"The Crown" (2016-Present) - Netflix Drama Series on Queen Elizabeth II


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Me either...I just watch everything at one time if it's an option!


LaRae
 
The Crown's Matt Smith and Claire Foy on making a cuppa fit for royal tea.

Cup or Mug?

 
I binge watched the entire second series yesterday and I have to say that it's even better than the first though the pace remains a little slow.

Without giving any spoilers, I think it's pretty accurate in what it portrays and the characterisations are spot on. The way Princess Margaret changes from series one to series two is remarkable but it's also totally understandable and for the first time, I think it's easy to see where the Margaret of the 80s and 90s came from and when the carefree, happy and contented Margaret of the 40s and 50s disappeared.

It's also nice to at least hear about other members of the extended family and there's a brief scene with Princess Marina - though I can't say I think they got the casting right on that one!
 
Gaudete said:
I binge watched the entire second series yesterday and I have to say that it's even better than the first though the pace remains a little slow.

Without giving any spoilers, I think it's pretty accurate in what it portrays and the characterisations are spot on. The way Princess Margaret changes from series one to series two is remarkable but it's also totally understandable and for the first time, I think it's easy to see where the Margaret of the 80s and 90s came from and when the carefree, happy and contented Margaret of the 40s and 50s disappeared.

It's also nice to at least hear about other members of the extended family and there's a brief scene with Princess Marina - though I can't say I think they got the casting right on that one!
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Thought the portrayals of Snowdon and Margaret (both) were a bit one-dimensional, though it was a relief that they got off the whole playboy beat (I think they're single source was Anne de Courcy's book, good in itself, but not the only gig in town, as they say) in order to just dabble in the mommy issues. So that was good. But the series entirely skipped over anything with how he rose to be a royal photographer. They acted like the Queen had never met him before, when in fact, he had done some rather prominent photo shoots with the royals as far back as 1957. And no mention of him taking the Prince Andrew photos, hmm. Well, that would be hard to squeeze into the storyline of the Queen's worries, the Queen having Tommy Lascelles do the PI job! :lol: But the story of the dalliance with Margaret was rushed, treated as if they simply went neatly from point A to B, nothing in between, no nuance... And again, we got the message about him being a playboy! That was beaten over the head of the viewer like a bad rash. Got it, can we do something else? Is there a human inside the "bad boy", people? (Ok, thanks for mentioning the mommy issues, good job. And the one shot of his bad leg from polio. One mention of polio, one shot of him using a cane. Nothing else.) Sorry to be a Debbie downer, but Snowdon is a favorite of mine, and I've read A LOT about him (more than de Courcy) and I just think, yeah, he was a naughty boy, liked sex, blah blah blah, but that wasn't the sum total. It was cool how they got in the thing about the love child with Fry's wife, and the threesome, ok, that was fun, but not enough imo. If you're gonna obsess over the playboy thing, at least go all out and get the really fun stuff, like the girl in the trunk when he found out Margaret was coming over! :lol:?
 
I have watched it all. Loved it now have to wait another year. What’s true or what’s not who knows
 
Gaudete said:
I binge watched the entire second series yesterday and I have to say that it's even better than the first though the pace remains a little slow.

Without giving any spoilers, I think it's pretty accurate in what it portrays and the characterisations are spot on. The way Princess Margaret changes from series one to series two is remarkable but it's also totally understandable and for the first time, I think it's easy to see where the Margaret of the 80s and 90s came from and when the carefree, happy and contented Margaret of the 40s and 50s disappeared.

It's also nice to at least hear about other members of the extended family and there's a brief scene with Princess Marina - though I can't say I think they got the casting right on that one!
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I planned on binge watching it over the weekend but stopped around episode 5 and gave up. It is just so bad historically now as to be a total joke.

The entire way Philip is portrayed is not as a supportive husband but a whingey, whiney one from day one onwards, which wasn't the case - a bit lost in the early 1950s but by the end no way. Nothing about the incredible work effort he was doing then at all - just he was whining all the time and cheating on the Queen - hardly an accurate portrayal.

She comes across the most realistic - out of her depth in the 50s but growing into her role - as she did.

The rest was just garbage.

Sorry the only reason I had netflix was this series and I have cancelled it due to the appalling second season. Won't be worrying about the third - it will probably be as bad as the second season of Victoria which was even worse than the first historically as well.

Why can't these writers and producers etc do any basic historical research and get things right?
 
Really you do jest Bertie...do you think folks want to watch accurate history without all the hollywood embelishments??? LOL

Some things I'm okay with when they go off track, it just depends on how fictional it gets. I've stopped watching programs before over this issue.


LaRae
 
I thought it was good but slow. That worries me because the next series will focus on the 70s probably pretty slow in real life never mind at the glacial speed the Crown seems to address events.
 
Pranter said:
Really you do jest Bertie...do you think folks want to watch accurate history without all the hollywood embelishments??? LOL

Some things I'm okay with when they go off track, it just depends on how fictional it gets. I've stopped watching programs before over this issue.


