The Crown's creators discuss making the hit Netflix series
The creators of Netflix's The Crown explain why sometimes its necessary to forsake accuracy, but never truth, in a drama based on real events
The Crown
The Crown: Deconstructing the Coronation
The lavish ten-part Netflix series became another outstanding triumph for writer Peter Morgan and a distinguished team . Critics noted a “startling attention to detail in everything from costumes to sets” and thought it hard to see how it could be better.
The show set out to tell the inside story of the most famous addresses in the world, Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street, and it did just that, exploring the intrigues, love lives and machinations of post-war Britain.
Netflix releases first look at Imelda Staunton as the Queen in The Crown
Staunton will take over the role from Olivia Colman, with the fifth series expected to cover the monarch’s reign in the 1990s and early 2000s, including the divorce of Prince Charles from Princess Diana and the death of the princess in 1997.
The role of Prince Phillip will pass from Tobias Menzies (This Way Up) to Jonathan Pryce (Game of Thrones), while Elizabeth Debicki (The Night Manager) will take on the role of Princess Diana from Emma Corrin.
The future of online viewing measurement
After years of refusal by the global streaming companies to share their viewing data, new light will soon be shed on the performance of Netflix, Amazon and Disney+ – and PSB streaming services such as All 4 and BBC iPlayer – by the industry ratings body Barb.
From the late summer, Barb expects to publish regular viewing figures for SVoD services on the same basis as those for broadcast television. This will allow meaningful comparisons to be made for the first time.
Hidden Figures: Understanding TV Audiences in the On-Demand Age
Lucy Bristowe, Sky Media’s Director of Insight and Research, Wayne Garvie, President, International Production, Sony Pictures Television, Sarah Rose, Chief Operating and Commercial Officer, ViacomCBS, UK, and Justin Sampson, CEO, BARB, discuss why the TV sector needs to measure on-demand audiences and how BARB is rising to the challenge with its reporting of audiences for these services. Plus, some previously unreported figures on series four of The Crown are revealed by BARB.
The craft of telling a fairytale in The Crown
“We think we all know Diana’s story, but I always ask the question: what must it have been like for any person going through that experience – what she was thrown into at such a young age?” said Benjamin Caron, the director of the Fairytale episode of The Crown.
The best period dramas to watch after Bridgerton
Bridgerton
Netflix
In regency England appearances are everything and for the powerful Bridgerton family they face the constant battle between their duty and desires.
Inspired by the Julia Quinn novels, wealth, lust, betrayal and honour are navigated by those seeking to stay ahead in an English society filled with secrets and gossip.
TV Picks: 9th November – 15th November
My Family, the Holocaust and Me with Robert Rinder
Monday 9th November
BBC One, 9pm
Robert Rinder is known for laying down the law in court show Judge Rinder, where the barrister helps settle disputes and grievances.
Netflix reveals first look at The Crown’s Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana
Gillian Anderson (Sex Education) will play Britain’s first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, while Emma Corrin (Pennyworth) will play Princess Diana.
The fourth series is set to cover Thatcher’s term and her relationship with Queen Elizabeth II (Olivia Colman), as well as the courtship between Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) and Lady Diana Spencer and their wedding in 1981 where she becomes Princess.
Netflix has also released images of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh (Tobias Menzies), and Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret.
Netflix releases first look trailer and premiere date for The Crown series four
A short trailer accompanied the announcement, in which Olivia Colman’s Queen Elizabeth II declares: “Something as important as the monarchy simply cannot be allowed to fail.”
The trailer also introduced the characters of Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana, played by Gillian Anderson and Emma Corrin.
The coming series will follow the arrival of Thatcher as Prime Minister and Diana’s turbulent relationship with Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor).