Mrs Wilson

As a child of the 50's I was never told the story of my half sisters birth.
She was brought up by my MGP and called my nan 'mum'.
It was never talked about in front of my brother and I.
I didn't discover the facts until mum died.

In the 40s we had a wallpaper with a beige/ brown pattern on it - when my dad redecorated he did it with wide borders and a pretty dado strip covering the join - I can remember how beautifully light the room became.
Alison was working when she met Alec - during the war many people lived in a couple of rooms - as they did into the 60s.
In the first episode it showed her working and going home for lunch which was when Alec died. When she spoke to Dorothy in the second episode Dorothy told her that she had no money from Alec at all. She probably had some compassionate leave from her job after she was widowed and she likely still had an income from royalties.

It annoys me that she's lying to her sons - she knows what it's like to be lied to, and now she's doing the same to them. They've already caught her out about the house ownership. However, this does happen - I know of a case where two adult sons have never been told about their mother's real parentage and who their actual grandparents were, although others in the wider family (me, for instance) do know the truth.

Re the interior decor: it seems OK to me. In the 50s, most of our walls were porridge coloured or with pale patterned wallpaper, but the (rarely-used) sitting room had one wall in a dark green wallpaper with a pattern of gold and white dots on it. It was expensive paper so my parents bought half a roll, just enough to do the alcoves either side of the chimney breast. Then about 1960 they papered the wall at the side of the staircase in a bold terra-cotta paper with a leaf pattern on it. Oh, and in the kitchen, one wall had a weird dark grey paper with pictures of kitchen utensils all over it. We were not posh, this was just a three-bed red brick semi built after the war. I do wish I had colour photos of all this, but of course it wasn't possible then.

I don't think it strange that the boys weren't told about their father. My own father was given a 'version' of what the situation was re: his dad and it wasn't until after my father's death that we discovered the truth which was basically illegitimacy - nothing untoward these days but awful in times past. The situation facing Mrs Wilson was far worse and shocking for those times.

I love this. A fascinating story so well acted, no violence and very little sex.
nnw they were carrying gas masks when Dorothy and Michael left at the station.
As far as finance goes isn't that why they were living in one room with no money for the electric meter?
henetha wasn't she taking the priest's advice and trying to protect her boys and their father's memory?

I'm still enjoying this series. But I couldn't understand why she couldn't tell her sons the truth, now that they are adults, rather than have them turn against her?

Yes it was a pawnbroker's card. Thing is, though, it wasn't just 'tucked in', it was concealed - Alison had to rip open some stitching to get to it. Probably more about this in the next episode.

Oh, right! Thanks

I think it was a pawnbrokers card found tucked in the wallet.

Any idea what the piece of paper that looked like a ticket was? The thing she discovered in the wallet right at the end.

I dont remember it in Wimbledon either..I do remember some yellow & black patterned cushions that my mum made. She was v pleased with them! I don't think the mother was sinister. I think it was still reasonably common for children to be adopted or placed oin orphanages when money was so tight. I have 3 friends whose dads were placed in care by parents who were too poor to support them.

That’s an American blog PECS.

That colour palette might have made the posher bits of London, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t penetrate as far as Stockport ?

I didn't enjoy the second episode as much as the first. It seemed a bit drawn out. The mother was quite a sinister figure trying to get the baby adopted. I will continue to watch it though.

blog.retroplanet.com/1950s-decorating-style/ it says here turqoise was popular in the 50s

Alison worked b4 Alec dropped dead. Not sure the " nice" Ealing semi was as desireable as all that. I think the kind black neighbour is supposed to indicate that it was not a v posh area. With Alec's income, from MI5 and his writing, to live in a suburban Ealing semi(worth a lot now!) seems downmarket to me. So indicates he is spending money elsewhere! Not sure about the decor. BBC researchers usually spot on for period stuff.

I did wonder how she went from being dirt poor when he was alive (which was understandable given his commitments) but how did Alison manage to keep up appearances in a nice semi after his death? Had perhaps her mother died and left her a fortune?

I enjoyed it what didn’t you like Anya

I agree about the blue walls. No one had them in those days. Everything was shades of brown
As for financing his various families, Wilson was an MI6 officer which was presumably well paid and he was also a prolific author.
“In total, Wilson wrote and published three academic books and 24 novels; he also wrote four unpublished manuscripts. The Sir Leonard Wallace character appears closely based on the first 'C' of MI6 Mansfield Smith-Cumming.”
From his Wikipedia entry.
I think it would have been unusual in those days for women to have had much knowledge of family finances. Generally they would have been just given housekeeping money in cash and bills would have been paid by ‘the man of the house’.

travelsafar, I noticed that about the teal-blue decor. I can't remember this from the 1950's, apart from in kitchens. Otherwise, it was flowery wallpaper or white anaglypta in living rooms, etc.

Alec's son by Dorothy (Michael?) said he'd read his father's books but weren't some of them published after the war? Wouldn't he have sussed that he didn't die during the war?

Even in pre-internet days you could find out a lot about authors and their lives.

Disappointed in second episode.

What I want to know is how he financed all these families. His first wife got the pension but what about the rest . If he was not supporting them in his lifetime they must have wondered why
Yes, exactly what I too have been wondering. Even if he did somehow support the other wives in his lifetime, how did any other than his first wife (who got the pension) live after his death? Alison Wilson doesn't appear to work, and yet her life carries on, she runs a household, she buys food, train tickets. How?
As for errors, I notice everyone seems to be smoking tipped cigarettes, and yet in the 40s, non-tipped were the norm. According to Wikipedia, tipped cigarettes "were considered a specialty item until 1954" and didn't dominate the market until the 1960s.

Was teal blue popular in 1950's, it seems to be the main colour in choices of clothes, and decor.
I am really enjoying this program and can't wait to find out what happens inthe end.

I wasn't born in the 40's, but it strikes me that there were a couple of errors :

Major Wilson walked on the inside of the pavement when accompanying Alison down the street - surely he would have walked on the other side?

No-one appeared to be carrying a gas mask with them at any time,

Could someone confirm I'm right about this?

What I want to know is how he financed all these families. His first wife got the pension but what about the rest . If he was not supporting them in his lifetime they must have wondered why

Watched it in catchup last night and that is exactly what DH said Floradora .