The Widow (TV series)
| The Widow | |
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| Genre | |
| Created by |
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| Written by |
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| Directed by |
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| Starring |
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| Composer | Dominik Scherrer |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producer | Eliza Mellor |
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| Running time | 60 minutes |
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| Original release | |
| Network | ITV (UK) Amazon Prime Video (US and international) |
| Release | 1 March 2019 |
The Widow is a British television drama series created and written by Harry and Jack Williams, airing on both British ITV and American streaming service Amazon Prime Video, with Prime also carrying the series internationally. It stars Kate Beckinsale as a woman who believes that her husband was killed in a plane crash three years earlier, but then discovers that he is still alive in the Congo.[1][2][3] The show was released on Amazon Prime Video on 1 March 2019 before being broadcast on ITV from 8 April 2019.[4]
Premise
The series follows Georgia Wells (Kate Beckinsale) whose husband Will died in a plane crash on a trip to the Congo in Africa.[5] Three years later, she sees a man resembling him on a news story reporting civil unrest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and she travels to Kinshasa to uncover the truth.[6] She starts to look for answers, particularly why her husband evidently faked his own death. The eight-episode series features multiple story lines and explores themes such as violence and corruption.[7]
Production
The Widow is a co-production of British ITV and Amazon Video.[8] It was filmed in South Africa, Wales, and Rotterdam. The heat in some of the locations became difficult for Beckinsale, who was hospitalised after passing out while shooting a scene.[5][9][10]
Cast
- Kate Beckinsale as Georgia Wells
- Charles Dance as Martin Benson
- Alex Kingston as Judith Gray
- Babs Olusanmokun as General Azikiwe
- Shalom Nyandiko as Adidja
- Luiana Bonfim as Gaëlle Kazadi
- Louise Brealey as Beatrix
- Bart Fouche as Pieter Bello/Hennie Botha
- Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Ariel
- Howard Charles as Tom
- Réginal Kudiwu as Djamba
- Jacky Ido as Emmanuel
- Matthew Le Nevez as Will
- Matthew Gravelle as Joshua
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date [11] | Original UK air date | UK viewers (millions) [12] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Mr. Tequila" | Sam Donovan | Harry Williams & Jack Williams | March 1, 2019 | April 8, 2019 | 8.08 | |
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Georgia Wells lives alone in a cottage in the Welsh countryside. While watching a news story about civil unrest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, she sees a man that she believes is her husband, who presumably died in a plane crash three years earlier. Still haunted by the past, Georgia travels to the Congo to find out the truth. | |||||||
| 2 | "Green Lion" | Sam Donovan | Harry Williams & Jack Williams | March 1, 2019 | April 9, 2019 | 6.88 | |
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To find the truth about her husband, Georgia must first work with Emmanuel, together they attempt to track down the mysterious Pieter Bello. Meanwhile, Beatrix makes a shocking discovery about how Ariel lost his sight. | |||||||
| 3 | "The Survivors" | Sam Donovan | Harry Williams & Jack Williams | March 1, 2019 | April 15, 2019 | 6.74 | |
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Judith arranges a lift for Georgia with a group of medical aid workers, but the volatility of the region threatens to derail their journey. Pieter forces Adidja to partake in a terrifying exercise, while Ariel must confront the horrors of his past. | |||||||
| 4 | "Violet" | Sam Donovan | Harry Williams & Jack Williams | March 1, 2019 | April 16, 2019 | 6.42 | |
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Martin and Ariel seek to determine the identity of the army general linked to the plane crash, while Georgia puts herself in danger to get closer to the elusive Pieter. | |||||||
| 5 | "Poteza" | Olly Blackburn | Harry Williams & Jack Williams | March 1, 2019 | April 22, 2019 | 6.27 | |
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As she finally comes face to face with Pieter, Georgia resorts to extreme measures to learn more about Will's disappearance. Judith's return to her home brings back memories from her past, but she doesn't foresee an unexpected twist of fate. | |||||||
| 6 | "The Spider and the Web" | Olly Blackburn | Harry Williams & Jack Williams | March 1, 2019 | April 23, 2019 | 6.16 | |
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Georgia and Adidja make a journey deep into the Congolese wilderness that yields unexpected consequences. Meanwhile, in the search for answers about the plane crash, Martin puts himself and Ariel ever closer to Azikiwe's dangerous path. | |||||||
| 7 | "Will" | Olly Blackburn | Harry Williams & Jack Williams | March 1, 2019 | April 29, 2019 | 6.77 | |
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The search for Will takes Georgia to Rwanda. On her arrival, she prepares to finally learn the answers about what really happened to her husband, but is not ready for what she finds there. | |||||||
| 8 | "Nigel" | Olly Blackburn | Harry Williams & Jack Williams | March 1, 2019 | April 30, 2019 | 6.30 | |
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Blindsided by the revelations about Will, Georgia returns to Kinshasa. But before she can right the wrongs of the past, she must contend with those determined to stop her from exposing the truth. | |||||||
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes season 1 has an approval rating of 56% based on reviews from 27 critics. The site's consensus states: Ferociously ambitious, The Widow boasts Kate Beckinsale's killer action chops but goes astray in a jungle of problematic tropes and unsatisfying twists.[13]
References
- ^ Turchiano, Danielle (3 January 2018). "Amazon and ITV Greenlight 'The Widow,' Starring Kate Beckinsale".
- ^ "Kate Beckinsale to Star in Amazon TV Thriller 'The Widow'". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Brown, Brigid. "Kate Beckinsale Set to Star in 'The Widow' TV Series on Amazon and ITV". BBC America.
- ^ Debnath, Neela (January 15, 2019). "The Widow on ITV air date, cast, trailer, plot: When does The Widow start?". Express. Northern and Shell Media. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
- ^ a b Patton, Rebecca. "You Won't Be Able To Stop Watching This Gripping New Amazon Thriller". Bustle. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
- ^ Idato, Michael (2019-03-01). "Lean and taut, the new Amazon drama The Widow hits the ground running". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
- ^ Lloyd, Robert. "Review: Amazon's thrillers 'The Widow' and 'White Dragon' are potato-chip bingeable". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
- ^ Gilbert, Sophie (2019-03-03). "The Clumsy Predictability of 'The Widow'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
- ^ Thomas, Gareth (January 25, 2019). "What time is The Widow on TV? What is it about, and who is in the cast?". Radio Times. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
- ^ Gurung, Regina (2019-02-26). "'The Widow': Kate Beckinsale isn't the only star to watch out for in Amazon's upcoming suspense thriller". Media Entertainment Arts WorldWide. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
- ^ "The Widow Listings". The Futon Critic. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
- ^ "Four-screen dashboard (Four screen viewing, based on 28-day data) - BARB". www.barb.co.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
- ^ "The Widow: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2019-08-11.