Just Jen's Reviews

Executive Produced by Ruth Wilson (Et al.)

Broadcast: BBC One
Concluded: 11/12/18
Synopsis: Widower Mrs. Wilson discovers that her husband of twenty years had enough secrets to fill the pages of one of his novel, ones that he was so good at hiding in life, that it takes her on an emotional journey to unpick in his death.
Cast: Ruth Wilson, Iain Glen
Episodes: Three

On an average afternoon, Alexander Wilson (Iain Glen) dies. His death is sudden and crushes his wife Alison Wilson (Ruth Wilson) and their two sons.

Barely given a moment to mourn her husband and the life they would no longer have together, an unexpected guest throws Alison off balance and leads her to question her entire marriage.

With her husband having a background in the secret service, Mrs Wilson has to dig deep to find even the faintest clues. However the more she does discover the less she believes she knew Alexander Wilson at all.

The first episode whizzed through, giving a great set up to the following two episodes. I was ready for this to be a “how she deals with the news her husband was a two timing liar” when BAM it became much much more.

I definitely feel that three episodes was enough for this series; though the first two episodes were remarkably strong, the third and last episode felt drawn out as events seemed to circle the drain.

My favourite aspect of the series was how it did such as seamless job of weaving the past and the present. Not only was it pulled off well, the time jumps helped the story unfold effectively and without the need of date stamps – which is a personal cinematic pet peeve of mine.

For me the draw to watching this (storyline aside) was Ruth Wilson. I haven’t seen her in much but loved her as Alice Morgan in Luther, and I have The Affair on a long list of shows to get around to watching. (Ruth Wilson will also be playing Mrs Coulter in the His Dark Materials adaptation coming next year.)

You can’t talk about Mrs Wilson without Mr Wilson – in that I thought Iain Glen was great. I also find it funny how well he plays the two timing male with an untimely death… anyone else seen him in Delicious?

I think what also adds a layer of further intrigue into the story of Mrs Wilson is that she existed – her tale isn’t one of fiction, and on top of that, she is the real life grandmother of the actress playing her in the series – Ruth Wilson.

I know right; Mind-blown. This was a gem of a true story, and though I was left without any solid answers – in that I feel connected to the Wilson clan.

Trailer Below…..