Netflix released the first teaser for “The Crown” Season 3 Friday, preparing fans for a world in which Claire Foy is no longer their Queen Elizabeth II. But never fear, because Olivia Colman is here to soothe any concerns you may have had about the time jump and casting changes. And she does so by playing Elizabeth just as Foy did — with wit and honesty.
In the 30-second video, readers will see the older Queen Elizabeth standing before two portraits of the queen: one of Foy and one of Colman.
“Everyone is delighted with the new profile, ma’am, which they feel to be an elegant reflection of her majesty’s transition from young woman to–,” one member of the queen’s entourage says. “Old bat,” Colman cuts in.
Though he tries to assure her it’s “just the tiniest changes,” she says: “A great many changes. Nothing one can do about it. One just has to get on with it.”
Along with Colman, the third season of the royal family drama stars Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, Tobias Menzies as The Duke of Edinburgh, Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles, Erin Doherty as Princess Anne, Ben Daniels as Lord Snowdon, Jason Watkins as Prime Minister Harold Wilson, and Charles Dance as Lord Mountbatten.
Here’s the official description for Season 3:
The third season of The Crown sees a new guard sweep into Downing Street, as Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) and her family struggle to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing Britain. From cold-war paranoia, through to the jet-set and the space age – the exuberance of the 1960s and the long hangover of the 1970s – Elizabeth and the Royals must adapt to a new, more liberated, but also more turbulent world. Written by Peter Morgan, The Crown also stars Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, Tobias Menzies as The Duke of Edinburgh, Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles, Erin Doherty as Princess Anne, Ben Daniels as Lord Snowdon, Jason Watkins as Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Charles Dance as Lord Mountbatten.
“The Crown” Season 3 launches Sunday, Nov. 17 on Netflix.