Netflix’s The Crown is finally returning to screens this year after a huge cast shake-up. Now that the royal drama series is moving into the middle years of Queen Elizabeth’s life, Claire Foy – as well as the likes of Matt Smith as Prince Phillip and Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret – have had to make way for an all-new line-up of Windsors. And at last, the first teaser for the the third run has materialized online today, revealing when it’ll land on the streaming service.
The short, 20-second promo focuses on a crack in the door into a room at Buckingham Palace, with the Queen walking into view and staring straight at the camera – unveiling Olivia Colman as Her Maj, in full royal regalia. It’s then confirmed that The Crown season 3 hits Netflix on Sunday, November 17th.
This date makes sense, as both previous seasons have dropped towards the end of the year, with season 1 debuting in November 2016 and season 2 in December 2017. Given the long delay since the sophomore outing, however, fans were hoping season 3 might be with us slightly sooner. As it is, when it gets to November, it’ll be almost 2 years since the last run.
It should be worth it, though, given the talent involved in the production. Colman will be joined by Helena Bonham Carter as her sister Margaret, with Tobias Menzies as Phillip. Ben Daniels, meanwhile, is Margaret’s husband, Tony Armstrong-Jones/Lord Snowden, with Josh O’Connor and Erin Doherty as her children, Princes Charles and Princess Anne.
As season 3 will cover 1964-1977, new real-life figures factoring into the story this time around include Prime Minster Harold Wilson, played by Jason Watkins. A fourth season has already been confirmed, too, which will move into the 1980s and include Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher.
The Crown season 3 is expected to last for another 10 episodes, as per the first two, and we’ve only got three more months to go until it arrives.