The Crown - series 3

[southeastdweller]

I'm so looking forward to seeing this when it returns next Sunday!

And no, the casting director is still Nina Gold, who I think we’d all agree has played a blinder with the overwhelming majority of the huge cast.

There's something a bit depressing about her.

That gives us a steer for the age they’d be looking for for Philip (reluctantly strikes Hugh Laurie off the list, even though I argued only five minutes ago that they shouldn’t go for anyone as fantastically high profile as he is).

Imelda Staunton was brilliant in the Confession - she totally transformed herself into a different person whereas usually I can see her as Dolores Umbridge in a lot of things she's done. There's an article claiming Netflix have denied the casting though etcanada.com/news/545428/report-harry-potter-actress-imelda-staunton-to-play-queen-elizabeth-in-the-crown-season-5/

I’m just not a fan of IS. I’m not even sure why. I just can’t see her as regal. I always think of her as a sort of kitchen cook / maid type person, which is awful of me I admit but she doesn’t have the royal type face that Claire Foy had / has. But maybe I’m wrong. We will see!

I'm enjoying this series so far, just up to Episode 5. Charles Dance is fabulous - I've always had a soft spot for him since Jam and Jerusalem, if anyone remembers that

I do have a couple of questions though! Does anyone know who the couple are in the scenes when the royals are all watching television, for example? The man (Henry?) had a birthday in the first or second episode. Are they the Gloucesters/Kents/Princess Alexandra and Mr Princess Alexandra?

Also, although the costumes are amazing and apparently as accurate as ever, the tiaras have been a bit disappointing so far. I'm a proper tiara nerd and really loved the replicas they used in Series 1 and 2. So far I think I recognised the fringe tiara HMQ wore on her wedding day, but they just seem a bit less impressive and realistic than the last couple of series.

Agree that it'd be good to see more made of the QM, but Prince Philip, Harold Wilson and Princess Anne stand out as brilliant so far. 👸

I think they are the Gloucesters. I think but am not certain.

Yes, the Gloucesters are there in most episodes. Penny Downie, a reasonably well-known actress, plays the DoG but doesn't seem to have been given any lines!

Thank you, WineOrGinOrBoth it's been puzzling me! It's strange that we haven't had any explanation (unless I've missed it or we're just supposed to know), especially when the rest of the show is so keen on the old info-dump

Sorry, QueenoftheAndals, x-post! Big fan of your Royal S&B threads, btw 😊👸

I was also wondering who those extra people watching TV with the Royals were.

I think Imelda Staunton will be good. She was fantastic in Gypsy (and I have a soft spot for her lovely husband). I'm not keen on Olivia Colman. If Keeley Hawes hadn't been so tall I think she would have been a better choice.

Casting was spot on for the first two seasons, right down to the minor characters, but it's just generally a bit off now. Derek Jacobi as David?! He's a very different build, very different facially and I'm sorry but he's been the voice of Iggle Piggle and for the past 12 years! She should go back to casting on the basis of suitability rather than fame.

He'll always be Uncle Clau-Clau to me, so hard to see him as Uncle David! But that's just me. Great actor though.

If Keeley Hawes hadn't been so tall I think she would have been a better choice

Olivia Colman is quite tall too. Also Vanessa Kirby is, I think, 1 m 70 which means she was much taller than the tiny Princess Margaret, who was no more than about 1m 55.

Speaking of height, from photos I've seen from series 4, the actress playing Diana looks great but isn't particularly tall. She looks shorter than Josh O'Conner, whereas Diana was at least as tall as Charles even in flats. Obviously the important thing is to cast the best actress for the role, but I do think Diana's height was a crucial part of the way she walked and carried herself.

I've got one more episode to go, but I have to say Derek Jacobi struck me as an odd casting choice. He just used his own voice, which is not remotely like the one Alex Jennings used, and it didn't seem to me that any effort had been made to make him look like the Duke of Windsor. And yes, he's a good 6 inches shorter than Alex is. I know people do shrink a bit with age, but surely not that much! Geraldine Chaplin did a better job of Wallis Simpson although she looked more ill than he did and he was the one who was meant to be dying...

Obviously the important thing is to cast the best actress for the role, but I do think Diana's height was a crucial part of the way she walked and carried herself.
I met her briefly when she opened a community centre where I did a Self Defence class. She was incredibly tall, when she came into the room there was a barely audible intake of breath. I'm not an ardent Royalist although not especially anti- either, neither were the other people, we'd been laughing about her visit moments before. She had a very other worldly presence and the build of a Barbie doll - quite hard to imitate I would think.

I think Nancy Carroll as Anne Glennconnor (PM’s lady-in-waiting) was a great choice as she looks so much like I imagined her to be in the 1970s. It must have been such a luxury for her to meet the real Anne, she seems to have really captured A.G’s voice (I saw her on the Graham Norton show the other week when she was on with OC and HBC).

The actress set to play Diana looks like Frances Bean Cobain. Now that would have been some constroversial casting!

David and Wallis portrayed as poor misunderstood star crossed lovers. Never mind the Nazi sympathising, the plotting against the British Govt or the playboy antics . No, no. Lovely people really...

I feel like I've watched a different show. I don't think they were portrayed like this at all. In fact, with the exception of their relationship with each other perhaps being pitched as more loving than it was, I think they were portrayed as dreadful people. The Duke of Windsor comes across as a vile, greedy child. Petulant and vindictive til the end.

I agree with @SpiderCharlotte, particularly having seen them in the previous series. They may well have stayed madly in love, I have no idea, but they clearly meant a lot to each other and I can believe Wallis' grief when he died. As to the Queen and the others, although he was, rightly, exiled I can imagine the grief at a relative they had once loved dying was mixed with grief about where it all went wrong and what could have been.

I thought Geraldine Chaplin was an inspired choice for Wallis. She's more sympathetic than Lia Williams but that's understandable as she's portraying Wallis towards the end of her life.

I'm really enjoying series 3, but I'm another one who is not convinced by OC. I agree that a lesser known actor would have been a better choice. I absolutely LOVE Tobias Menzies, particularly as I am not a fan of Matt Smith (although I would grudgingly have to admit that he did quite a good job as D of E in series 1 and 2).

One of the things I really love about the Crown is the opening music and credits. With most series, I always skip the intro, but I find both the music and the graphics (is that the right word?) absolutely amazing, and watch them in full each episode.

I agree about the intro. I never skip it.

I absolutely agree about the music - it's so dramatic and theatrical it really sets the tone so well.