The Crown has got a lot to lose this year. For two seasons, viewers have developed a sense of ownership over the cast – Matt Smith’s randy Prince Philip, Vanessa Kirby’s Ab-Fab-gone-emo Princess Margaret, Claire Foy’s confusingly expressive Queen Elizabeth – but now the decks have been cleared.
Over the last few weeks, we have experienced a slow drip of casting announcements for series three of The Crown. The new cast may get to shoulder some of the juiciest moments of Elizabeth’s reign – the show’s creator, Peter Morgan, would be a fool if he didn’t end the cycle with all the separations and fires of 1992 – so they need to be perfect. But are they? Let’s rate the newcomers’ suitability, based on nothing but pure speculation
Josh O’Connor, Prince Charles
Admittedly, the 1970s were Charles’s “swordsman” years, to the extent that we may even see an episode about him trying to have it off with one of the Three Degrees. But, still, Josh O’Connor is a ruggedly handsome man, and nobody in history has ever used the word “rugged” to describe Charles. 2/5
Tobias Menzies, Prince Philip
As one of the Tullys on Game of Thrones, Menzies has proved that he can do anachronistic pomp with the best of them. Plus, like Matt Smith, he shares Philip’s sternly equine bone structure. However, go and do an image search for Tobias Menzies. What’s that? Is it … an earring? Imagine Prince Philip getting his ear pieced. Imagine all the people he would kill with his bare hands before the piercing gun even arrived in the same postcode as him. 2/5
Marion Bailey, the Queen Mother
Marion Bailey has enjoyed a long and prestigious career as an actor – including a stint as the Queen in 2014 – and, at 67, is roughly the same age as the Queen Mother in series three. The issue is, though, that she simply doesn’t look old enough. The Queen Mother always looked absolutely, breathtakingly, terrifyingly ancient. Unless producer/director Stephen Daldry tips a bucket of dust over her before every scene, this will be hard to pull off. 3/5
Erin Doherty, Princess Anne
Of all the new announcements, Doherty is the least known. She may be a tremendous Princess Anne or she may be a terrible one. But, since nobody has ever cared about a single thing that Princess Anne has ever done, that probably won’t matter. 3/5
Ben Daniels, Lord Snowdon
Remember Ben Daniels in House of Cards, playing a randy photographer? Guess what: now he’s going to be on The Crown, playing a randy photographer. Perfect casting. Well done, everyone. 3/5
Jason Watkins, Harold Wilson
First (and this is true of all three remaining actors), seeing Jason Watkins in anything is a thrill. However, by playing a Labour prime minister who deals with a ridiculous monarchical dynasty dripping with wealth, Watkins will essentially be the antagonist of series three. Doesn’t he seem a little too nice for that? 4/5
Olivia Colman, Queen Elizabeth
As the one actor on earth capable of bettering Claire Foy’s turn as the Queen, Colman is guaranteed to be nothing less than spectacular this year. The only potential niggle is that she is such a warm performer – funny, vulnerable and angry – that she may struggle to connect with the mile-high granite cliff-face of Elizabeth’s outward persona. Still, scowling and waving isn’t exactly the worst way to make a living. 5/5
Helena Bonham Carter, Princess Margaret
This is why you’ll watch The Crown. Vanessa Kirby set up Margaret perfectly, as a campy, vampy, obnoxious perpetual teenager. And nobody in the universe will be able to cash in on that like Helena Bonham Carter. Every microsecond of her performance is destined to become a gif, and that is the highest compliment you can pay an actor in 2018. 7/5
Season three of The Crown will be released on Netflix in 2019
