''Widows'' is a British primetime

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and comb ...

that was broadcast in 1983 and 1985, produced by

Euston Films Euston Films is a British film and television production company. It was originally a subsidiary company of Thames Television, and operated from 1971 to 1994, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV network ...

for

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

and aired on the ITV network. Two six-part series were written by crime writer

Lynda La Plante Lynda La Plante, CBE (born Lynda Titchmarsh; 15 March 1943) is an English author, screenwriter and former actress, best known for writing the '' Prime Suspect'' television crime series. Early life Lynda La Plante was born Lynda Titchmarsh on ...

. The executive producer for the series was

Verity Lambert Verity Ann Lambert (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English television and film producer. Lambert began working in television in the 1950s. She began her career as a producer at the BBC by becoming the founding producer of ...

. In 1984 it was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series or Serial.

Plot

Three armed robbers — Harry Rawlins, Terry Miller, and Joe Perelli — are killed during an armed robbery. They are survived by their widows, Dolly Rawlins (

Ann Mitchell Ann Mitchell (born 22 April 1939) is a British stage and television actress. She came to prominence in the 1980s when she starred as Dolly Rawlins in the crime series ''Widows'' as well as the sequels '' Widows 2'' and '' She's Out'', all writt ...

), Shirley Miller ( Fiona Hendley), and Linda Perelli ( Maureen O'Farrell). With the police applying pressure, and a rival gang intending to take over Harry Rawlins' crime business, the widows turn to Dolly for leadership. She uses Harry's famous "ledgers", a cache of books detailing all his robberies over the years, to find the details of the failed robbery, and, enlisting the help of a fourth woman, Bella O'Reilly ( Eva Mottley), they resolve to pull off the raid themselves. At the same time, they discover the "fourth man" in the raid escaped—leaving their husbands for dead. Dolly must contend with the police and the gang, as well as her fellow widows, agitating for vengeance. The first series of ''Widows'' concluded with the widows pulling off the raid, and escaping to Rio. In the final scenes, however, they discovered that the "fourth man" was in fact Harry Rawlins ( Maurice O'Connell), Dolly's husband. A second series followed in 1985. This series saw the widows return from Rio to track down Harry Rawlins, revealed at the conclusion of the original ''Widows'' to be the surviving "fourth man" from the original raid. Harry is determined to pay back the widows for staging his raid, and the widows have a score to settle with him for running out on their husbands. Eva Mottley left the production before the second series, claiming that she had been sexually and racially abused by the production staff. She died by suicide soon after.

Debby Bishop Debby Bishop (also credited as Debbie Bishop) is a British actress. She appeared in the second series of the television crime drama '' Widows 2'', having taken over the part of Bella O'Reilly from Eva Mottley who died before production began. Bi ...

took over the role of Bella for series 2. A sequel series, ''

She's Out ''Widows'' is a British primetime television crime drama that was broadcast in 1983 and 1985, produced by Euston Films for Thames Television and aired on the ITV network. Two six-part series were written by crime writer Lynda La Plante. The ...

'', set ten years after the events of ''Widows'', was produced in 1995.

Cast

Major cast

as Dolly Rawlins * Maureen O'Farrell as Linda Perelli * Fiona Hendley as Shirley Miller * Eva Mottley as Bella O'Reilly (Series 1) *

as Bella O'Reilly (Series 2) * Kate Williams as Audrey Withey * Maurice O'Connell as Harry Rawlins * David Calder as D.I. George Resnick *

Paul Jesson Paul Jesson is an English stage, television and film actor and an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has played leading roles at the National Theatre and the RSC and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supp ...

as D.S./D.I. Alec Fuller

Supporting cast

Series 1

* Peter Machin as D.C. Robin Andrews *

Jeffrey Chiswick Jeffrey may refer to: * Jeffrey (name), including a list of people with the name * ''Jeffrey'' (1995 film), a 1995 film by Paul Rudnick, based on Rudnick's play of the same name * ''Jeffrey'' (2016 film), a 2016 Dominican Republic documentary film ...

as Arnie Fisher *

George Costigan George J. Costigan (born 8 August 1947) is an English actor who is best known for portraying Bob in the 1987 film ''Rita, Sue and Bob Too'' and for roles in TV series such as '' Happy Valley'' and '' So Haunt Me''. Early life Born in Portsmouth ...

