The Crown, the first Netflix UK commission, focuses on Queen Elizabeth II as a 25-year-old newlywed faced with the daunting prospect of leading the world’s most famous monarchy while forging a relationship with legendary Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill.
The British Empire is in decline, the political world is in disarray, and a young woman takes the throne….a new era is dawning. Peter Morgan’s masterfully researched scripts reveal the Queen’s private journey behind the public facade with daring frankness.
Morgan who created the series and wrote all of the first season episodes is no stranger to the subject having written the 2006 film The Queen and the 2013 stage play The Audience, both of which were about Queen Elizabeth.
This ten parter is beautifully filmed and looks superb. Thanks in no small part to the extensive budget Netflix provided. Claire Foy and Matt Smith are excellent in the leads but the cast as a whole is top notch.
A second season is already in production.
production details
UK – USA / Netflix – Left Bank Pictures / 10×55-60 minute episodes / Released on 4 November 2016
Creator: Peter Morgan / Executive Producers: Stephen Daldry, Peter Morgan
cast
Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II
Matt Smith as Prince Philip
Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret
Eileen Atkins as Queen Mary
Jeremy Northam as Anthony Eden
Victoria Hamilton as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Ben Miles as Peter Townsend
Greg Wise as Lord Louis Mountbatten
Jared Harris as King George VI
John Lithgow as Winston Churchill
Stephen Dillane as Graham Sutherland
Andy Sanderson as Prince Henry
Michael Culkin as Rab Butler
Nicholas Rowe as Jock Colville
Rita McDonald Damper as Princess Marina
Amir Boutrous as Gamal Abdel Nasser
Harriet Walter as Clementine Churchill
Alex Jennings as Prince Edward
Rosalind Knight as Princess Alice
Paul Sheridan as Eden’s Aide
David Shields as Colin Tennant
SEASON THREE CAST
Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II
Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Marion Bailey as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret
Ben Daniels as Antony Armstrong-Jones
Jason Watkins as Harold Wilson
THE EPISODES
1. WOLFERTON SPLASH
2. HYDE PARK CORNER
3. WINDSOR
4. ACT OF GOD
5. SMOKE AND MIRRORS
6. GELIGNITE
7. SCIENTIA POTENTIA EST
8. PRIDE AND JOY
9. ASSASSINS
10. GLORIANA
SEASON TWO
1. MISADVENTURE
2. A COMPANY OF MEN
3. LISBON
4. BERYL
5. MARIONETTES
6. VERGANGENHEIT
7. MATRIMONIUM
8. DEAR MRS. KENNEDY
9. PATERFAMILIAS
10. MYSTERY MAN
SEASON THREE
1. OLDING
2. MARGARETOLOGY
3. ABERFAN
4. BUBBIKINS
5. COUP
6. TYWYSOG CYMRU
7. MOONDUST
8. DANGLING MAN
9. IMBROGLIO
10. CRI DE COEUR
