"The Crown" (2016-Present) - Netflix Drama Series on Queen Elizabeth II


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The episode on Aberfan is a difficult watch. Very raw. I too had heard that the Queen was advised not to go earlier.

The last minute or so at the end during the credits is unbearably sad.
 
The acting is excellent and sor far it's ... an interesting piece of fiction.
The "Artistic license" is a bit in overdrive mode, much more than the previous seasons i think.
A bit irritating i guess for us, royal watchers, but quite entertaining at the end.
 
I've just started watching the series. Think they have made Olivia Coleman looks more like a younger Margaret Thatcher rather than HM!
 
Josh O'Connor who plays The Prince of Wales talks about Series 3 of the Crown and his role.

 
Nico said:
The acting is excellent and sor far it's ... an interesting piece of fiction.
The "Artistic license" is a bit in overdrive mode, much more than the previous seasons i think.
A bit irritating i guess for us, royal watchers, but quite entertaining at the end.
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Yes I think you're right. Episode two in particular (I've only seen 1-3 so far) seemed rather ott.

For those who have seen the play "A Question of Attribution" about Blunt episode 1 is an interesting comparison.
 
Watched episodes 1 through 3 and each episode is actually like a separate dramatic piece. All beautifully acted with wonderful costumes and details. All of the crowd scenes, the cars, lines of the little coffins in the terrible Wales tragedy all beautifully done.
Disappointed in one of the tiaras but she wears with aquamarine necklace and earrings. I've never seen that one. Margarets poltimore is replicated. I'm a little disappointed in only the Prince Philip casting
 
Claire Foy's portrayal of QEII seemed to be 20 episodes of a deer-caught-in-the-headlights. There wasn't much more variety in her acting skills.

I hoped that a new actress would be an improvement but Coleman's portrayal seems to be even more one-sided & a 10-episode long mixture of anxiety and depression. Not her best role.

Why the actors portraying the Duke of Edinburgh are insisting to make him as disagreeable as possible is a mystery to me.

The settings were wonderful as always and it was great to see Geraldine Chaplin giving a somewhat more balanced interpretation of the Duchess of Windsor than is usually the case.
 
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I prefer Coleman to Foy. Coleman’s performance is an interpretation whereas Foy’s was an imitation.
 
I know this is totally ridiculous on my part but in the last episode I thought the actor playing Prince Philip looked so much like the Duke of Cambridge.

Even more though, the guy playing Mountbatten should definitely play the elderly Prince Philip.
 
Does anyone else think Helena Bonham-Carter's performance as Princess Margaret was way OTT?
Surely she was not that manic, was she?
 
I've only watched two episodes so far in the new season. The two little girls that play young Elizabeth and Margaret were the ones that I thought looked most like their characters. For some odd reason, seeing Coleman as the Queen gave me the feeling I was looking at Carol Burnett as to me, they resemble each other. Coleman gave the Queen a dour type of a characteristic which is one I've never attributed to the Queen before.

Margaret was definitely portrayed as OTT to me too. Although I don't know the details, I think they most likely exaggerated that party at the White House with President Johnson. I always knew that Margaret was an extrovert and entertaining and loved to party but the insinuations in the episode of "Margaretoloy" was really embellished.

The segue into episode 3 from 2 and the different actresses that portray the Queen was doing excellently with the stamp portraits. It did sound like something the Queen would say though when she said "old bat". :D

Of course, it struck me too that I was seeing coincidences watching Margaret. Her portrayed desire to "do more" and be more in the limelight and be recognized as who she was instead of being a "second banana". This came on the heels of watching the real life "train wreck" of an interview with Andrew. He is also, perhaps, suffering from "second bananaitis".
 
Binge watched Season 3 yesterday/last night.

I love Olivia Coleman as the Queen. Tobias was a really good Phillip. Do not at all like the actress playing Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother...it's not a good fit and I don't like how they have portrayed her most of the series (some daffy clueless woman for the most part).

I was excited to hear about Helen B.C. playing Margaret...she's been very good so far. The actress playing Anne ..seems a bit cold even for Anne.


Some season 3 has been very slow in places. I didn't like at all how they handled the Camilla/Andrew/Charles affair ...I know the show is not supposed to be factual but really that could of been done better.

Hopefully season 4 goes better.


