|
Widows started with a bang, and then proceeded to dismantle the traditional
crime drama that Euston had made its own. It deliberately opened like an episode
of The Sweeney (ITV, 1975-78) with a security van heist in full swing, but the
robbery goes horribly wrong, and the gang are killed in an explosion in the
first few minutes. At a stroke, the story is taken over by the eponymous widows,
who, under the leadership of Dolly Rawlins, decide to carry out the heist
themselves.
This radical shift of focus was particularly striking at the time because
most crime thrillers, whether made by Euston or other companies, tended to
feature women as either clinging spouses or brassy tarts, but nearly always as
ciphers rather than convincing characters. It is appropriate, then, that Widows
was created by an actress who had spent much of her career playing similarly
unrewarding parts. Lynda Marchal had been in small roles in both The Sweeney and
Out (ITV, 1978), before submitting a pilot script under the pseudonym of Lynda
La Plante. Euston were quick to spot the story's potential, and the
script-editor Linda Agran (after recovering from the shock of discovering the
author's true identity) encouraged La Plante to write the entire serial herself,
despite the misgivings of the fledgling writer.
Although Widows undoubtedly subverts the traditional masculinity of the crime
thriller, it does not grant the female characters independence from their male
counterparts. Dolly, in particular, despite being a fearsome leader, remains in
love with Harry and is partly defined by her inability to have children, which
results in her devotion to her pet poodle. This has been a problematic area for
some critics, but it's a measure of the success of Widows that it generated an
enduring debate about the role of women in drama (and the production of drama)
while at the same time drawing consistently high audiences. The series is
certainly patchy, with some of the performances in particular being weak or
mannered, but its use of female characters caught the imagination of the public,
and it has subsequently influenced a host of television drama, from La Plante's
own Prime Suspect (ITV, 1991-2003) to Band of Gold (ITV, 1995-96) and
beyond. This success also led to a couple of undistinguished sequels that
were soon forgotten, but Widows retains its position as one of the most
influential dramas of the 1980s.
John Williams
|
1. Last minute nerves (3:43)