LaRae
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I don't mind a bit of exaggeration or artistic license but outright lies are beyond the pale.

I teach 'historical fiction' to one of my classes and one piece of information I give them is that the statistics from the US in 2012 were that 76% of Americans learn their history from historical fiction - which is really frightening when you realise how inaccurate historical fiction is. (By the way - the only reason I am using US statistics is that that is where the article I use comes from but I suspect that it is the same for the rest of the world ... - sadly).
 
Yes I noticed in season 1 they really tried to make Prince Phillip into some sort of wastrel playboy who wasn't home long enough to do any actual duties except on a rare occasion.

It drives me CRAZY when someone watches a film and then assumes it's historically accurate! Heck you can't even trust some of the documentaries or books.

I love history and it really irks me when they go too far. The defense is always 'artistic license'. Meh.


LaRae
 
I watched the first two episodes so far. I wonder why they have Claire Foy speaking in a low voiced register? I think, in her younger years, The Queen spoke in a higher voice register. It’s lower now in her older age.
 
Yes I agree, unless she was unable to hit that range?


LaRae
 
Claire Foy is playing a character. She is doing an impersonation of the Queen. I thought Claire was excellent. 1950s voice of the Queen would be quite annoying in 2017. The actors playing Margaret and Tony are much taller than the real people but that doesn’t matter either.
 
I can’t edit previous post for some reason. Left out the not in second sentence: should be not doing an impersonation.
 
As I said in the post #356, I do think there is a tendency this season to be a bit cliche and one-dimensional. The Snowdon and Margaret characters are the prime example of this, but they are alone, in my estimation, by any means. With Philip, the writing is back and forth.... It's a bit bipolar, honestly. Sometimes we get the feeling, passionate, wonderful Philip. Other times, we get the cliche.

I thought one of the best moments for Matt Smith was in the episode, oh I can't remember... It was either in episode 2 or 3. He was alone at the bow of the yacht, Mike Parker came out for a bit and put the word "homesick" out there. Not much was said in this scene, but it was powerful emotion. I could feel Philip's longing for his family. Fantastic. That's the best of the character, as I see it, and I'd like to see more of that. I love when Matt Smith and Claire Foy don't even have to say a word, but you can feel what they're feeling.
 
This was never going to be 100% accurate and was only ever going to be a thin overview with as much drama packed into it as possible to keep people who know very little about the monarchy watching. Peter Morgan isn't writing the series for members of TRF who are generally interested and have read a lot or have done their own research. He's doing it for the general public who just want something interesting to see. I don't think he has a responsibility to educate the public, that's not the line of his work he's in.

I stopped watching ITV's Victoria because it really was so sensational and had departed so much from real life that it wasn't all that interesting to me. The Crown (based on my own research and reading) is probably about 60% accurate. It doesn't always focus on the right things and it does get stuff wrong that's easily avoidable. But if the public are relying on one TV series to learn about something as important as their own constitutional system, the problem probably lies with them and not Claire Foy.
 
Can I just say though that the last scene has to be the funniest. ''For Christ's sake! ..... Take the photo!'' ?
 
Empress Merel said:
Can I just say though that the last scene has to be the funniest. ''For Christ's sake! ..... Take the photo!'' ?
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I agree ! Fun to see the Kents and the Gloucesters included too :lol:
 
Watching the fourth episode and wondering why The Queen Mother is portrayed like she’s always on the verge of tears? Victoria Hamilton played Queen Victoria better, IMO.
 
I just finished the second season before logging on here. I won't give away any spoilers but that last scene between Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Balmoral was so wonderful. Now I have to wait a year for season 3.
 
I'm on episode 6 last having started my Christmas Holidays and will probably watch the last few episodes on Christmas Eve.
 
I thought Philip comes off very badly in his dealings with Charles.
And the Queen wasn't much better.

I felt so sorry for Charles.
 
I'm on episode 8 and will probably have will have watched the last 2 today,really have enjoyed series 2 so far.
 
Gaudete said:
I stopped watching ITV's Victoria because it really was so sensational and had departed so much from real life that it wasn't all that interesting to me.
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ITV's Victoria's description of outside historical events is pretty accurate IMHO. The sensationalism and fictional content come mostly from the depiction of the private lives of Victoria and of her household and staff, which is OK as we don't actually know a lot about it in real life anyway.
 
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It was extremely well made and entertaining ... but again it's only a fiction, and the reality is sometimes REALLY twisted to ad even more drama...
I'm afraid some watchers will take it litteraly. No you'll not become a royal expert by watching "The Crown" ! At least it's a good appetizer. If you want some facts, just read a good book ...
 
Nico said:
It was extremely well made and entertaining ... but again it's only a fiction, and the reality is sometimes REALLY twisted to ad even more drama...
I'm afraid some watchers will take it litteraly. No you'll not become a royal expert by watching "The Crown" ! At least it's a good appetizer. If you want some facts, just read a good book ...
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Or a good online Forum... ;)
 
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