The Crown season 3
The third season of The Crown follows the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II. It consists of ten episodes and was released by Netflix on 17 November 2019.
The Crown
Olivia Colman stars as Elizabeth, along with main cast members Tobias Menzies, Helena Bonham Carter, Ben Daniels, Jason Watkins, Marion Bailey, Erin Doherty, Jane Lapotaire, Charles Dance, Josh O'Connor, Geraldine Chaplin, Michael Maloney, Emerald Fennell, and Andrew Buchan. John Lithgow and Pip Torrens return in cameo appearances.[1]
Premise[edit]
The Crown traces the life of Queen Elizabeth II from her wedding in 1947 through to the early 2000s.[2]
Season three covers the time period between 1964 and 1977, beginning with Harold Wilson's election as prime minister and ending with the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II.[3] Events depicted include the unmasking of the Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, Sir Anthony Blunt as a Soviet spy,[4] Harold Wilson and Edward Heath's respective terms as prime minister,[5][1] the Aberfan disaster,[6] the Apollo 11 Moon landing,[7] the 1969 Investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales,[8] the death of the Duke of Windsor (the Queen’s uncle and the former King Edward VIII),[9] the death and state funeral of Winston Churchill,[10] and Princess Margaret's affair with Roddy Llewellyn that leads to divorce from Tony Armstrong-Jones.[11][12] US President Lyndon B. Johnson and Camilla Shand also feature.[1][13]
The Crown: Season Three
Production[edit]
Casting[edit]
The producers recast some roles with older actors every two seasons, as the characters age.[27] In October 2017, Olivia Colman was cast as Queen Elizabeth II for the third and fourth seasons.[14] By January 2018, Helena Bonham Carter and Paul Bettany were in negotiations to portray Princess Margaret and Prince Philip, respectively, for these seasons.[28][29] However, by the end of the month Bettany was forced to drop out due to the time commitment required.[12] By the end of March 2018, Tobias Menzies was cast as Philip.[15] In early May 2018, Bonham Carter was confirmed to have been cast, alongside Jason Watkins as Prime Minister Harold Wilson.[16] The next month, Ben Daniels was cast as Tony Armstrong-Jones for the third season,[17] along with Erin Doherty as Princess Anne.[18] A month later, Josh O'Connor and Marion Bailey were cast as respectively Prince Charles and the Queen Mother.[20] In October 2018, Emerald Fennell was cast as Camilla Shand.[25] In December 2018, Charles Dance was cast as Louis Mountbatten.[19]
Reception[edit]
Rotten Tomatoes reported a 90% approval rating for the third season based on 100 reviews, with an average rating of 8.54/10. Its critical consensus reads: "Olivia Colman shines, but as The Crown marches on in reliably luxurious fashion through time it finds space for the characters around her, providing ample opportunity for the appealing ensemble to gleam, too."[34] On Metacritic, the season holds a score of 84 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[35]
Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Anita Singh called the series "by far, the best soap opera on television".[36] The Los Angeles Times's Lorraine Ali praised the attention to historical detail and the performances, particularly from Colman and Bonham Carter.[37] The Guardian's Lucy Mangan praised the "top-notch performances", adding that the season is "so confident and so precision-engineered that you don't notice the defects".[21] Daniel Fienberg for The Hollywood Reporter judged the cast transition to be a success, adding the series "remains a model for carefully crafted episodic storytelling".[3]
There was some criticism of the lack of nuance within the writing. The BBC's Hugh Montgomery found it "increasingly on the nose", with the season "the best yet".[38] Alison Rowat from The Herald opined some scenes were "over-engineered" and dialogue "too on the nose", but nevertheless that it excels as a political drama.[39] Vulture's Jen Chaney found the writing "a bit heavy-handed" in nevertheless "an absorbing, thoroughly enriching experience".[26] Reviewing for Variety, Caroline Framke thought the series does not always succeed in humanising the royal family, but when it does, it is "as compelling a portrait of how power warps individuals, and the world along with them, as exists on TV".[24]
Ed Power from The Independent was less complimentary, praising Colman's performance but finding the series somewhat "colourless".[40]
Historical accuracy[edit]
The Queen did not visit Churchill following his final stroke. Writer Hugo Vickers claims that by then he was senile and incapable of holding a conversation.[41] Anthony Blunt's exposure as a Soviet spy also drew criticism. Vickers noted that the episode did not mention that he was publicly exposed in 1979 and stripped of his knighthood, while also noting that he never resided at Buckingham Palace and ridiculing a scene in which he discusses his exposure with Prince Philip in an attempt to blackmail the royal family.[42][43]
The depiction of the relationship with President Johnson has been criticised. It has been suggested that he did not refuse to attend Churchill's funeral, in response to Wilson's refusal to support the Vietnam War, but that he was genuinely unable due to poor health. His disappointment with Wilson's views on Vietnam had developed much later.[42][44] Historians also denied the episode's implication that no US president had ever been to Balmoral; Eisenhower had visited Balmoral while president in 1959.[45] Critics noted that the episode did not mention that Johnson had been the only president since Truman never to have met the Queen.[42][46] The implication that Johnson did not know who Princess Margaret was before her visit to America was also criticised.[42] The Princess did attend a White House dinner, but the details are mostly fictional (such as her carousing with Johnson and kissing him, dirty limericks, and helping secure a US bailout, which in fact had already been negotiated).[47][48] The depiction of Princess Margaret and President Johnson publicly insulting the late President Kennedy during the same White House dinner was seen as highly unlikely since members of the Kennedy family, as well as John Connally, who was riding with Kennedy during the assassination, were reportedly among those who attended the dinner.[49]
The relationship with Princess Alice has also drawn criticism for Prince Philip's depiction as being estranged from his mother and objecting to her visiting London. In reality, he visited her regularly and often transported her by plane, and her depicted interview with a journalist from The Guardian never happened. Vickers also stated that the same episode ignored that Prince Philip encouraged her to move to London permanently.[41]
Prince Charles did visit the Duke of Windsor in Paris in 1972,[50] although the depiction of the letters concerning his affections for Camilla was criticised: the Prince and Camilla had met, but were not intimately close during the Duke's lifetime.[51][41] The Queen did visit the Duke ten days before his death, but this had been long-planned and not requested at short notice.[41] Simpson was not with the Duke when he died.[42][52]
The timeframe of Woods's posting as Dean of Windsor around the time of the Apollo 11 spaceflight and lunar landing in July 1969 is inaccurate, as he had taken the role in 1962.[53][42] Prince William of Gloucester had also died five years before the Queen's Silver Jubilee.[42]
It has been suggested that there was no plot by the palace to prevent Prince Charles and Camilla's marriage, with Camilla's love for Andrew Parker Bowles being genuine, and Prince Charles unable to decide.[42][54] It has also been suggested that Princess Anne's relations with Andrew Parker Bowles did not overlap with Prince Charles and Camilla's introduction. Reviews of the episode noted that it ignored more significant events, citing Princess Anne's 1973 wedding to Captain Mark Phillips and her attempted kidnapping in 1974.[51]