as Charlie Staincliffe *

Stanley Meadows Stanley Meadows (born 14 July 1931 in Stepney, London, England) is a British film and television actor. He graduated from RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservat ...

as Eddie Rawlins *

Carol Gillies Carol may refer to: People with the name * Carol (given name) * Henri Carol (1910–1984), French composer and organist * Martine Carol (1920–1967), French film actress * Sue Carol (1906–1982), American actress and talent agent, wife of actor ...

as Alice Gunner * Dudley Sutton as Boxer Davis *

Terry Cowling Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albritton (1955–2005), A ...

as Jimmy Nunn *

Christopher Ellison Christopher Michael Ellison (born 16 December 1946 in St Pancras, London) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as DCI Frank Burnside in the ITV police series ''The Bill'' and short-lived spin-off series '' Burnside''. Education ...

as Tony Fisher *

Terence Harvey Terence John Humes (October 1944 – 7 September 2017), known professionally as Terence Harvey, was a British television actor. Among his many roles was the prosecution counsel in '' The Execution of Gary Glitter''. He also appeared in ''From Hel ...

as Chief Insp. Saunders * James Lister as Carlos Moreno *

Catherine Neilson Catherine Neilson (born 3 October 1957) is a British stage, television and film actress, who was active from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. Career On stage, Neilson starred as Christie in ''Traps'' by Caryl Churchill, at the Royal Court Theatr ...

as Trudie Nunn *

Peter Lovstrom Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

as Greg Withey *

Michael John Paliotti Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

as Joe Perelli * Terry Stuart as Terry Miller

Series 2

* Stephen Yardley as Vic Morgan *

Andrew Kazamia Andrew Kazamia is an actor, writer and director. He has written and directed '' Trust Me'', the 2007 film starring Cory Prendergast, Enn Reitel, Tony Curran and Shelley Long Shelley Lee Long (born August 23, 1949) is an American actress, si ...

as Micky Tesco * Peter Machin as D.C. Robin Andrews * Mike Felix as Eddie Bates *

as Greg Withey * Christopher Whitehouse as Gordon Murphy *

Pavel Douglas Pavel (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian, Russian language, Russian, Serbian language, Serbian and Macedonian language, Macedonian: Павел, Czech language, Czech, Slovene language, Slovene, Romanian language, Romanian: Pavel, Polish language, Po ...

as D.S. Tommy Reynolds * Damien Thomas as Jose Camarena * Jim Carter as D.I. Frinton *

Ann Michelle Ann Michelle (born 11 August 1952) is a British actress. Biography Michelle's father Joseph was a fish trader at Billingsgate Fish Market and her mother Shirley an actress. One of her sisters is the actress Vicki Michelle. While her parent ...

as Jackie Rawlins *

as Chief Insp. Saunders *

as Trudie Nunn

Episode list

Series 1 (1983)

Series 2 (1985)

In other media

American remake

In 2002, the first series was re-made for the American market, but the plot was significantly changed. Instead of a traditional armed robbery, this version united the three widows and the fourth woman in a plan to steal a famous painting. This version starred Mercedes Ruehl as Dolly Rawlins, Brooke Shields as Shirley Heller, Rosie Perez as Linda Perelli, and

N'Bushe Wright N'Bushe Wright ( ; born September 7, 1969) is an American actress and dancer. She attended and trained as a dancer at the Alvin Ailey Dance Center and the Martha Graham School of Dance. She is known mainly for her role as Dr. Karen Jenson in the ...

as Bella O'Reilly. The miniseries aired on ABC between August 6 and August 27, 2002 and is produced by Patchett/Kaufman Entertainment, in association with Greengrass Productions and distributed by

Buena Vista Television Buena ( ) is a borough in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,603,Steve McQueen directed a film adaptation, and co-wrote the screenplay with

Gillian Flynn Gillian Schieber Flynn (; born February 24, 1971) is an American author, screenwriter, and producer. She is known for writing the thriller and mystery novels, ''Sharp Objects'' (2006), '' Dark Places'' (2009), and '' Gone Girl'' (2012), which are ...

