S03.E01: Olding

[PeterPirate]

9 hours ago, Razzberry said:

The real story about why Blunt was protected, according to The Daily Beast.

Two key parts from that story:

Quote

In the previous series of The Crown we saw the Queen looking shocked—absolutely shocked!—when she was told that her uncle, the former Edward VIII and subsequent Duke of Windsor, had drifted willingly near to the edge of treason, or perhaps beyond it, by responding positively to suggestions from Hitler that if Britain capitulated to the Nazis instead of going to war he, the duke, could return to the throne as Hitler’s puppet.

This was dramatized in The Crown in a flashback to 1945 and the discovery of what were known as the notorious Marburg Files—documents in the German Foreign Office archives that contained damning proof of the duke’s complicity.

The true extent of what was in those files has never been disclosed. The likelihood is that they revealed a far longer and more incriminating series of contacts between Edward and the Germans dating from before he actually became king.

And the reason that we don’t know for sure how far his treachery extended is that it was Anthony Blunt who was in charge of the operation to locate and retrieve the German files.

Quote

The treatment of Blunt, on the other hand, reflected an outrageous double standard that protected the privileged classes. The Queen’s private secretary, Sir Michael Adeane, told Blunt’s interrogators that the Queen “has been fully informed about Sir Anthony, and is quite content for him to be dealt with in any way that gets at the truth.”

That was carefully disingenuous. What category of truth was involved? It seems obvious that there was a clear quid pro quo: Blunt would stay silent on the German files in return for being left in place. 

Indeed, his MI5 interrogators were specifically warned off from probing Blunt’s mission to Germany. And the small group that now had knowledge of Blunt’s treachery did not, incredibly, include the prime minister at the time, Sir Alec Douglas Home.

[Cheezwiz]

11 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I'll be the lone dissenter here and say I think they should have kept Claire Foy and Matt Smith for at least another season. The change was so abrupt in such a short time span. Last season they were meeting JFK and that was 1961. This episode took place in 1964 and suddenly Elizabeth looks about 20 years older. I think this would have worked better if they were jumping ahead 10 years or more.

I agree - the lack of time jump is abrupt - everyone looks like they've aged more than a decade even though Season 3 starts the same year that Season 2 left off! That shocked me more than anything else. I think the change in actors might have been more convincing had they started in the late 60's around the time of Charles' investiture as Prince. But I love all the actors even though they don't resemble their real-life counterparts very much, so I'm just going with it!

10 hours ago, benteen said:

Tobias reminds me of an older Prince William in his make-up.

He really does resemble him! And if you look away from the screen as he's speaking, he sounds exactly like Prince Charles!

I had posted a long comment about this episode yesterday, but it seems the internet goblins ate it (it mysteriously vanished), so I will say again that this was an interesting little tidbit about the Royal Family that I knew nothing about. The Queen's double-meaning speech was delicious!

[peace355]

I enjoyed this, liking the new cast, though like others I was expecting more of a time jump. I think last season was a bit heavy on seriousness at times, and liked to see a bit of a lighter side to the Queen. Elizabeth and Philip breakfast and jokes about the painting "one good eye between them" and the show of affection, reminded me of season 1 CF & MS, rather than last season strained marriage.

I also thought they did a good job of establishing everyone in the new roles, so recognize who they were.

[AZChristian]

16 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

I thought Tobias was perfect casting, so I'm happy with it.

That was both hilarious in the "established married couple" way, and that Phillip had the servant turning up the sound when he could have almost leaned over to do it himself. Ah, the laziness of privilege.

I agree about Tobias as Philip . . . excellent casting.  I'm a big Olivia Colman fan, but I'm not loving her portrayal as much.

Philip having the servant turning up the sound . . . I turned to Mr. AZC and said, "Remember the good old days before remote controls?  The lowest-ranked person in the room had to change channels and adjust volume.  Used to be one of the kids . . . but we didn't have footmen running around at our beck and call."

