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in terms of what he needs to do to be king. His marriage and his mother are getting in the way of that.”

Often, actors who play married couples will spend a fair amount of time together to build the kind of chemistry you’d expect from a long-term relationship. However, West says that wasn’t the case with him and Elizabeth Debicki – in fact, “we avoided it a bit, because in this season we’re not getting on at all”.

“I think Charles and Diana did have chemistry in the early stage of their marriage and when Harry was born, but other than that, they are like two opposing magnets, they’re not getting on at all,” he adds.

“We were keen to show the magic that they both spun when they were in Australia and on this trip that they did around Italy. They could turn it on for the press and so it was important that we could show that star quality.”

Meanwhile, lonely in the no-man’s land between marriage and divorce and having already secretly agreed to expose the truth of the cracks in the House of Windsor in Andrew Morton’s book, Diana begins to wonder – if she were to do a candid and honest interview with BBC journalist Martin Bashir, would she achieve the freedom she longs for?

Debicki says that The Crown’s adaptation of that Panorama interview – including the famous line “there were three of us in this marriage” – is “as close as possible” to the real version.

“It’s a very profound sentence that she uttered, it is laden with so much meaning,” says the 32-year-old actor. “It’s very interesting doing any kind of recreation of these things, because people bring their memories to it when they hear it again. It’s a fascinating thing as an actor, to be aware of that process happening. Let’s just say I listened to it a lot. I couldn’t even tell you how many times.

residents of Latimer Crescent has moved out.

Yes, Doon Mackichan, who played vaping, boozy Cathy, has left the show, but Jonathan Watson is back as the newly single Colin.

In the opening episode, long-suffering Beth (Arabella Weir) and Eric (Alex Norton) are doing their best to cheer him up, although Christine (Elaine C Smith) is more interested in finding out all the gory details about the split.

Lost Worlds With Ben Fogle

Thursday, Channel 5, 9pm

The intrepid adventurer’s latest series has been short but sweet – this third edition is the last.

It may be the most

“The way Peter [Morgan, creator]’s written Diana’s journey through this season is as an exploration of the potentially devastating effects of isolation and how one can lose one’s sense of self and how destructive that can be to a person and to a spirit,” Debicki adds.

“But also what happens when, from that murky, swampy and really painful place, you can either choose to stay there or really try and do the work to evolve from it.”

While The Crown is, ultimately, a historical drama series, creator Peter Morgan and his team painstakingly research every aspect of the plot to give the characters and their stories depth and intricacy.

“Obviously, in the 1990s everything had started to be filmed and also it was the birth of the 24-hour news cycle so there’s just his incredible amount of content that we have access to,” Debicki points out.

“Diana was the most photographed person in the world at that time. As an actor, you open the portal and this huge tsunami of information comes at you. I happily swam around in it.”

Staunton adds that she really admires the research team’s work and that the challenge of playing a fictionalised version of a real person was “huge” but “really interesting to do”.

“You get all the facts, but you can’t act facts,” she says. “At first you think, ‘I can’t start from the outside, surely I’ve got to start from the inside and work my way out?’ but of course we’re talking about a real person.

“And yet there are fictional scenes, so that’s the challenge, and it’s a great challenge, and one that I hope I have managed to slightly conquer a tiny bit.

“It’s such an extraordinary piece of work to be involved with.”

The Crown returns to Netflix on Wednesday

intriguing yet, however, because it sees Fogle, pictured, tour three of Scotland’s abandoned islands. First up is Stroma, which can be glimpsed from John O’groats, then Swona, whose final residents left in 1974, before a trip to St Kilda, home to 210 different bird species.

The Graham Norton Show

Friday, BBC1, regions vary

During one of his previous appearances on this show in 2019, Bruce Springsteen revealed he once broke into Elvis Presley’s Graceland home. Hopefully, he’ll have some more interesting anecdotes to share tonight as he joins the host to promote his new album Only The Strong Survive.

Queen’s Gambit and Peaky Blinders star Anya Taylor-joy and comedian and presenter Mo Gilligan complete the line-up, while music comes from Florence and the Machine.

EASTENDERS

As Nina questions where Ravi’s loyalties lie, it seems the Panesars are managing to maintain a united front – but their happiness proves short-lived when the police turn up to arrest Suki for Ranveer’s murder. Kheerat rages at Nish and Ravi and, when new information comes to light, he’s determined to do whatever it takes to save his mother.

Elsewhere, Callum invites Ben to move in so they can support Lexi, but they have different ideas about how to do it – Callum thinks she needs to know the truth about Lola’s prognosis, while Ben would rather research other options. Sam’s money problems catch up with her – and so does her ex, Don. She tries to deal with him by pretending she still loves him, little expecting it will inspire him to propose.

CORONATION STREET

Adam accompanies Fiz to a meeting with the publisher of the John Stape book, where she hopes to persuade them to remove Hope’s name. During a Q&A session at a local hotel, Tyrone sees red and slaps the journalist who wrote it. A clip of the attack goes viral, so the publisher decides to capitalise on the situation by launching the tome a week early.

As Billy admits to Todd he’s been too overbearing, Summer leaves home. She and Aaron move into the builder’s yard flat with Jacob and Amy – the latter’s decision to quit the Barlow household goes down like a lead balloon. Elsewhere, Sam announces he wants to meet Harvey, Lauren and Griff get inside Max’s head, Bernie learns the truth about Fern and Stu’s conviction is overturned.

EMMERDALE

Nicola gets her day in court, but she’s doubtful she’s going to get justice as Naomi’s barrister makes mincemeat of her on the stand. It’s probably small consolation that the case also doesn’t seem to be going Naomi’s way, as Saskia’s barrister suggests that she was no longer friends with the other defendants at the time of the attack and implicated them as a form of revenge. Later Saskia corners Naomi in the toilets and threatens her family.

Vinny struggles with the finality of collecting Liv’s ashes, but it seems Chas is coming to terms with her loss as she drops Faith’s ashes off at the factory to be turned into a firework. Kim feels like she’s got her family back and Cathy tries to bring April and Arthur together.

HOLLYOAKS

The focus is on women’s safety as Maxine, Theresa, Verity and Zoe continue to boycott the local bars and clubs and head for a night out in Liverpool instead. Unfortunately, their evening takes a turn for worse when Maxine is separated from her friends and thrown out of a club. As she tries to make her way home by herself with no phone or cash, she is attacked.

Meanwhile, Romeo is worried for Theresa’s safety and ends up making a journey of his own in the company of a hen party. Back in the village, a group of local men are planning to catch the spiker, Donna-marie finds Beau a new solicitor and Warren discovers that Norma’s life is under threat.

POBOL Y CWM

Someone returns unexpectedly to Cwmderi, but has Arwen gone a step too far teasing Gwern? Will Tesni believe Gwyneth? And Rhys is furious with the way Hywel and Gaynor are raising Esther.

What will be the result of Mark’s prostate test? Meanwhile, Gwyneth is angry with Dani for coming between her and Gwern.