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.
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.
Premise The Crown traces the life of Queen Elizabeth II from her wedding in 1947 through to the early 2000s.
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. Events depicted include the unmasking of the Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, Sir Anthony Blunt as a Soviet spy, Harold Wilson and Edward Heath's respective terms as prime minister, the Aberfan disaster, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, the 1969 Investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales, the death of the Duke of Windsor (the queen's uncle and the former king Edward VIII), the death and state funeral of Winston Churchill, and Princess Margaret's affair with Roddy Llewellyn that leads to divorce from Tony Armstrong-Jones. US president Lyndon B. Johnson and Camilla Shand also feature.
Cast
Main
Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Elizabeth's husband Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, Elizabeth's younger sister Ben Daniels as Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon, known as Lord Snowdon; Princess Margaret's husband Jason Watkins as Harold Wilson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Marion Bailey as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, King George VI's widow and Elizabeth II's mother Erin Doherty as Princess Anne, Elizabeth and Philip's second child and only daughter Charles Dance as Lord Mountbatten, Philip's ambitious uncle and brother of Princess Alice of Battenberg Josh O'Connor as Charles, Prince of Wales, Elizabeth and Philip's eldest child and the heir apparent
Featured The following actors are credited in the opening titles of up to two episodes: John Lithgow as Sir Winston Churchill, former prime minister of the United Kingdom Clancy Brown as Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States Jane Lapotaire as Princess Alice, Philip's mother Mark Lewis Jones as Edward Millward, Prince Charles's Welsh tutor Tim McMullan as Robin Woods, Dean of Windsor Derek Jacobi as Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII, who abdicated Geraldine Chaplin as Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, the Duke of Windsor's American wife Michael Maloney as Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Emerald Fennell as Camilla Shand, Charles's love interest Andrew Buchan as Andrew Parker Bowles, Anne's love interest; later Camilla's husband Harry Treadaway as Roddy Llewellyn, Margaret's lover
Recurring
David Rintoul as Michael Adeane, Baron Adeane, Private Secretary to the Queen Charles Edwards as Martin Charteris, Baron Charteris of Amisfield, Assistant Private Secretary to the Queen; later Private Secretary to the Queen Michael Thomas as Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, Elizabeth's paternal uncle Penny Downie as Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, Elizabeth's paternal aunt by marriage Alan Gill as Lewis Williams "Winkie" Douglas, close friend of Princess Margaret and former United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom Pippa Winslow as Peggy "Blinkie" Douglas, close friend of Princess Margaret and wife of Winkie Douglas Mark Dexter as Tony Benn, Postmaster General; later Minister of Technology Lorraine Ashbourne as Barbara Castle, Minister for Overseas Development; later Secretary of State for Transport and Secretary of State for Employment Aden Gillett as Richard Crossman, Ministry of Housing and Local Government; later Leader of the House of Commons Sam Phillips as the Queen's equerry Sinéad Matthews as Marcia Williams, Harold Wilson's private secretary David Charles as George Thomas, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department; later Secretary of State for Wales Stuart McQuarrie as George Thomson, Minister without portfolio Patrick Ryecart as the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal and Chief Butler of England Connie M'Gadzah as Sydney Johnson, the Duke of Windsor's valet/footman
Notable guests
Samuel West as Sir Anthony Blunt, Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures Angus Wright as Sir Martin Furnival Jones, Director-General of MI5 Paul Hilton as Michael Straight, American magazine publisher, novelist, patron of the arts, and a confessed spy for the KGB
Teresa Banham as Mary Wilson, wife of Prime Minister Harold Wilson Anthony Brophy as James Jesus Angleton, chief of CIA Counterintelligence Michael Simkins as Sir Patrick Dean, British Ambassador to the United States Martin McDougall as W. Marvin Watson, advisor to US president Lyndon B. Johnson Suzanne Kopser as Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady of the United States Pip Torrens as Sir Tommy Lascelles, Private Secretary to King George VI (in flashbacks) Verity Russell as young Elizabeth Beau Gadsdon as young Margaret
Richard Harrington as Fred Phillips
Gwyneth Keyworth as Gwen Edwards, mother of Rhys Edwards
