Review: Heavy indeed is the weight of _The Crown_

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For some time I had heard about this series from Netflix, and being the Anglophile that I am, I just had to watch it. Needless to say, I was very impressed by this depiction of the reign and personal life of the United Kingdom's current monarch, Elizabeth II. Beginning in 1947, and the engagement of HRH Princess Elizabeth (Claire Foy) to the penniless (and former Greek Prince) Lt. Philip Mountbatten (Matt Smith) has just been announced. The King, George VI (Jared Harris) is happy about it, glad that his daughter is clearly in love and with a man who will treat her right -- he hopes. But her mother, Queen Elizabeth (Victoria Hamilton), isn't too thrilled. She would be much happier if her daughter had picked, say, a British or even better -- a Scottish -- aristocrat for her husband. And for a time, things are good. Elizabeth and Philip are living pretty ordinary lives for royals -- he's stationed in Malta, and they have two young children, Charles and Anne. But back in Buckingham Palace, the King is keeping a secret -- a chronic smoker, he is not well. And he's having to cope with the job of being the King -- there's mountains of paperwork to be gone through every day, delivered to him in red dispatch boxes, marked clearly 'The King,' along with meeting with his prime minister every week, along with the more subtle art of diplomacy. Lurking in the shadows is his elder brother, the former Edward VIII, now the Duke of Windsor (Alex Jennings), who abdicated to marry the notorious Wallis Simpson. The Duke clearly has quite a bit of contempt for his brother and sister-in-law, and doesn't bother to hide it. He's also whinging on about never having any money despite his lavish lifestyle. Worst still, he wants a hand in running the UK, and also doesn't bother to hide that. When the King's health worsens, he starts to make his move, hinting that the young Queen-to-be isn't really competent enough to be monarch. Then there's the real politics going on. Winston Churchill (John Lithgow) is starting up his second term as prime minister, but most feel that he's past his prime and there's a movement to see him replaced... To say that I was impressed by this series is an understatement. The series is based on a play, _The Audience_ by Peter Martin, who also wrote this ten part series. There's plenty of research up there on the screen, what with the exquisite recreations of Elizabeth II's wedding and coronation, royal jewels and interiors. But the real stars here are the actors. Claire Foy is wonderful as the Queen, hesitant in her role at first, but learning her way through the byzantine complications of family ties and real world politics. Matt Smith (whom I did not recognize at first) plays the part of Prince Philip to perfection, charming but also frustrated at his role of being the Queen's husband but not having any authority or power himself. Jared Harris plays the part of the dying George VI very well, and Eileen Aitkins as Queen Mary, the matriarch of the Windsors. One of the surprises in this is Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret, Elizabeth's younger sister. Her doomed, tormented romance with Peter Townshend is shown, and it's one that is hard to forget. Compared to Elizabeth's marriage, theirs is tormented and fraught with trouble as they are blocked at every turn by family, courtiers, and politicians. The only real problem that I had was with John Lithgow as Churchill. Every time he was on screen, I kept thinking 'Oh, there's Lithgow.' Which is poison to watching a historical film. But it was good to see the private side of Churchill's life, especially his love of art and painting. Each episode comes in at about an hour, and there is an overall arc to the tale, and this is a series that I will be adding to my collection soon. Very much recommended to anyone who likes royal history. Five stars overall.