Ruth's Home Truths

Ruth Wilson plays her own grandmother in an emotional drama about bigamy and betrayal, based on a moving family memoir.

As adulterous Alison Bailey in The Affair and serial killer Alice Morgan in Luther, Ruth Wilson knows a fair bit about secrets and lies – but the actress was stunned to learn the shocking real-life revelations about her grandfather Alexander Wilson, known as Alec.

Wilson discovered the family scandal when her grandmother, Alison, wrote a memoir.

‘My granny let us read the first part about 20 years ago,’ recalls Wilson. ‘It covered her falling in love with Alec and finding out about his bigamy and his betrayal. I was amazed that this existed in our very ordinary family.’

Now, the remarkable story is brought to life in BBC1’s three-part drama Mrs Wilson, based on Alison’s memoir and starring Wilson as her grandmother alongside Game of Thrones’ Iain Glen as Alison’s husband, Alec.