[Blakeston]

On 11/18/2019 at 12:35 PM, jnymph said:

I agree about the eye color.  I find it highly annoying when shows make this glaringly obvious mistake !  Can't they at least wear colored lenses or CGI their eyes?  Ugh.   I found it highly distracting to the point of taking away from the storyline.    

This article explains why they didn't use contacts or CGI to change her eye color. The relevant part:

Quote

First, the crew tried to put the brown-eyed Colman in colored contact lenses, but that was quickly dismissed. It was like "she was acting behind a mask," Ben Caron, who directed the first four episodes of The Crown's third season, told the Guardian. "It was as if we had taken all of her acting ability and put it in a safe and locked it away."

Colman blamed herself for the contacts' ineffectiveness, telling Vogue that her "very strong eyelids" had gotten in the way. Putting them in was... difficult. "It was basically like an exorcism: 'Just hold me down and thrust it in!'" Colman said.

So, more extreme measures were taken: the team attempted to use CGI in post-production to change Colman's eye color. "But it didn’t feel like her," Carson explained. "CGI-ing her eyes seemed to diminish what she was doing."

After trying multiple methods, The Crown's team ultimately decided to let Colman's eyes remain brown. Although it might be a little jarring at first for viewers to see a brown-eyed Queen, the show's casting director thinks they'll soon forget it.

I don't generally pay attention to whether someone's eye color matches the eye colors of their parents. But this seems different - we're talking about the same character, and we spent two seasons staring into the queen's blue eyes.

On 11/18/2019 at 1:07 PM, Razzberry said:

The real story about why Blunt was protected, according to The Daily Beast.

This is far more interesting than what the show came up with. I guess they felt like they had to remind us of Philip's alleged infidelities yet again?

Edited November 19, 2019 by Blakeston

[monakane]

On 11/18/2019 at 12:35 PM, jnymph said:

I agree about the eye color.  I find it highly annoying when shows make this glaringly obvious mistake !  Can't they at least wear colored lenses or CGI their eyes?  Ugh.   I found it highly distracting to the point of taking away from the storyline.  

I think it may be harder to put lighter lenses on dark eyes and CGI is probably expensive.  The performances are amazing, but the eye color thing is very distracting.

[AnnaBaptist]

So far, I think the transition has been a good one. I like all of the cast members so far, with the exception of HBC, but I realize that is because I am not a huge fan of Princess Margaret. HBC does a good job portraying her, but I basically just want the Princess Margaret character off my screen. Her scenes were so much less interesting than the ones concerning Anthony Blunt.

Winston Churchill died in January, 1965, while the Anthony Blunt business played out in 1964, so there is a little fudging of the timeline here. This usually annoys me, but I understand why they wanted to use his death as a symbol of changing times, so I think it was a good move in this instance.

While there is absolutely no resemblance between the two, there is something about the expressions on Olivia Coleman's face and her mannerisms that remind me of Carol Burnett when Burnett plays the more serious side of her comedic characters. Now, in the back of my mind, I'm picturing Coleman bursting out with an exaggerated Southern (U.S.) accent as the Eunice character.

[Cheezwiz]

12 minutes ago, AnnaBaptist said:

there is something about the expressions on Olivia Coleman's face and her mannerisms that remind me of Carol Burnett when Burnett plays the more serious side of her comedic characters. Now, in the back of my mind, I'm picturing Coleman bursting out with an exaggerated Southern (U.S.) accent as the Eunice character

I'm enjoying Colman's performance, but I can see where others are finding a resemblance to Carol Burnett. She did sketches on her show where she played HRH and spoofed the Royal Family. They're an absolute hoot and can easily be found on YouTube!

[TV Diva Queen]

21 hours ago, monakane said:

I think it may be harder to put lighter lenses on dark eyes and CGI is probably expensive.  The performances are amazing, but the eye color thing is very distracting.

my eyes are pretty much black.  for some reason that I can not fathom even now, a good 15 years later is is that I wore blue contact lenses.  My eyes were BLUE, like BLUE BLUE.  I think they left her eyes brown for the acting aspect.

[xtwheeler]

On 11/17/2019 at 11:32 AM, swanpride said:

Well, considering the paranoia back in the day, I can see her being worried about it, but I can't see her jumping to conclusions and not waiting for firm confirmation.

On 11/17/2019 at 7:02 PM, monakane said:

I have one small nitpick:  both Elizabeth and Margaret have blue eyes and they were recast with actors who have brown eyes.  There was a flashback scene with them as children and the actors had blue eyes.  I love OC and HBC, but I find the eye color thing a distraction.  That being said, I watched all ten episodes today and loved it.

I especially like the casting of Prince Phillip and Prince Charles.

On 11/18/2019 at 9:35 AM, jnymph said:

I agree about the eye color.  I find it highly annoying when shows make this glaringly obvious mistake !  Can't they at least wear colored lenses or CGI their eyes?  Ugh.   I found it highly distracting to the point of taking away from the storyline.    

Olivia Coleman can't wear them. It isn't some production cheapness, or a mistake. They decided to have HBC match her with brown eyes to subtly make them look more alike. It was quite an ordeal to come to that decision, not that the producers are lazy or stupid.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I had to laugh at the passive aggressive breakfast scene with Elizabeth clinking away and Philip making one of his servants turn up the volume on the tv (because God forbid he lean forward and do it himself). That is exactly the kind of petty behavior that people who are stuck with each other exhibit - although in this case, it makes no sense. They have countless rooms so surely Philip could go watch tv somewhere else.

I never knew people really had peepholes into other rooms of their houses.

I don't remember whose birthday was being celebrated but it's definitely a downer to have someone announce that someone else died while you're in the middle of opening presents and having cake.

Wow, I did not see the art guy being the Russian spy. I loved that when Philip threatened him, Blunt threatened him right back. I will never like Philip so anyone sassing him gets at least a small high five from me.

 

On 11/20/2019 at 1:56 PM, TV Diva Queen said:

my eyes are pretty much black.  for some reason that I can not fathom even now, a good 15 years later is is that I wore blue contact lenses.  My eyes were BLUE, like BLUE BLUE.  I think they left her eyes brown for the acting aspect.

I remember when colored contacts first came out, they really only worked well on people with lighter colored yes (blue or green) because, like paint, it's easier to put a dark color on top of a light color. They then came out with blue and green contacts that people with brown eyes could wear but in order to cover the brown completely,they had to make the blue or brown very bright and opaque so they were BRIGHT BLUE and EMERALD GREEN (yes, in all caps because you could not miss the color or mistake them for a natural eye color). I don't know what colored contacts are like these days but I remember staring at those posters with the electric colored eyes when I was at the optometrist.

[andromeda331]

33 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I had to laugh at the passive aggressive breakfast scene with Elizabeth clinking away and Philip making one of his servants turn up the volume on the tv (because God forbid he lean forward and do it himself). That is exactly the kind of petty behavior that people who are stuck with each other exhibit - although in this case, it makes no sense. They have countless rooms so surely Philip could go watch tv somewhere else.

I never knew people really had peepholes into other rooms of their houses.

I don't remember whose birthday was being celebrated but it's definitely a downer to have someone announce that someone else died while you're in the middle of opening presents and having cake.

Wow, I did not see the art guy being the Russian spy. I loved that when Philip threatened him, Blunt threatened him right back. I will never like Philip so anyone sassing him gets at least a small high five from me.

It was her uncle Henry the Duke of Gloucester's birthday. Although closed caption incorrectly called him the Duke of Kent. 

[benteen]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I had to laugh at the passive aggressive breakfast scene with Elizabeth clinking away and Philip making one of his servants turn up the volume on the tv (because God forbid he lean forward and do it himself).

Yeah, I really did want to yell out at that moment "DO IT YOURSELF!"  You certainly see some casual laziness on this show.

[AZChristian]

33 minutes ago, benteen said:

Yeah, I really did want to yell out at that moment "DO IT YOURSELF!"  You certainly see some casual laziness on this show.

And then he was complaining about how "poor" the royal family is because they haven't had a "pay rise" in ____ years.

Totally out of touch with reality.

[wendyg]

Agree about the Carol Burnett resemblance, but oddly that makes me feel that Colman seems - and especially *sounds* - more like the actual Queen. Burnett captured a very real essence in her performances, and Foy's voice never sounded right to me.

[Milburn Stone]

On 11/17/2019 at 2:08 PM, ProudMary said:

It has me wondering if those were the exact words spoken by Queen Elizabeth at the exhibit's actual opening. (I'm too lazy to search for it right now...)

I don't know the answer (I guess I'm lazy also), but I would be willing to bet a crown or two that they were not. And the reason is that they laid the double-meanings on so thick. Peter Morgan was doing everything but elbowing us in the ribs while saying "nudge nudge, wink wink." No one in the actual reception would have been deaf to something going on in a speech straining so hard to have two layers. And Elizabeth would never have risked being so obvious.

And that double-meaning thing was actually my problem more generally with the episode. We are painfully made aware over and over how the story of Russian influence so uncannily parallels our current day. Yes, Russian spying happened then as it happens now, so the problem is not that the show is unfactual. It's that Morgan's allusions to our present day are so unsubtle. The phrase "laying it on with a trowel" comes to mind.

[merylinkid]

I loved the Queen's speech at the Exhibition.   She can't come right out and tell Blunt how horribly disappointed she was to find out HE was part of the Cambridge 5 Spy Ring.   She trusted him.   So this was her way to convey that.

Blunt was a downright bastard.   But you know, spies are not necessarily good people.   But to basically tell Philip, you dump me, I go public with your alleged involvement in the Profumo Affair.    Protecting his position at all costs.   

I knew Blunt was a spy from having read about the Cambridge 5 before (read Peter Wright's Spycatcher for lots of details on it).   So as soon as he showed up, I knew what was coming.   

[Clanstarling]

41 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

And that double-meaning thing was actually my problem more generally with the episode. We are painfully made aware over and over how the story of Russian influence so uncannily parallels our current day. Yes, Russian spying happened then as it happens now, so the problem is not that the show is unfactual. It's that Morgan's allusions to our present day are so unsubtle. The phrase "laying it on with a trowel" comes to mind.

Interestingly enough (to me anyway) I didn't really think about current issues. I knew enough about the British incidents to be focusing on them and didn't notice it relating to the present. Mileage varies, as always.

Still, as one saying goes - "history doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes." I notice that daily, as I post a "this day in headlines" (gathered from the front pages on a major newspaper archive) at work every day - and almost ever day has something that is either very similar to or set up current events. Sometimes I'll reject a headline as it is too much on the nose and could be seen as partisan.

Edited November 23, 2019 by Clanstarling

[Umbelina]

3 hours ago, merylinkid said:

I loved the Queen's speech at the Exhibition.   She can't come right out and tell Blunt how horribly disappointed she was to find out HE was part of the Cambridge 5 Spy Ring.   She trusted him.   So this was her way to convey that.

Blunt was a downright bastard.   But you know, spies are not necessarily good people.   But to basically tell Philip, you dump me, I go public with your alleged involvement in the Profumo Affair.    Protecting his position at all costs.   

I knew Blunt was a spy from having read about the Cambridge 5 before (read Peter Wright's Spycatcher for lots of details on it).   So as soon as he showed up, I knew what was coming.   

Yes, I knew about him as well, being a spy buff.  What I somehow didn't realize until watching this episode, and thinking about it, then turning to google to confirm?  Anthony Blanche (of Brideshead Revisited fame) was based on Anthony Blunt!  Honestly, I found that far more interesting.  😉

[Caoimhe]

On 11/18/2019 at 11:10 AM, OtterMommy said:

I'm a bit haunted by the actor who plays Wilson.  He seems so familiar, although I have seen very little (maybe none) of his previous work.

I thought so too, eventually realised he was Gavin in “Trollied” and that’s where I remembered him from!

[Clanstarling]

1 minute ago, ThereButFor said:

I thought so too, eventually realised he was Gavin in “Trollied” and that’s where I remembered him from!

I finally recognized him as Herrick in "Being Human" - where he was a delicious bad guy.

[Paloma]

12 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

I finally recognized him as Herrick in "Being Human" - where he was a delicious bad guy.

That was one of my favorite sci-fi shows, but I forgot about him being in it.

[Constantinople]

On 11/21/2019 at 7:22 AM, andromeda331 said:

It was her uncle Henry the Duke of Gloucester's birthday. Although closed caption incorrectly called him the Duke of Kent. 

Thank you for pointing that out. I was confused because the gentleman in question looked far too old to be the Duke of Kent

Edited November 25, 2019 by Constantinople
Edited for accuracy (changed "far too young" to "far too old"

[AnnieBananie]

I am so used to Olivia Colman being excellent at everything that within the first few minutes, I thought, "Okay, great, she's being wonderful; now I can focus on everyone else." And I chose to focus on Tobias Menzies.

I really, really, really enjoy focusing on Tobias Menzies.

(I've had a crush on him since "Rome," so I'm delighted to see him here.) He's letter-perfect. 

[CeeBeeGee]

3 hours ago, AnnieBananie said:

I really, really, really enjoy focusing on Tobias Menzies.

(I've had a crush on him since "Rome," so I'm delighted to see him here.) He's letter-perfect. 

TM is great here. I had my doubts--mainly because his excellent portrayal of the nebbish Edmure in Game of Thrones was so convincing, I didn't think he could nail alpha male Philip. But he's fantastic. (Although the slightest of nitpicks--the scene when he's talking to the spy, at the art gallery, they show him in profile. The makeup artists should've either just shaved him right before shooting or applied a better foundation. It's obvious he is not the blond Philip is, as you can see his five o'clock shadow in profile.

[Clanstarling]

10 hours ago, CeeBeeGee said:

TM is great here. I had my doubts--mainly because his excellent portrayal of the nebbish Edmure in Game of Thrones was so convincing, I didn't think he could nail alpha male Philip. But he's fantastic. (Although the slightest of nitpicks--the scene when he's talking to the spy, at the art gallery, they show him in profile. The makeup artists should've either just shaved him right before shooting or applied a better foundation. It's obvious he is not the blond Philip is, as you can see his five o'clock shadow in profile.

Having seen him in two roles in Outlander, I had no doubts he could do alpha male. I was surprised by his turn on Game of Thrones. He's one of my favorites.

Didn't notice the 5 o'clock shadow, but if I did I probably wouldn't think too much about it - as my blond husband has one (well did, until he grew the beard out - which as it turned out, was more dark red than blond)

[Eureka]

On 11/17/2019 at 10:02 PM, monakane said:

I have one small nitpick:  both Elizabeth and Margaret have blue eyes and they were recast with actors who have brown eyes.  There was a flashback scene with them as children and the actors had blue eyes.  I love OC and HBC, but I find the eye color thing a distraction.  That being said, I watched all ten episodes today and loved it.

I especially like the casting of Prince Phillip and Prince Charles.

That stuff usually drives me crazy but I am giving it a pass this time because I read that they actually thought about changing Olivia's eye color for this (either with contacts or CGI) and decided against it. I don't remember why, but the fact that they thought of it is progress to me. Lol.

[Ceindreadh]

On 11/23/2019 at 2:44 PM, merylinkid said:

I loved the Queen's speech at the Exhibition.   She can't come right out and tell Blunt how horribly disappointed she was to find out HE was part of the Cambridge 5 Spy Ring.   She trusted him.   So this was her way to convey that.

Blunt was a downright bastard.   But you know, spies are not necessarily good people.   But to basically tell Philip, you dump me, I go public with your alleged involvement in the Profumo Affair.    Protecting his position at all costs.   