LaRae
 
Dalriada said:
I am currently binge watching the new season and it is living up to expectations. Lots of Cold War and American related politics. Who knew Princess Margaret would be Britain’s secret charm offensive against the American presidency to gain a huge multi billion dollar bail out to save the UK which ended successfully with White House drinking contest, very colourful limerick making and singing.
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While Princess Margaret did visit the White House in 1965 much of the account is fictionalized. She didn't take part in a drinking contest with LBJ and she wasn't responsible for the U.S. agreeing to a bailout.
 
I liked Helena Bonham Carter as Margaret, how Anne is portrayed. But I didn't like Olivia Colman as Queen not as much as Claire Foy. It got better in the last episodes, but I still think Colman isn't the right choice.
 
I have to agree with you on Olivia Colman as the Queen. After watching all of season 3, I can't really remember any time the Queen wasn't portrayed as a stiff, unemotional, frowning and kind of a dour person. The "real" Queen has a smile that lights up her entire face when she's happy and that's sorely missing in Colman's portrayal.

Philip in a self help group of priests? I really found that hard to swallow as my assessment of Philip's personality would be that he'd see it as gobbledy gook and very unmanly. Still, he's portrayed as having emotions much more than his wife seemed to have.

So, I think they missed the mark with the casting of Elizabeth and Philip. Perhaps it will get better but as we head towards the "annus horribilis", I'm seriously wondering how the character of the Queen can get through that without showing a smidgen of emotion.
 
According to the 'credits' Phillip has been involved with the group for decades and friends with Robin for 50 years or so.


LaRae
 
Osipi said:
I have to agree with you on Olivia Colman as the Queen. After watching all of season 3, I can't really remember any time the Queen wasn't portrayed as a stiff, unemotional, frowning and kind of a dour person. The "real" Queen has a smile that lights up her entire face when she's happy and that's sorely missing in Colman's portrayal.

Philip in a self help group of priests? I really found that hard to swallow as my assessment of Philip's personality would be that he'd see it as gobbledy gook and very unmanly. Still, he's portrayed as having emotions much more than his wife seemed to have.

So, I think they missed the mark with the casting of Elizabeth and Philip. Perhaps it will get better but as we head towards the "annus horribilis", I'm seriously wondering how the character of the Queen can get through that without showing a smidgen of emotion.
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i'm delighted i'm not the only person who dont like olivia colman as QEII. Imo she looked much older 50+ in many secenes and she seems to be very cold while the "real queen" usually looked behavior and warm at the same time..i have to say i just like Charles,Anne and Alice. Maybe the 4th season will change. I think it was discussed alot of times but i just dont like all the fake jewels especially tiaras and brooches.
 
Season 3 is deeply unsatisfying. It fails as fiction/ drama because it tries to be faithful to the historical characters then fails in accuracy because creates characters with scarcely any relation to the individuals. It is a series of imagined scenes which contrives to make a link between something huge happening in the family which conveniently collides with a major national crisis. Each episode overplayed the national problem by minimising and encapsulating in a loose narrative which vaguely related to events that had happened in a book somewhere. The mistake is to try and present royals as people like us with our motives and thought patterns. They are not. They do not think or act like the rest of us. They reason in a totally different way. Philip's moaning on the screen is artless, caricatured and tiresome. Margaret is a character in a Merchant Ivory film. The QM and others are not recognisable. There is no warmth or humanity. HMQ, it has been reported, is vibrant in private life and talks and acts 'like an Italian'. The clothes are ill fitting when the royals even in 'leisure' wear always seem immaculatey tailored. If you have good knowledge of royalty, there are endless errors to see. Evening wear with diamonds and tiara was worn on a bright sunny afternoon to an exhibition opening - that is the wrong protocol. So many millions were wasted on turning the BRF into telly entertainment. This is the dumbing down of the monarchy and maybe it will make them more 'accessible' and visible to ordinary people who depend on tv entertainment to understand a specialised part of the world like the monarchy. Each episode is a battle against the royal family in an eager attempt to interpret them dramatically (and expensively) for a fastfood, massconsumer audience. I kept fast forwarding and couldnt wait for each dreary concocted episode to end. I suppose the comparison is with the illusion of Helen Mirren as the czarina.
 
Pranter said:
According to the 'credits' Phillip has been involved with the group for decades and friends with Robin for 50 years or so.


