Lesley Manville to Play Princess Margaret in the Fifth Season of “The Crown”

The Crown is a historical drama series about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, created and principally written by Peter Morgan, and produced by Left Bank Pictures and Sony Pictures Television for Netflix. It grew out of Morgan’s film The Queen (2006) and his stage play The Audience (2013), and is credited as based on the latter.

Lesley Manville won the London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actress of the Year for the films All or Nothing (2002) and Another Year (2010), and the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress for the latter. Her other collaborations with Leigh include Grown-Ups (1980), High Hopes (1988), Secrets & Lies (1996), Topsy-Turvy (1999), Vera Drake (2004) and Mr. Turner (2014). For her performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s historical drama Phantom Thread (2017), she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

The first season of The Crown covers the period from Queen Elizabeth and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh’s marriage in 1947 to the disintegration of her sister Princess Margaret’s engagement to Group Captain Peter Townsend in 1955. The second season covers the period from the Suez Crisis in 1956 to the retirement of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1963 and the birth of Prince Edward in 1964. The third season spans the period between 1964 and 1977, including Harold Wilson’s two periods as prime minister, and introduces Camilla Shand. The fourth will include Margaret Thatcher’s premiership and introduce Lady Diana Spencer. The fifth and final season will cover the Queen’s reign into the 21st century.

The series covers Elizabeth’s life from her younger years to her reign in the 21st century, and with new actors being cast every two seasons. Claire Foy portrays the Queen in the first two seasons, alongside Matt Smith as Prince Philip and Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret. For the third and fourth seasons, Olivia Colman takes over as the Queen, Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, and Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret. Imelda Staunton will succeed Colman for the fifth and final season. Filming for the series takes place at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, with location shooting throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The first season was released on Netflix on November 4, 2016, the second on December 8, 2017, and the third on November 17, 2019. Although originally intended to last sixty episodes over six seasons, the series has been renewed for only two further seasons, taking it to an eventual total of five.

The Crown has been praised for its writing, acting, directing, cinematography, production values, and relatively accurate historical account of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. It received accolades at the 23rd Screen Actors Guild Awards, won Best Actress for Foy in the lead role and Best Actor for John Lithgow as Winston Churchill, and secured a total of 26 nominations for its first two seasons at the Primetime Emmy Awards, including twice for Outstanding Drama Series. The series was nominated for Best Drama TV Series at the 77th Golden Globe Awards.