BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / The Crown

**Posted by Yitzock** December 30, 2017 9:33 pm

I was sure I saw that we had a topic for this series a while ago, but I have been unable to find it, so perhaps I was imagining things?

Anyway, I finished watching season 2 of The Crown on Netflix this week, and I was wondering if any of you have seen it, too.
In some ways I enjoyed it more than season 1, because the pacing seemed better from the start, but at the same time I think I liked it about as much season 1. One episode I didn't like very much was the Jackie Kennedy episode. I liked the scenes in Ghana, but the whole rivalry between her and the Queen didn't sit right with me, and I wondered how much of it was embellished and pandering to the American audience of the show. I liked the episode about Phillip and Charles' childhoods, though.
Overall, I thought the earlier episodes of season 2 were the best ones of this season.

I was surprised to hear from my aunt over Christmas that they will be changing the cast for season 3 going forward. I guess they thought Claire Foy was too young to be the Queen in what they have coming up next (although they haven't noticed a replacement for Matt Smith yet, and I wouldn't mind seeing him stick around if he could). I hope it won't be too hard for me to figure out who everyone is again. I don't know either if they will be replacing the actor who plays Margaret. I think she's really good (and got good episodes in season 2), so I would be sad to see her go, too.

**Posted by SolarSystem** January 29, 2018 8:10 pm

My husband and I (haha, sorry, couldn't help myself!) started watching The Crown last friday and we're in the middle of S2 now. So we still have a couple of episodes to go until the end of the season, but I can already say that I like the series very, very much.
I have to admit that I only became really interested in The Crown when I read that Olivia Colman will replace Claire Foy after S2 - I absolutely adore Olivia. The way I understand it, it's part of the concept of the show to replace actors after two seasons respectively because of the age factor. So Matt Smith will be replaced as well, and I suppose the same goes for the actress who plays Margaret.

That being said, I love everybody's performance so far. Claire is wonderful, so is Matt Smith. I'm not a huge fan of his Doctor, but he's definitely a great Philip. And John Lithgow's Churchill is right up there for me with Gary Oldman's Churchill in "The Darkest Hour" (which I saw last friday as well, so a perfect fit).
I also like the mixture of drama and politics. Having part of the show revolve around the personal lives of Elizabeth and Margaret (with probably a lot of fiction involved) and another part of the show around real events like The Great Smog works perfectly.

So I already can't wait for S3, but I suppose it'll take a while until we'll get it.

Last edited by SolarSystem (January 29, 2018 8:12 pm)

**Posted by SusiGo** January 30, 2018 8:04 pm

Same here. I started watching only two days ago and have watched six episodes so far. I really like the mixture of family story and political background. And the flashbacks to the 1930s with the abdication scandal and the moments with Elizabeth and her father are very interesting and moving as well.

Last edited by SusiGo (January 30, 2018 8:04 pm)

**Posted by SolarSystem** January 31, 2018 7:44 am

By the way, I just read that Helena Bonham Carter will play the role of Margaret in S3. There will be a jump in time ten years forward. And it seems that Paul Bettany was in negotiations to play Philip, but apparently he dropped out of those negotiations.
I'm still hoping for David Tennant of course, but that's just me.

Last edited by SolarSystem (January 31, 2018 7:44 am)

**Posted by gently69** January 31, 2018 8:35 am

I started with E1 this morning, on my way to work. (Thanks Netflix for the download possibility. )
I don't really have an opinion so far but it seems interesting. And it's funny for me to see Matt Smith in this role because I only know his Doctor. Two characters you can't compare.

Olivia Colman will join in S3? Brilliant!!! And David Tennant would be fantastic.
And yes, John Lithgow as Churchill is a great experience.

**Posted by SusiGo** January 31, 2018 8:38 am

Excellent actors, all of them. I am looking forward to seeing their takes on the parts although I think that Claire Foy is much closer to Elizabeth in appearance than Olivia Colman.

**Posted by gently69** January 31, 2018 9:06 am

But when the Queen gets older... I am looking forward to Olivia.

**Posted by Yitzock** January 31, 2018 2:51 pm

If they got David Tennant (which I doubt will happen, I can't picture him as anyone in the royal family unless he plays some other person we have yet to meet), it would be a sort of Broadchurch reunion, lol.

Interesting choice of Helena Bonham Carter as Margaret. In my mind she's strongly associated with Bellatrix Lestrange, so I have trouble imagining her with any other personality. We'll see how that goes.

I hadn't realize that the third season was going to be jumping ahead 10 years. Something I liked about the first two seasons was that it focused on the Queen's early years on the throne, so I would have liked more of a through line with that in season 3. But I'm sure there's still a lot of interesting things. I suppose 10 years is still farther in the past than what I often think of. I guess since season 2 was in the 60s, season 3 will take place in the 70s. I don't really know what she was up to at that time, now that I think about it, more about culture (music, film, TV) of that time. I only know some of the political stuff. Still sounds interesting.

**Posted by SolarSystem** February 1, 2018 2:18 pm

Well, from what I've heard Princess Diana will be in the picture in S3, but they haven't cast anynone for the role yet.
And then of course there's Margaret Thatcher, although I'm not sure whether or not she will play such a big part in S3 already. After all, she only became PM in 1979. But she was Leader of the Conservative Party before that, so we might get some Thatcher in some of the episodes.

**Posted by Yitzock** February 1, 2018 3:15 pm

Oh yeah, I guess those characters could come up. Hard to say whether, or how much, Thatcher might appear. The first thing I think of when it comes to Thatcher is the 80s and the miners (thanks to Billy Elliot). But that of course isn't the only thing she was ever involved with.