I knew Blunt was a spy from having read about the Cambridge 5 before (read Peter Wright's Spycatcher for lots of details on it).   So as soon as he showed up, I knew what was coming.   

I knew it wasn’t going to happen, but a part of me did wish that Philip could have pushed him over the balcony at that point. 

[mledawn]

10 hours ago, Eureka said:

That stuff usually drives me crazy but I am giving it a pass this time because I read that they actually thought about changing Olivia's eye color for this (either with contacts or CGI) and decided against it. I don't remember why, but the fact that they thought of it is progress to me. Lol.

I read that, too - Olivia found the contacts distracting or something, and the producers said to hell with it. Anyway, her eyes not being blue is a known and conscious decision by the show.

The Queen's speech to Blunt was fantastic, although I was surprised he kept correcting her. I thought that sort of direct confrontation was Not Done.

[TimWil]

On 11/17/2019 at 8:53 PM, ichbin said:

I think he is particularly gifted at playing unlikeable characters, so yeah. 

The first role I ever saw Samuel West play was Anthony Blunt in Cambridge Spies. He was good in that so I guess they figured that was one less role to cast for this production.

I saw West's mother Prunella Scales play Queen Elizabeth II in the wonderful one-act play A Question of Attribution which has been mentioned upthread. I believe it was later filmed for TV with Scales. The play's author, Alan Bennett, also played Anthony Blunt. It was paired with another one-act play An Englishman Abroad (which was about Guy Burgess) under the umbrella title Single Spies and performed at the Royal National Theatre in London.  

Edited November 29, 2019 by TimWil

[TimWil]

On 11/18/2019 at 3:45 PM, wendyg said:

Re the eye color: I wouldn't have noticed in this, but it drove me nuts when in the movie ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA they cast Jennifer Connolly (brown eyes) to play the child version of the adult character played by Elizabeth McGovern (blue eyes). Also in DOWNTON ABBEY apparently it bothered no one but me that both the Downton parents had blue eyes and their three daughters all had brown eyes. I kept expecting the show to disclose long-term infidelity on McGovern's character's part...but it never did.

And in Mamma Mia!: Here We Go Again young Rosie had gorgeous, large sky blue eyes and then adult Rosie (Julie Walters) had small dark eyes. That was really, really bad eye color continuity.

But back to the episode: I'd happily listen to Olivia Colman read the phone book so even though a part of me feels she's just not right casting for Elizabeth II I'm going with it. And I've never seen Tobias Menzies in anything so I'm grooving on his Philip. He's great.

Edited November 29, 2019 by TimWil

[Sweet-tea]

On 11/17/2019 at 2:08 PM, ProudMary said:

So far, I'm pleased with the re-casting across the board. Tobias Menzies is particularly good.

I've only watched one episode so I'll give it more time, but so far I'm disappointed in the casting of Colman. She looks 50 to me, but wouldn't the queen have been around 38 or 39 in 1964? I don't know how old Colman is but they made her look much too old. Also, would she have been making comments about her aging appearance when she's only in her late 30s? Her face isn't as expressive as Claire Foy's, or there is something else lacking in her performance IMO. 

I did like the actor playing Philip. I actually liked him better the previous actor. But overall, the episode was kind of slow for me. Hopefully it will pick up.

On 11/18/2019 at 2:45 PM, wendyg said:

swanpride: It is confusing. Wilson was small-l liberal. BUT until the rise of the Labour Party in the early 20th century, the two main parties were Conservatives ("Tories") and the Liberal Party ("Whigs"). If you take a look at Gilbert and Sullivan's IOLANTHE you'll see these are the two parties when that was written. After Labour became the bigger party, the Liberal party faded for some time. Then, in the 1980s, it merged with a new party, the Social Democrats (I think mostly comprising former Conservatives), to form today's Liberal Democrats. The LibDems have never had a PM; but the old Liberal Party did.

