this short series.

This was a three-part miniseries, each episode about 55 minutes, now available via streaming services.

Back around 1940 a 20-ish young lady began working in London as a typist for a secret wartime surveillance operation. Her work required her to type for a distinguished older gentlemen, Alex Wilson. After her residence was damaged in a bombing raid he took her in, they became lovers, they were married, they eventually had two sons, the younger being Nigel. But that is only the beginning, Alex led a life was filled with secrets.

That young lady was Alison and after she was married became Alison Wilson, the series is partly based on a memoire she wrote in the mid-1960s as a way to tell her sons the truth of their father. Of note the actress Ruth Wilson is the real-life granddaughter of Alison and the younger son Nigel depicted in the series became Ruth's father. At the end of the last episode we see photos of everyone and it is clear that Ruth Wilson inherited her distinctive upper lip from her dad. (Not a criticism, to me Ruth is a real beauty.)

This is a very well made and intriguing almost 3-hour series. Ruth Wilson of course is superb and her comments about playing her own grandmother are very interesting and worth looking up on the internet. Search "Ruth Wilson on playing her grandmother."

My wife and I watched it on Amazon streaming via Roku.

Worth watching for the amazingly talented and beautiful Ruth Wilson at her very best! This is such an almighty tall tale, when I saw it was a "true story" or "based on real events" I had my doubts! And then just before I watched episode 3 I learnt it was Ruth's actual grandmother she was playing! You see every kind of emotion on her face as her character learns more about the man she loved, and how blurred her reality actually was.

Ruth is AMAZE - she deserves a BAFTA or something! She totally outshines Keeley Hawes -who, it is rumoured, is the favourite, for all of her 8 mins in the Bodyguard. But like, whatever.

This BBC drama is centred on Alison Wilson, a woman who lives happily with her husband and their two sons... until her husband dies and a man comes to the door stating that he is the son of Mr Wilson's wife... who he never divorced despite what he told Alison. Alison is determined to discover the truth and as she investigates she learns more of her late husband's secrets. Intertwined with her investigations we see flashbacks of how she met during the war when both worked for the Intelligence Services... something that explains many of his lies.

This is one of those dramas that would seem somewhat far-fetched if it wasn't based on real events. That reality is emphasised by the fact that the actress portraying Alison Wilson is none other than her actual granddaughter Ruth Wilson. She does a really good job in the role and is ably supported by a quality cast that includes Keeley Hawes, Iain Glen, Fiona Shaw and Ian McElhinney. The story is populated with interesting characters and provides some impressive twists and surprises. Overall I'd definitely recommend this drama; the story may be personal in nature but it feels like a mystery or spy thriller at times.