Queen Olivia takes the Crown
Relax, the transition is near faultless. Yes, Netflix’s lavish period drama The Crown is back today and, despite having an all-new cast, it continues to deliver right royal entertainment in its third season.
It begins in 1964 and, a dozen years into Queen Elizabeth II’s reign (now played by Olivia Colman), she has matured from young queen to ‘‘mother-of-four and settled sovereign’’ (or ‘‘old bat’’, as she puts it), something cleverly reflected in the stamp issue from the Royal Post.
But that doesn’t mean the challenges of the position have lessened.
A now bedridden Winston Churchill (John Lithgow) warns Elizabeth ‘‘that a cold wind of socialism is blowing through the land’’, as Britons prepare to go to the polls. While a change in government might offer welcome relief from soaring house prices, a worsening annual trade deficit and a succession of sex scandals, there are grave concerns about the Labour Party’s potential prime minister Harold Wilson (Jason Watkins).
Rumours swirl that he’s actually a Russian spy, fuelled by earlier visits to Moscow. Upon meeting him, even the Queen is somewhat suspicious. So she’s not completely surprised when she receives a visit from
MI6, but is truly shocked when it turns out a Soviet mole is actually someone much closer to her.
Meanwhile, trouble is also brewing elsewhere in Buckingham Palace. Lord Snowdon (Ben Daniels) appears to be increasingly avoiding the attentions of his wife, Princess Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter), preferring his dark room to the bedroom. And parties have become her solace.
Having brought an earlier British monarch, Queen Anne, so magnificently to life in her Oscar-winning turn in The Favourite, Colman (Broadchurch) doesn’t seem to put a foot wrong in the early stages of her reign as Elizabeth II. While she and the previous incumbent, Claire Foy, aren’t exactly similarly featured, Colman is spot on with the mix of smarts, steeliness and cutting charm that Helen Mirren exuded as the Queen in The Crown writer Peter Morgan’s 2006 movie The Queen.
Likewise, Bonham Carter (who played the Queen Mother in 2010’s The King’s Speech) is a brilliant choice to play the complex Margaret.
However, the surprise standout is Tobias Menzies (Game of Thrones’ Edmure Tully), who nails the Duke of Edinburgh’s distinctive accent and cadence.
The Crown’s production designers and costumers deserve plenty of plaudits for their attention to detail, while Morgan’s scripts sparkle with incident and memorable dialogue.
With global events such as the decolonisation of Africa, the Apollo 11 moon landing and Margaret’s affair with Roddy Llewellyn to look forward to, as well as the prospect of Gillian Anderson playing Margaret Thatcher, there are plenty of reasons for losing the next weekend or two to this sumptuous, spellbinding series.