Re the eye color: I wouldn't have noticed in this, but it drove me nuts when in the movie ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA they cast Jennifer Connolly (brown eyes) to play the child version of the adult character played by Elizabeth McGovern (blue eyes). Also in DOWNTON ABBEY apparently it bothered no one but me that both the Downton parents had blue eyes and their three daughters all had brown eyes. I kept expecting the show to disclose long-term infidelity on McGovern's character's part...but it never did.

Jennifer Connelly doesn't have brown eyes; she has beautiful green eyes.

From IMDB: Dark hair and green eyes

In some photos, they can look blue or blue-green, but not brown.

Just pointing it out because I've always thought she has the prettiest eyes in show business. 

https://healthyceleb.com/jennifer-connelly-height-weight-body-statistics/20266

On 11/21/2019 at 5:46 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I had to laugh at the passive aggressive breakfast scene with Elizabeth clinking away and Philip making one of his servants turn up the volume on the tv (because God forbid he lean forward and do it himself). That is exactly the kind of petty behavior that people who are stuck with each other exhibit - although in this case, it makes no sense. They have countless rooms so surely Philip could go watch tv somewhere else.

I never knew people really had peepholes into other rooms of their houses.

I don't remember whose birthday was being celebrated but it's definitely a downer to have someone announce that someone else died while you're in the middle of opening presents and having cake.

Wow, I did not see the art guy being the Russian spy. I loved that when Philip threatened him, Blunt threatened him right back. I will never like Philip so anyone sassing him gets at least a small high five from me.

I remember when colored contacts first came out, they really only worked well on people with lighter colored yes (blue or green) because, like paint, it's easier to put a dark color on top of a light color. They then came out with blue and green contacts that people with brown eyes could wear but in order to cover the brown completely,they had to make the blue or brown very bright and opaque so they were BRIGHT BLUE and EMERALD GREEN (yes, in all caps because you could not miss the color or mistake them for a natural eye color). I don't know what colored contacts are like these days but I remember staring at those posters with the electric colored eyes when I was at the optometrist.

I think they've gotten a lot better. I've read Jennifer Aniston wears specially-made blue contacts. Her eyes are really hazel. 

Edited December 6, 2019 by Sweet-tea
According to IMDB, Colman is 45.

[LeGrandElephant]

I have no idea what happened in this episode because I was so distracted by the cast change relative to the year stamps - less than two years passed between this episode and the last one but the cast all look twenty years older and completely different. Wtf. I knew the cast change was coming but I expected a time jump of at least ten years, leaning more towards twenty. 

[AZChristian]

12 hours ago, LeGrandElephant said:

I have no idea what happened in this episode because I was so distracted by the cast change relative to the year stamps - less than two years passed between this episode and the last one but the cast all look twenty years older and completely different. Wtf. I knew the cast change was coming but I expected a time jump of at least ten years, leaning more towards twenty. 

Reminds me of when I used to watch a soap opera called "Another World."  When they showed the last scene on Friday, a grandmother handed a cookie to her 3-year-old grandson and said, "Are you ready for your first day of preschool tomorrow?"  On Monday, they had the same scene, but she was handing a cookie to her (same) grandson, saying "Are you ready to start your senior year of high school tomorrow?"  And then the rest of the cast/plots continued as though there hadn't been a 15-year break over the weekend.  LOL.

[Humbugged]

On 11/29/2019 at 3:15 AM, TimWil said:

I saw West's mother Prunella Scales play Queen Elizabeth II in the wonderful one-act play A Question of Attribution which has been mentioned upthread. I believe it was later filmed for TV with Scales. The play's author, Alan Bennett, also played Anthony Blunt. It was paired with another one-act play An Englishman Abroad (which was about Guy Burgess) under the umbrella title Single Spies and performed at the Royal National Theatre in London.  

 

Pru was great as Liz ,Bennett wrote (now that last of the the Beyond The Fringe guys to be alive with Pete and Dud and now Jonathan  Miller dead as well ) in , but Blunt was played by James Fox (who is weirdly the father in law of Billie Piper and Richard Ayoade ) whose brother Edward played the DoW in the 70's  .

