Right from the beginning, The Crown was intended to span sixty episodes spread out over six seasons as it told the story of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, and given that Elizabeth's reign covers quite a number of years, it was only natural that multiple actors would play the Queen. The first two seasons starred Claire Foy (THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB) as Elizabeth and Matt Smith (Doctor Who) as Philip, with the upcoming third and fourth seasons set to star Olivia Colman (THE FAVOURITE) and Tobias Menzies (Outlander) stepping into those roles.
Given how acclaimed the first two seasons of The Crown were, it might be seen as a risky move for audiences to accept a completely recast series, but creator Peter Morgan isn't overly concerned. "It’s a bit like changing contact lenses," Morgan told Entertainment Weekly recently. "I think it takes you about five minutes to get used to it." With the third season slated to debut this November and the fourth not arriving until 2020, there's still a bit of time to wonder just who will fill the role of Queen Elizabeth II in the final two seasons, but Morgan teased that it could be someone audiences are quite familiar with: Helen Mirren.
She loves the show. She thought there was nothing left to say, and I think she’s really surprised.
Peter Morgan made it clear that he hasn't discussed the subject with Helen Mirren just yet, but the actress has played the Queen twice before; once in 2006's THE QUEEN and again in the 2013 play The Audience, both of which were written by Peter Morgan. The writer had originally envisioned The Crown as a film exploring the relationship between Elizabeth and Winston Churchill before the concept developed into its current form. "I thought, ‘It’s quite interesting to do a young queen, a middle-aged queen, and an old queen,'" Morgan said. "Originally, when I went to Netflix, I was pitching it as three seasons. It just kept growing." Morgan added that he had more than enough material for another season with Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II, but "by the time we got to the end with Claire and Matt, I think they were ready to go somewhere else."
The third season of The Crown will debut on Netflix on November 17, 2019.