Five-star review: The Crown The most expensive TV series in history is a PR triumph for Windsors
The Lost Prince (BBC Two, 2003)
Writer/director Stephen Poliakoff ’s one true masterpiece, this haunting, heart-breaking TV film tells of Prince John, the youngest son of George V, an epileptic who was considered to be an embarrassment to the family and hidden from public view for most of his short life.
Edward and Mrs Simpson (ITV, 1978)
With Edward Fox as the king who abdicated for love, and Cynthia Harris as the American divorcee who rocked the British establishment, this classy series scooped most awards going and tackled the royal crisis of the century with admirable tact.
Edward VII (ITV, 1975)
Since Edward VII died in 1910, this just about scrapes into our remit. The series, starring Timothy West as the monarch, showed he was much more than just a playboy king and brought him out of the shadow of his mother, Queen Victoria.
The Queen (feature film, 2006)
The fictional treatment of the current monarch by which all others have hitherto (before The Crown, that is) been judged. The film focused on the crisis in the image of the Royal family brought about by the public outpouring of grief over the death of Diana, Princess of Wales – had they been too standoffish? – and portrayed the Queen as troubled and sympathetically human.
The Queen’s Sister (Channel 4, 2005)
This TV film offered a rather subversive and tender portrait of a Princess Margaret sidelined by the Royal family for hedonism. The underrated Lucy Cohu played the titular sibling.