✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper


Sign up by Email or Facebook.

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we sent newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Turning tips into memories

Get started Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Kids
  • Benefits
  • Membership
  • Get Started
  • Membership
  • Benefits
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
TV

Mrs Wilson episode 1 review ★★★★★

On 27 Nov 18, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Actor Ruth Wilson delves into her family tree in Mrs Wilson, telling her grandmother's stranger-than-fiction tale about her husband (Iain Glen) and his secret life as a spy

By Euan Franklin on 27/11/2018

5 CW readers are interested
Ruth Wilson in Mrs Wilson
Ruth Wilson in Mrs Wilson
Mrs Wilson episode 1 review 4 Mrs Wilson episode 1 review Euan Franklin
How well can you really know a person? Maybe we never know anybody’s true self. We can chat to them, love them, sleep with them, but who can fully understand the stuff stored in their brains that is terrified to come out? In Mrs Wilson, based on the true story of actor Ruth Wilson’s grandmother, these seemingly academic questions are taken to their extreme with devastating results.


Alison Wilson (Ruth Wilson) is a wife and mother, living in a quaint London suburb in 1963. Her husband Alec (Iain Glen) is a writer and ex-secret service agent, polishing off his latest novel. Then, out of nowhere, Alec collapses and dies. And before the body even has a chance to go cold, a woman comes to the door claiming to be Alec’s wife.



Iain Glen plays the mysterious agent Alexander Wilson


On first glance of Alison, she’s a picture of ‘50s normality – like she’s just walked in from a Douglas Sirk film. She organises everything for her husband and when that’s thrown out of balance, her world starts to crumble. The whole episode is spent trying to regain that balance again, even deluding herself that this ‘wife’ can’t possibly be his wife. But as Alison thinks back to her life with Alec, meeting him at the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) during the war and enduring months of him being away, she begins to question her entire marriage.


Wilson delivers an excellent performance as her own grandmother, trying to hold a British stiff upper lip in the wake of everything that’s happening to her. She’s stern, takes no nonsense – even slapping her son when making a navy joke about women (‘You treat women with respect!’). But that hard shell starts to melt, and she feels compelled to investigate further into who husband really was.


Though the script is sometimes burdened with the occasional aphorism and predictable cliché (‘one needs to have faith’), writer Anna Symon creates a very personal spy drama – in direct contrast to recent BBC thrillers like Killing Eve and Bodyguard – not only investigating her husband, but herself too. How could she not have known? And will this investigation of her supposed husband give her peace, or just more grief? In any case, Symon has hooked us for the next three weeks.


Mrs Wilson will air on BBC One at 9pm on Tuesday 27th November




What Mrs Wilson episode 1 review
When On 27 Nov 18, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Price £n/a
Website



Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend: 16 - 18 April. © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS 2021 Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Courtesy Gagosian
Things to do in London this weekend: 16 - 18 April
Kelly Macdonald in Line of Duty season 6, BBC One (Photo: BBC)
Line of Duty season 6 episode 5, BBC One review
Kelly Macdonald in Line of Duty season 6, BBC One (Photo: BBC)
Line of Duty, season 6 episode 4, BBC One review

Editor's Picks

Sheridan Smith in Cleaning Up, ITV
Sheridan Smith and others talk Cleaning Up at The Soho Hotel
Kristin Scott Thomas in the 2018 Burberry Christmas campaign
Best Christmas ads 2018: the ultimate guide
Penn Badgley and Elizabeth Lail in YOU
New to Netflix UK: December 2018
Ludovica Nasti and Elisa del Genio in My Brilliant Friend
My Brilliant Friend episode 1 review
Kate Winslet and Guy Pearce in Mare of Easttown, Sky Atlantic (Photo: Sky/HBO)
What to watch on TV this week
Louis Theroux's Altered States: Choosing Death
Louis Theroux's Altered States: Choosing Death review
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
5

Mrs Wilson

Ruth Wilson

BBC

You might like

  • Alexander Skarsgard and Florence Pugh in The Little Drummer Girl

    The Little Drummer Girl episode 4 review ★★★★★

  • Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill, Tosin Cole, and Jodie Whittaker in Doctor Who

    Doctor Who episode 7 review ★★★★★

  • Emilia Clarke in Game of Thrones season 8, Sky Atlantic

    Game of Thrones season 8: everything we know

  • Elton John in John Lewis Xmas Advert

    Elton John performs in John Lewis Christmas advert

  • Margherita Mazzucco in My Brilliant Friend

    My Brilliant Friend episode 3 review ★★★★★

  • Mandip Gill, Bradley Walsh, and Jodie Whittaker in Doctor Who

    Doctor Who episode 8 review



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • What is Culture Whisper membership
  • Corporate membership
  • Give a gift membership
  • Retrieve a gift membership
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×