A grieving widow discovers that her seemingly ideal husband lived many secret lives.A grieving widow discovers that her seemingly ideal husband lived many secret lives.A grieving widow discovers that her seemingly ideal husband lived many secret lives.
- Nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards
- 10 nominations total
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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.
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.
I thoroughly enjoyed this drama. I thought it was well paced and very interesting. Three episodes to tell this true story was just right or would have dragged on. Ruth Wilson was superb . Must've been so tough playing her fathers mum lol . Incredible story . The closing scene was so emotional and score was amazing . Very moving .Well worth a watch .
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.
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.
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.
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.
Did you know
- TriviaRuth Wilson plays her own grandmother, Alison Wilson. Based on real-life events, the series follows Alison Wilson who discovers secrets about her husband Alexander 'Alec' Wilson after he dies unexpectedly in 1963. Alison and Alec's younger son, Nigel, is Ruth's father.
- GoofsMany of the street scenes occur during the period of the Blitz (in London) where draconian lighting restrictions for public road traffic. Buses are shown with all lights blazing away normally, both inside views and exterior views, and no windows are netted to protect passengers and crew from blast damage. No vehicles have masked headlights, either.
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- Mrs Wilson
- Filming locations
- Northern Ireland(location)
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
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