New Regency Regency Enterprises (commonly referred to as Regency onscreen and copyrighting as Regency Entertainment (USA), Inc. in the U.S. and Monarchy Enterprises S.á.r.l. overseas) is an American entertainment company formed by Arnon Milchan. It was foun ...

produce the film. In September 2016

Viola Davis Viola Davis (; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, she is the only African-American to achieve the Triple Crow ...

was announced as starring as Dolly Rawlins. In January 2017,

André Holland André Holland (born December 28, 1979) is an American actor, widely known for his 2016 performance as Kevin in the Academy Award-winning film '' Moonlight''. Throughout his career, Holland has acted in film, television, and theatre production ...

and

Cynthia Erivo Cynthia Erivo (; born 8 January 1987) is an English actress, singer, and songwriter. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Grammy Award and a Tony Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Awa ...

were announced as starring in the film.

Elizabeth Debicki Elizabeth Debicki (born 24 August 1990) is an Australian actress. After studying drama at the Victorian College of the Arts, she made her film debut with a brief role in the Australian comedy ''A Few Best Men'' (2011). Debicki's role in Baz Lu ...

was in talks to join the film in February 2017. The same month,

Michelle Rodriguez Mayte Michelle Rodriguez (born July 12, 1978) is an American actress. Rodriguez began her career in 2000, playing a troubled boxer in the independent sports drama film ''Girlfight'' (2000), where she won the Independent Spirit Award and Gotha ...

and

Daniel Kaluuya Daniel Kaluuya (; born 24 February 1989) is a British actor. Prominent both on screen and stage, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and no ...

were named among the cast. In March 2017,

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...

was in discussions to star as Viola Davis' husband, and subsequently joined the cast.

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...

joined the cast in April, as did

Garret Dillahunt Garret Lee Dillahunt (born November 24, 1964) is an American actor. He is best known for his work in television, including the roles Burt Chance on the Fox sitcom ''Raising Hope'', for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television A ...

Jacki Weaver Jacqueline Ruth Weaver (born 25 May 1947) is an Australian theatre, film and television actress. Weaver emerged in the 1970s as a symbol of the Australian New Wave through her work in Ozploitation films such as '' Stork'' (1971), ''Alvin Purp ...

Manuel Garcia-Rulfo Manuel García-Rulfo Lapuente (born February 25, 1981) known professionally as Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, is a Mexican actor and model. He is best known for roles in films such as '' Cake'' and '' Bless Me, Ultima'', as well as the television program ...

and

Lukas Haas Lukas Daniel Haas (born April 16, 1976) is an American actor and musician. His acting career has spanned four decades, during which he has appeared in more than 50 feature films and a number of television shows and stage productions. Early life ...

in May 2017.

Carrie Coon Carrie Alexandra Coon (born January 24, 1981) is an American actress. In television, she is known for her starring roles as grieving mother Nora Durst in the HBO drama series '' The Leftovers'' (2014–2017) and as Gloria Burgle in the third s ...

was cast in June 2017, with

Michael Harney Michael John Harney is an American actor of film, television, and theater. He is best known for starring on the Netflix original series ''Orange Is the New Black'' as Corrections Officer Sam Healy. In 2019, he had a recurring role in the Apple TV ...

and

Jon Bernthal Jonathan Edward Bernthal (; born September 20, 1976) is an American actor. Beginning his career in the early 2000s, he came to prominence for portraying Shane Walsh on the AMC horror series '' The Walking Dead'' (2010–2012; 2018), where ...

announced as cast members a month later.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

began on May 8, 2017.

Home media

The series was initially made available on VHS via Fremantle Home Entertainment; "Series One" was released on 13 May 2002, while "Series Two" was made available on 8 July 2002. The Complete Series of ''Widows'' was released on DVD, first from Fremantle, on 19 April 2010, and again from Revelation Films, with the addition of the sequel series ''She's Out'' (which is included in all subsequent releases), then from Network on 5 November 2018. On 5 November 2018, Network also released the complete series on standard definition Blu-ray.

References

External links

''Widows''
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

''Widows 2''
at the

Encyclopedia of Television
{{DEFAULTSORT:Widows (Tv Series) 1980s British drama television series 1983 British television series debuts 1985 British television series endings 1980s British crime television series ITV television dramas Television shows produced by Thames Television Television series by Fremantle (company) Television shows set in London Television series by Euston Films English-language television shows