A change is coming
Season 3 of The Queen is introducing new faces, seeing the rebirth of a powerful family and more focus on social matters.
Zolisa Xaluva hinted at the beginning of July that “this is Diamond’s time – he is going to drive season 3’s storylines and it’s going to be intense!” While the actor wasn’t giving away any other secrets about his druglord role and what unlawful mischief Diamond will get up to, we went to someone who knows everything about the new instalment that starts on Monday 30 July: headwriter Phathu Makwarela.
What direction is season 3 heading in? Season 2 was the Battle Of The Queens and it ends with a shocker on Friday 27 July, forcing Harriet and Gracious (Connie Ferguson and Rami Chuene) to unite. The focus will be on whether enemies can be friends, because the two “queens” have to put on a united front against their common enemy – Diamond. Season 2 highlighted social issues like domestic abuse. Will that continue? Very much so. The Queen explores real social issues that affect the real world – that helps us touch our audience’s core and “speak” to them every night. There will also be a lot of drama surrounding the Maake family and their rebirth. Their world expands with Diamond’s return. A new season means new faces, right? We finally get to see Thato’s (Xolani Mayekiso) mother Adelaide (played by veteran actress Phemelo Motene, Agnes Hlathi in drama series Home Affairs, 2005-2010). Adelaide comes from Tembisa and she brings a whole lot of drama. Have there been other changes to the production, like behind the scenes? Change is an organic part of any long-running series. There will be new worlds entering the series in season 3, which means new sets. In terms of writing, we have been able to retain the core writing team who have been here from episode 1 in 2016. We have also been fortunate to bring in new young writers to join the series too. The Queen has no shortage of surprises… I think that the human stories will get audiences talking in season 3, as well as the character development and those storyline twists, of course!