Viewers can't believe BBC drama Mrs Wilson is based on a true story
Ruth Wilson plays her own grandmother in the new BBC1 drama – and her strange family history makes for remarkable television
Viewers still can't quite believe that new BBC1 drama Mrs Wilson is based on a true story – let alone that its star Ruth Wilson is playing her own grandmother.
The former Luther star created the series after discovering that her grandmother Alison had discovered that her husband Alec, an MI6 spy, secretly had four wives, none of whom knew about each other, and seven children.
Unsurprisingly, it makes for an engrossing story – and viewers are enjoying it all the more because it's based in reality.
- What is the real-life story behind Ruth Wilson’s new BBC drama Mrs Wilson?
- Follow our Instagram account for the latest TV and Entertainment news in pictures
- Sign up for the free RadioTimes.com newsletter
"Blimey," Stephen Balderson wrote on Twitter. "I never realised this was a true story and now I find out Ruth Wilson is playing her own grandmother."
https://twitter.com/stevebaldie/status/1067578768095617025
Amber Jackson added, "Mrs Wilson is such an incredible story of deception, falsification and intrigue. It's truly unlike anything I've ever seen before - and the fact that this is one huge, true story about one man's actions is mind-blowing! Can't wait to see more."
https://twitter.com/amberoceana23/status/1067556811987918848
Actress Ruth Wilson never met her grandfather in person, as he died of a heart attack almost two decades before she was born.
https://twitter.com/abbyaug/status/1067547356529401861
However, her grandmother Alison Wilson wrote a memoir about her life with Alec in two parts, which she gave to her children and grandchildren when Ruth was a teenager.
One part was to be read in her lifetime, and one to be read after her death which came in 2005.
https://twitter.com/carrigman/status/1067547154955333632
She writes of the realisation that her husband was “one vast lie. He had not only died, he had evaporated into nothing. He had destroyed himself, there was nothing left but a heap of ashes. My love was reduced to a heap of ashes.”
Find out more about the real story behind the drama here.
This article was originally published on 28 November 2018
Authors
Comments, questions and tips
Overall rating
Download RT App today!
summer
Immediate’s iconic brands reach 21m people every month – that’s more than a third of the UK’s adults – through its world-class magazines, innovative digital products and exciting live eventsImmediate’s iconic brands reach 21m people every month – that’s more than a third of the UK’s adults – through its world-class magazines, innovative digital products and exciting live eventsImmediate’s iconic brands reach 21m people every month – that’s more than a third of the UK’s adults – through its world-class magazines, innovative digital products and exciting live events