Colin Morgan as John Armstrong, a Guardian journalist Miltos Yerolemou as Chronos Nigel Whitmey as Marquis Childs, American journalist, syndicated columnist, and author Colin Stinton as Lawrence E. Spivak, American publisher and journalist Finn Elliot as young Philip Leonie Benesch as Princess Cecilie, Philip's third sister (in flashback) John Hollingworth as Lord Porchester, nicknamed Porchey, Racing Manager to the Queen Rupert Vansittart as Cecil Harmsworth King, newspaper publisher Julian Glover as Cecil Boyd-Rochfort, Irish thoroughbred racehorse trainer
Philippe Smolikowski as Alec Head, French horse trainer and breeder John Finn as Arthur "Bull" Hancock, owner of thoroughbred racehorses at Claiborne Farm Nia Roberts as Silvia Millward, Edward Millward's wife David Summer as Thomas Parry, Principal of the University College of Wales Aberystwyth Henry Dimbleby as Richard Dimbleby, BBC broadcaster Alan David as Ben Bowen Thomas, President of the University College of Wales Aberystwyth
Henry Pettigrew as Neil Armstrong, the astronaut Felix Scott as Buzz Aldrin, the astronaut Andrew-Lee Potts as Michael Collins the astronaut Sidney Jackson as Prince Edward, Elizabeth and Philip's youngest child Marlo Woolley as Prince Andrew, Elizabeth and Philip's second son
Fred Broom as Cliff Michelmore, English television presenter and producer Daniel Beales as Patrick Moore, English amateur astronomer Kevin Eldon as Priest Michael
Matthew Baldwin as Kenneth Harris, The journalist who conducted The Duke and Duchess of Windsor in conversation with Kenneth Harris Togo Igawa as Emperor Hirohito, Emperor of Japan David Wilmot as Arthur Scargill, president of the Yorkshire branch of the National Union of Mineworkers Stephen Riddle as Derek Parker Bowles, Andrew Parker Bowles's father Judith Alexander as Ann Parker Bowles, Andrew Parker Bowles's mother Robert Benedetti-Hall as Major Bruce Shand, Camilla Shand's father Nesba Crenshaw as Rosalind Shand, Camilla Shand's mother Louis Zegrean as young Edward "Ted" Heath Richard Walsh as Joe Gormley, president of the National Union of Mineworkers Jessica De Gouw as Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, girlfriend of Lord Snowdon; later Lucy, Countess of Snowdon Nancy Carroll as Lady Anne Tennant, lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret and wife of Colin Tennant Richard Teverson as Colin Tennant, husband of Lady Anne Tennant Martin Wimbush as Sir Ronald Bodley Scott, English haematologist and expert on therapy for leukaemia and lymphoma Dan Skinner as Alastair Burnet, British journalist and broadcaster Tim Bentinck as Sir John Betjeman, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
Episodes
Production Development By October 2017, early production had begun on an anticipated third and fourth season, and by the following January, Netflix confirmed the series had been renewed for a third and fourth season.
Casting The producers recast some roles with older actors every two seasons, as the characters age. In October 2017, Olivia Colman was cast as Queen Elizabeth II for the third and fourth seasons. By January 2018, Helena Bonham Carter and Paul Bettany were in negotiations to portray Princess Margaret and Prince Philip, respectively, for these seasons. However, by the end of the month Bettany was forced to drop out due to the time commitment required. By the end of March 2018, Tobias Menzies was cast as Philip. In early May 2018, Bonham Carter was confirmed to have been cast, alongside Jason Watkins as Prime Minister Harold Wilson. The next month, Ben Daniels was cast as Tony Armstrong-Jones for the third season, along with Erin Doherty as Princess Anne. A month later, Josh O'Connor and Marion Bailey were cast as respectively Prince Charles and the Queen Mother. In October 2018, Emerald Fennell was cast as Camilla Shand. In December 2018, Charles Dance was cast as Louis Mountbatten.
Filming The third season began filming in July 2018.
Music
Release The third season was released on Netflix worldwide in its entirety on 17 November 2019, and consists of ten episodes.
Reception Rotten Tomatoes reported a 90% approval rating for the third season based on 102 reviews, with an average rating of 8.50/10. 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." On Metacritic, the season holds a score of 84 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Anita Singh called the series "by far, the best soap opera on television". The Los Angeles Timess Lorraine Ali praised the attention to historical detail and the performances, particularly from Colman and Bonham Carter. The Guardians 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". 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".
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". 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. Vultures Jen Chaney found the writing "a bit heavy-handed" in nevertheless "an absorbing, thoroughly enriching experience". 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".
Ed Power from The Independent was less complimentary, praising Colman's performance but finding the series somewhat "colourless".
Historical accuracy 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. 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.