Sisters are stealing it for themselves
We look at the 1980s TV origins of film director Steve McQueen’s latest movie, Widows
THE only thing bigger than the hairstyles were the shoulder pads in classic crime drama Widows. Writer Lynda La Plante’s six part mini series debuted on ITV in 1983 and starred Ann Mitchell, Maureen O’Farrell, Fiona Hendley and Eve Mottley.
Three of them were the widows of career criminals who perished in a failed security van heist and the other was a stripper brought in to turn the all-female trio into a quartet.
The women were led by the formidable Dolly Rawlins who decided they should go ahead with the plans for the armed robbery themselves and then head off to Rio with the cash.
Only carrying out an armed robbery is the least of the problems for the cash-strapped team as both the police and a rival gang start to take an interest in their clandestine activities.
Around 18 million viewers watched the tense thriller and the female felons proved so popular that Widows 2 followed in 1985 and She’s Out in 1995.
Actress turned writer Lynda la Plante also went on to greater TV success with crime dramas like Prime Suspect and Trial & Retribution.
Widows was so realistic that an armed police response unit turned up when the cast were filming scenes for the raid in an underground tunnel near Waterloo Bridge.
The police were called after onlookers believed a real raid was taking place when they saw masked figures running around with machine guns.
Widows has now been updated for modern audiences by film director Steve McQueen and moved to Chicago. The cast includes Oscarwinner Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson and Robert Duvall.
London-born actress Ann Mitchell, who played Dolly Rawlins in the original 80s drama, also appears in the film as the mother of one of the female characters.
Lynda says on her website: “I have so much respect and admiration for the actress, Ann Mitchell, who really brought the character of Dolly to life in the original TV series – she is going to be a very hard act to follow!” ■ Widows can be seen in UK cinemas from November 16.