Netflix set for its Crowning glory
IT’S billed as Netflix’s most ambitious undertaking, with an eye-watering rumoured budget of £100m, but its stars insist that if it’s to succeed, The Crown has to be vast.
“It needs this scale – things like this aren’t easy to pull off in television,” says Matt Smith of the 10-part original series, which sees him play the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, alongside Claire Foy’s Queen Elizabeth II.
“When you’re making a show about the royal family, it needs these great locations and it needs (hundreds of ) extras turning up, because otherwise it doesn’t bite in quite the same way.”
“I heard there were 7,000 extras the other day, in the whole series. Isn’t that insane?” chimes 32-yearold Claire, who’s previously depicted a royal – Anne Boleyn in the BBC’s prized adaptation of Wolf Hall.
Based in 1947, with Britain still reeling from the the Second World War, The Crown tells the inside story of Elizabeth II’s early reign, after her father, George VI, dies and, aged 25, she inherits the throne.
With a stellar cast, including Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret; John Lithgow as Winston Churchill; Jared Harris as King George VI, and Victoria Hamilton as the Queen Mother, the series provides a snapshot of the personal intrigues, romances and political rivalries behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century.
“What I found so interesting, moving and exciting, was that they are two people trying to have a relationship, but at the centre of this mad vortex of the monarchy, the country and politics, and what they’re told to be and what they want to be,” says Claire.
“What’s amazing about this show (is you) glimpse behind the royal veil,” adds 34-year-old Matt, best known for his role playing Doctor Who on the BBC.
“You see them getting ready for bed and you see them bickering about life, but you see them sharing wonderful domestic moments (too), and I found that particularly endearing.”
Do they think the real royals will be tuning in to judge their efforts?
“I would watch if it was me, because I would think someone is reflecting my whole life back at me,” Northampton-born Matt retorts. “I’d be like, ‘Come on, let’s see what you got!’”
“Ultimately, we’ve tried to be truthful, and with the amount of experience they have with people investing in their lives and picking things apart, I think this is probably small fry,” adds Stockport-born Claire.
Guaranteed to be tuning in, is Netflix’s American audience, who reportedly hope The Crown will fill the void left by the end of ITV’s Downton Abbey.
“It’s a story that appeals,” Claire says.
“Any programme post-Downton, the amazing success that they had, will always be compared because it was such a British export.”
TV has also changed drastically in recent years, though, Claire reflects.
“I know it sounds silly, because we’re still just making a TV programme, but the ethos behind it isn’t the same as when I first started out. It’s like making a film – a massive film.
“It feels like you’re doing 10 films, because of the amount of detail and the amount of time and love and everything that’s put into it,” says Claire.
“And the fact that Netflix is making original content; it is a different world.”
The Crown is available on Netflix now.