LaRae
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Thanks for reminding me of that. I'd forgotten it was in the credits after the episode. Still, the way they presented it and Philip made something true almost unbelievable. We do know that Philip had problems finding his own niche and loves finding new and improved ways of doing things but the Crown's Philip just doesn't cut it for me.
 
I agree that's actually a very unequale season. Of course it's still a very good and expensive looking series, but i must say the historical inaccuracies made me cringe more than once ...
About acting, i do think the potrayal of the Queen is a bit extrem in the cold hearted department. Philip, Anne and Margaret are just fine. Camilla, the Duke of Windsor, the Queen Mother and Mountbatten are a miss. The Oscars go to the incredible performances of the actors playing Princess Alice (Jane Lapotaire), the Duchess of Windsor (Geraldine Chaplin) and, oh my god, the Prince of Wales : Josh O'Connor just stole the show imo !
 
Binge watched the whole thing and enjoyed it thoroughly.

My favorite moment was Olivia Colman's body language when Elizabeth took the call notifying her of Churchill's death. Her back to us, with no dialogue, her head tilts ever so slightly as one hand is lifted to her chest. Marvelous, subtle.

The Aberfan episode was a departure for the series and a risk that I think paid off. They managed to give the historical event itself equal, if not more, weight than the reactions of the fictionalized Queen and PM. Impressive writing.

I don't know if fictionalized Anne bears any resemblance to the real Princess Royal, but I loved her character in the Charles/Anne relationship as a contrast to the Elizabeth/Margaret sibling rivalry they presented.
 
I have also now watched the entire season 3 and am rather disappointed that a lot of events were missed out, which could have been interesting viewing - without giving anything away, these events related to Princess Anne whose portrayal by Erin Doherty was fantastic.

A lot of focus in the season was about Princess Margaret.
 
Into episode six, the Aberfan episode was incredible although a bit hard to watch and tell now the scenes with Princess Alice are my favorite, the actress who played here deserves an Emmy!
 
I don't like Coleman in this role. I am distracted by the fact that while the Queen is rather pretty, with beautiful skin, Coleman in this role is not. She seems to have only one expression: unhappy. It may have as much to do with how the part is written, because Coleman is an excellent actor. In any case, I find her portrayal to be very one-dimensional.



I think Charles Dance makes a fine Mountbatten. Tobias Menzies is OK as Philip, but he seems to have very little to do.



I am almost through the season, and I find it to be disappointing, and the scenes with the Queen are my least favourite.
 
I would be totally on board for Imelda Staunton, and think she would do a wonderful job with the role. I am not liking Olivia Coleman as the Queen, I think she is missing the point in her portrayal.
 
It will interesting to see what further developments there will be for seasons 5 and 6 of the Crown.
 
Helena Bonham Carter talks about Princess Margaret

 
So I've just binged watch Season 3, and frankly I found it awful. The cast, the acting, the storylines, and the altogether OTT of it all.

The part I actually truly enjoyed was seeing The Prince of Wales and his journey to Aberystwyth. I have more sympathy for Charles now than any other member of the RF.

The way the Queen Mother is portrayed, mind you I didn't like her in Season 1 & 2 either, is as some cantankerous old bat. Whose only words are to meddle in affairs to drag them back into the early 1900's.

Olivia Coleman was by far the wrong choice for The Queen, clearly chosen for the ratings ability but she simply didn't do the role justice. She acted so cold and distant, when everything in the real life situations she was portraying showed the opposite. Anne being portrayed as some kind of floozy, to add that element of sexual interest into the series was banal and most unbelieveable.

I feel like they have aged the Duke of Edinburgh by 30 odd years despite Series 2 ending in 1963, and Series 3 opening in 1964. This is Matt Smith in the last episode of Series 2, and this is Tobias Menzies in the first episode of Series 3. We're supposed to believe it's been a year?!

I'm impressed that they managed to squeeze Princess Margaret's 8 year affair with Roddy Llewellyn into meeting him, the affair, and him leaving in one episode. I appreciate that they're on a time constraint, but he could have not been presented as a brand new person in her life.

Did you know that Henry Dimbleby, son of David Dimbleby, portrayed his grandfather Richard Dimbleby as the BBC broadcaster!

Lastly, the portrayal of Prince Philips relationship with his mother was an odd one, she's in scenes on their wedding day and Philip looks absolutely delighted for her to be there. Then in this Series, he can't bare to be in a room with her. I have to say i don't know much about their relationship but I feel it has to have more to it than that.
 
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