Netflix has found its cast for “The Crown,” an original decades-spanning drama about Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who shaped post-war Britain. The 10-episode series will premiere in 2016.
Claire Foy (“Wolf Hall”) will play Queen Elizabeth II; Matt Smith (“Doctor Who”) will play Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh; and John Lithgow (“Third Rock from the Sun”) will play Sir Winston Churchill.
The series is based on Peter Morgan’s play “The Audience.” Morgan also serves as writer on the series, which is described as telling the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world — Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street — and the intrigues, romances and machinations behind the events that shaped the second half of the 20th century.
“The Audience” starred Helen Mirren, who also played Queen Elizabeth II in Miramax’s “The Queen” feature film, for which Morgan wrote the screenplay.
“The Crown” is produced by Left Bank Pictures and Sony Pictures TV with Morgan, Stephen Daldry, Philip Martin, Andy Harries, Suzanne Mackie, Tanya Seghatchian, Robert Fox and Matthew Byam Shaw serving as exec producers. Andrew Eaton serves as producer, and Daldry, Martin and Julian Jarrold will direct.
