I got into The Crown a bit late, long after the Netflix drama – which follows the rise and rule of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth – had already become an awards juggernaut. Damn, am I a fan now! After blazing through the show’s three seasons back to back recently though, I have to admit that it’s first two seasons, featuring Claire Foy as an Elizabeth in her 30s and 40s, are superior to the third season with the brilliant Olivia Colman taking on the role of an older monarch. The main reason is that that was just more compelling drama in Elizabeth’s younger life. But that is about to change.
The upcoming fourth season of The Crown will be jumping ahead to the late 1970s/early 1980s and thus see the introduction of two very iconic, but very different women in the monarch’s life: Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female Prime Minister and a no-nonsense foil, and Lady Diana Spencer, the future bride of Prince Charles, who shook up the status quo and is doomed for tragedy. The two women are played by Gillian Anderson and Emma Corinth, respectively, and based on the new trailer for The Crown season 4, they put in powerhouse performances worthy of their real-world counterparts!
Check out the full synopsis and trailer below:
As the 1970s are drawing to a close, Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) and her family find themselves preoccupied with safeguarding the line of succession by securing an appropriate bride for Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor), who is still unmarried at 30. As the nation begins to feel the impact of divisive policies introduced by Britain’s first female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson), tensions arise between her and the Queen which only grow worse as Thatcher leads the country into the Falklands War, generating conflict within the Commonwealth. While Charles’ romance with a young Lady Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin) provides a much-needed fairytale to unite the British people, behind closed doors, the Royal family is becoming increasingly divided.
Along with the trailer, Netflix recently also released a batch of images giving further looks at the key players in the drama that’s about to unfold in this coming season, including Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles (who quickly became one of my favourite characters in season 3, imbuing a complexity into the troubled heir that I was not aware of). And, of course, there’s that iconic shot of Diana in her wedding dress which captured the world on the day of her wedding to Charles in 1981.
As has been the tradition of The Crown every two seasons, the show will be taking a significant time jump after this coming season, meaning that we say goodbye to the current cast of the show. Some season five cast announcements have already started rolling in and see BAFTA Award-winning actress Imelda Staunton replacing Colman as Queen Elizabeth, Oscar-nominated actor Jonathan Pryce replacing Tobias Menzies as Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, Golden Globe-nominated actor Dominic West replacing O’Connor as Prince Charles, and Elizabeth Debicki replacing Corrin as Princess Diana.
Although their replacements have not been announced yet, this will also be the final season for Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, Erin Doherty as Princess Anne, Emerald Fennell as Camilla Parker Bowles, Marion Bailey as the Queen Mother, and Charles Dance as Lord Mountbatten.
Season 4 of The Crown is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on 15 November.
Last Updated: October 30, 2020
BradeLunner
October 30, 2020 at 12:15
I picked this up exactly the same way during lockdown, wife had been hassling me to watch this together and I could not be bothered. I gave it a chance after realizing Jared Harris and Tobias Menzies were in it and Holy crap it is not what I thought at all, it’s great! Claire Foy was incredible. Latest season drags abit but I’ll also second your comment about Charles, that actor is making an unlikable person very relatable. Diana looks uncanny.