It looks like Netflix’s The Crown will get quite a shake-up in its future seasons. Come Season 3, Claire Foy will no longer portray Queen Elizabeth II, but will be replaced in the role by Broadchurch’s Olivia Colman.
The change is to better portray the key characters as they age, something series creator Peter Morgan had always planned. Each season does cover nearly a decade in the life of the Queen, with Season 1 covering 1947 – 1955 and Season 2 covering 1957 – 1963. Based on this, Matt Smith will also be replaced eventually in the role of Prince Phillip.
Colman has also starred in The Lobster, Hot Fuzz and AMC’s miniseries The Night Manager, based on the John le Carre novel. She won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her role and was also nominated for an Emmy. She will be seen next in Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express.
The Crown, a Netflix original series, tells the inside story of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, as the fragile social order established after the Second World War breaks apart. Based on the award-winning play, The Audience, the series reunites creator/writer Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon) with director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours) and producer Andy Harries (The Queen).
Beginning with soldiers in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces fighting an illegal war in Egypt, and ending with the downfall of her third Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan after a devastating scandal, the second season bears witness to the end of the age of deference, and ushers in the revolutionary era of the 1960s.
The Crown continues to chronicle the major political and global events that have defined and shaped the second half of the twentieth century – a series that is unprecedented in its scale, ambition and creative vision.
The Crown Season 2 will air on Netflix in December.
Originally published October 27, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
