| The Widow | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Created by | |
| 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 |
| Cinematography |
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| Editors |
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| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Amazon Prime Video |
| Release | 1 March 2019 (2019-03-01) |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 8 April (2019-04-08) – 30 April 2019 (2019-04-30) |
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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]- 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 Mason
- Matthew Gravelle as Joshua
Episodes
[edit]| 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 (2019-03-01) | 8 April 2019 | 8.08 | |
| 2 | "Green Lion" | Sam Donovan | Harry Williams & Jack Williams | March 1, 2019 (2019-03-01) | 9 April 2019 | 6.88 | |
| 3 | "The Survivors" | Sam Donovan | Harry Williams & Jack Williams | March 1, 2019 (2019-03-01) | 15 April 2019 | 6.74 | |
| 4 | "Violet" | Sam Donovan | Harry Williams & Jack Williams | March 1, 2019 (2019-03-01) | 16 April 2019 | 6.42 | |
| 5 | "Poteza" | Olly Blackburn | Harry Williams & Jack Williams | March 1, 2019 (2019-03-01) | 22 April 2019 | 6.27 | |
| 6 | "The Spider and the Web" | Olly Blackburn | Harry Williams & Jack Williams | March 1, 2019 (2019-03-01) | 23 April 2019 | 6.16 | |
| 7 | "Will" | Olly Blackburn | Harry Williams & Jack Williams | March 1, 2019 (2019-03-01) | 29 April 2019 | 6.77 | |
| 8 | "Nigel" | Olly Blackburn | Harry Williams & Jack Williams | March 1, 2019 (2019-03-01) | 30 April 2019 | 6.30 | |
Reception
[edit]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
[edit]- ↑ 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. 3 January 2018.
- ↑ Brown, Brigid. "Kate Beckinsale Set to Star in 'The Widow' TV Series on Amazon and ITV". BBC America.
- ↑ Debnath, Neela (15 January 2019). "The Widow on ITV air date, cast, trailer, plot: When does The Widow start?". Express. Northern and Shell Media. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
- 1 2 Patton, Rebecca (March 2019). "You Won't Be Able To Stop Watching This Gripping New Amazon Thriller". Bustle. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ↑ Idato, Michael (1 March 2019). "Lean and taut, the new Amazon drama The Widow hits the ground running". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ↑ Lloyd, Robert (28 February 2019). "Review: Amazon's thrillers 'The Widow' and 'White Dragon' are potato-chip bingeable". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ↑ Gilbert, Sophie (3 March 2019). "The Clumsy Predictability of 'The Widow'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ↑ Thomas, Gareth (25 January 2019). "What time is The Widow on TV? What is it about, and who is in the cast?". Radio Times. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
- ↑ Gurung, Regina (26 February 2019). "'The Widow': Kate Beckinsale isn't the only star to watch out for in Amazon's upcoming suspense thriller". Media Entertainment Arts WorldWide. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- ↑ "The Widow Listings". The Futon Critic. Retrieved 6 February 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 11 August 2019.
