Every Friday, TMINE lets you know when the latest global TV shows will air in the UK
Only one acquisition without a premiere date this week – Netflix has picked up Syfy (US)’s yet-to-be-made George RR Martin piece Nightflyers. Otherwise, a lovely feast of dates for new shows lies ahead of you, two of which I’ve actually seen and reviewed, which is nice.
Season 1 of The Crown could have been better. Written by perennial Queen fictionaliser Peter Morgan (The Queen, The Audience), The Crown is Netflix’s big attempt to outdo the BBC at what it does best, being a multi-decade, multi-season, semi-factual prestige project about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, starting in the 1950s with her ascent to the throne after the death of her father and following her through to the present day.
Beautifully made, wonderfully acted, frequently funny, frequently tear-jerking, often romantic, and sometimes eye-opening, season 1 was nevertheless an occasionally turgid affair. Too often focused on husband Philip (Matt Smith) or Prime Minister Winston Churchill (John Lithgow) and not her maj, when Elizabeth (Claire Foy) herself did get a look-in, she was something of a wet blanket of a monarch, constantly unhappy, personality-less and tossed from situation to situation like a corgi being taken for a walk. Whether it was the 1950s themselves being a bit dull, the writers trying to avoid saying anything too ‘interesting’ about the Royal Family or simply the choice of stories told – Churchill having his portrait painted or the Pea-Soupers don’t seem like the most obvious choices of plot for a show called The Crown – you got the feeling that everything was wrapped in plastic and a more lively show was lurking underneath it all.
Season 1 finally concluded with the departure of Churchill, replaced by Anthony Eden (Jeremy Northam), and the arrival of the Suez Crisis – the event that marked the true death knell for the British Empire and its status as a top-tier world power.
But with Claire Foy and Matt Smith signed up for only one more season, the question was whether the show would carry on in the 50s, leap to the 60s or do something completely different in season two.
Oddly, it chooses to carry on exactly where it left off. Fortunately, this season the gloves are off and we get a more warts-and-all portrayal of our constitutional monarchy – and of other similar relationships, including JFK and Jackie’s.
