The Crown plans to follow Queen Elizabeth's reign from her wedding in 1947 to present-day, over the course of six seasons.
The first trailer for Netflix original TV series The Crown is here. As someone who is a big fan both of Peter Morgan's previous fictional interpretations of Queen Elizabeth's life — the 2006 film The Queen and the 2013 stage play The Audience, both starring Helen Mirren — I am 100 percent ready for Netflix's latest series from the British writer. In addition to Morgan, The Crown has a wonderful cast (including Doctor Who's Matt Smith), as well as director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hourse) behind the camera.
As you have probably already guessed, The Crown dives back into a similar subject matter as the aforementioned Morgan works, exploring the inner life of Queen Elizabeth (Claire Foy). Here, she is 25 years old and has only just inheriting the crown. The trailer below teases not only Elizabeth's own anxieties and struggles assuming such a powerful position, but also how it affects her relationship with husband Prince Philip (Smith).
The Crown will also look at the relationship between Queen Elizabeth and then-prime minister Sir Winston Churchill. This aspect of The Crown seems to have much in common with The Audience, which imagined what Queen Elizabeth's conversations might have looked like with nine of the myriad prime ministers who have served during her reign.
The Crown also stars: John Lithgow as Sir Winston Churchill, Victoria Hamilton as the Queen Mother, Jared Harris as King George VI, Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret and Dame Eileen Atkins as Queen Mary. Here's the official synopsis from Netflix:
A Netflix original series, The Crown focuses on Queen Elizabeth II as a 25-year-old newlywed faced with the daunting prospect of leading the world's most famous monarchy while forging a relationship with legendary Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. The British Empire is in decline, the political world is in disarray, and a young woman takes the throne…. a new era is dawning. Peter Morgan's masterfully researched scripts reveal the Queen's private journey behind the public facade with daring frankness. Prepare to be welcomed into the coveted world of power and privilege and behind locked doors in Westminster and Buckingham Palace….the leaders of an empire await.
And here's the trailer...
All 10 episodes of The Crown will be released on Netflix on November 4th. If the first season is popular, Netflix hopes to make five more seasons that follow Elizabeth's reign all the way through to present-day over the course of 60 episodes in total. Frankly, this sounds awesome. We'll have to wait and see how the first season does. The Crown is currently the most expensive Netflix drama to date, at a cost of $13 million per episode.