STACK #193 Nov 2020

FEATURE TV

ABERFAN Episode 3.03 of The Crown focuses on the Aberfan disaster of 1966, in which a landslide of slurry at a Welsh colliery buried a school below, claiming the lives of 116 children and 28 adults. The Queen’s delayed response to the tragedy – visiting the Welsh town eight days later – drew criticism from the public, and this powerful episode explores her subsequent remorse and reasons for postponing the visit. “She was tough on herself, she was self-critical, not happy, she gave herself a bad mark,” Peter Morgan told Indiewire . “That episode is all about her internal life. When a crisis goes off, it throws the spotlight on our leaders. This was a way of getting to the internal life of the Queen. What was called for was an emotional response. She was able to give constancy and inscrutability, to show up on time and do her duty. She doesn’t do emotion. The story was to make the audience not just weep at the lost lives in Wales, but her emotional shortcomings.”

credits include roles in Peaky Blinders and the mini-series Les Misérables . “It’s a difficult situation for him because ultimately, the Queen’s not wrong when she says duty comes first. So that’s a tricky dynamic. But I think certainly, my aim was for people to feel an understanding of the predicament that Charles is in, which is a really difficult one and profound one,” he told Town & Country Magazine . “The emotional significance of a son waiting for his mother to die for his life to take meaning? That’s quite bold.” Erin Doherty as Princess Anne Playing the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Erin Doherty puts a modern spin on Princess Anne – an

• The Crown: Season 3 is out on Nov 11

Doherty’s own personality, she did find some common ground. “I found it really easy to relate to Anne, not knowing how on earth to handle this new phase of her life, being thrown into the deep end and fulfilling this duty. I linked my situation with getting the part, because I felt so out of my depth. Like, ‘Oh my God, now I’m going to be in a room with all these people, and I have to make out like I know what the hell I’m doing, whilst I’m quietly having a panic attack.’ I might as well make use of it.” Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip Taking over the role of the Duke of Edinburgh from Matt Smith is the actor Game of

Thrones ’ fans will recognise as Edmure Tully. “I really enjoyed playing someone who is alive and real,” he told Deadline . “To have so much

The new cast didn’t bother me, it was how to make the new cast feel like it was the same show. I just wanted it to feel seamless, and I think it does.

footage to watch and audio to listen to, I’d not experienced that before. You end up saying lines and doing stuff that you wouldn’t come up with otherwise. There’s also the technicalities of how someone talks, and the intonation they use. I found that kind of liberating in a strange way. “He’s enjoyably a debunker. He pokes at unnecessary pomp and circumstance, he’s funny. What Olivia and I built with the texture and atmosphere of that marriage I also came to really like.”

– Creator and writer Peter Morgan

independent royal who likes to sing along to David Bowie. “She’s like this royal rock star. She doesn’t really care about the repercussions of her actions because she’s doing what she believes to be right every step of the way. If someone is not afraid to push the boundaries, it’s so much fun to play,” Doherty told Elle . Although the Princess is far removed from

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