The success of the first series of Widows with both the public and critics led to a sequel.
When the second series was broadcast, it was clear that it was during the emergence of the Thatcherite yuppie era mid 1980s.
Suddenly the cast are looking more glamorous thanks to the stolen loot and there is a soft rock title song at the end.
There is one big change. Eva Mottley who was wonderful as the hard nosed Bella O'Reilly has been replaced by Debby Bishop. The latter appears to be much younger than Eva.
Eva Mottley left the series because of a dispute with the producers. She accused the production team of harassing her and had died by the time the second series was broadcast.
The first episode sees the ladies enjoying life in Rio de Janeiro. However Dolly is back in London, cleaning her husband's estate out even though she knows he faked his own death. She has also employed a private investigator to look into Harry's mistress.
Meanwhile Harry Rawlins just conveniently turns up in Rio to get some money from a hidden bank account he had there. Only to find out that his widow Dolly took all the money first.
Bella and Linda do not realise that they are in peril. Harry has some locals out looking for some English women who have recently arrived in Rio.
It probably was just a bit too convenient for Harry to be in Rio. It would had been easier for him to have a Swiss bank account in those days. It was also a little too easy for Harry to find Bella and Linda. Rio is actually a big place. I am sure they have a lot of British visitors.
There was also a bit of reset done with Linda. While Bella has found herself a wealthy suitor. Linda gets drunk and mouthy, you would have thought she would had becomes a bit more demure after the robbery. It was also a bit silly when she thinks her mansion has been ransacked that she goes running about with a large wad of notes in her hand.
Also it was noticeable that none of it was shot in Rio apart from using a bit of library footage. It was a fast moving first episode but it showed signs of being quickly rushed into production when the script needed a bit more polish.