 

Funnily enough I went to the same school as the man who turned out to be the 5th Man John Cairncross (and his brother Sir Alec ) who was also allowed to keep out of jail as well as he tutored as Northwestern and ended up at the UN

[NYGirl]

I just started watching (binge-watch during self-distancing).  

I'm really enjoying this series.  I'm the same age as Prince Charles.

I just wonder why they changed all of the actors at the beginning of Season 3.  I know the were supposed to have aged but I feel they could have used the same actors made up to be older.  I feel like it's just starting as I have to figure out who's who.

Does anybody know why?

What I do find amusing is that in the beginning credits it says:

Violence - Nudity - Smoking... LOL smoking.

Edited April 17, 2020 by NYGirl

[dubbel zout]

8 minutes ago, NYGirl said:

Does anybody know why?

Changing casts every two years was always the plan.

My theories: Aging makeup can be very time-consuming, as well as look inauthentic.

I also suspect that now that the kids have been introduced and aren't babies anymore, having older actors as parents is less visually jarring, regardless of the real-life age differences of the real people and the actors. It allows a clean reset for a new decade.

 

[NYGirl]

I'm sure you're right but I found it so disconcerting that they changed every single actor and I had to figure out who's who for the first couple of episodes.

The only change I found to be much better is Phillip.  This actor actually looks like him and I suspect he acts more like him.

[Umbelina]

21 hours ago, NYGirl said:

I just started watching (binge-watch during self-distancing).  

I'm really enjoying this series.  I'm the same age as Prince Charles.

I just wonder why they changed all of the actors at the beginning of Season 3.  I know the were supposed to have aged but I feel they could have used the same actors made up to be older.  I feel like it's just starting as I have to figure out who's who.

Does anybody know why?

What I do find amusing is that in the beginning credits it says:

Violence - Nudity - Smoking... LOL smoking.

Idiocy.

I feel like it's a gimmick that failed.  They should have kept the same cast, at least until the 70's.  

It was poor planning of the episodes and timing.

[JudyObscure]

I don't think I would have found aging makeup as distracting as Clair Foy turning into a brown eyed woman with a markedly receding chin.  If they really felt they had to change to older actors, surely they could have found a blue eyed one who looked either somewhat like Foy or more like the real Queen E.   It just looks to me like Olivia Coleman was  the hot actress at the moment and they were determined to use her. I think Coleman is entertaining when playing over the top people but not well suited to the requirements of this part --  showing emotion while remaining outwardly stiff and formal.  

When Philip told the servant to turn up the TV, I was happy for the servant.  Every time they show the ones who just have to stand for hours, I feel their pain.  Being able to take a few steps and bend to the TV might have relieved a back cramp, or maybe just the desire to scream.

[AZChristian]

10 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

I think Coleman is entertaining when playing over the top people but not well suited to the requirements of this part -- showing emotion while remaining outwardly stiff and formal.  

When Philip told the servant to turn up the TV . . . 

I completely agree about "Millah" . . . um, Coleman.  She's great is some roles, but I'm not loving the way they have her portraying Elizabeth.

The scene with Philip . . . was that the one where he was complaining about how people didn't understand how much the royal family had cut back and how they were struggling to cut expenses?  He turns to the footman who is just standing there (with two others) watching Philip and Elizabeth eat breakfast and says, "Turn up the TV."  And Philip was MAYBE 3 feet from the TV himself.  Oh, the horrid days before remote controls, when we all had to hope our footmen were standing nearby to turn up our television volume.  

[Ohiopirate02]

On 4/25/2020 at 10:20 AM, AZChristian said:

I completely agree about "Millah" . . . um, Coleman.  She's great is some roles, but I'm not loving the way they have her portraying Elizabeth.

The scene with Philip . . . was that the one where he was complaining about how people didn't understand how much the royal family had cut back and how they were struggling to cut expenses?  He turns to the footman who is just standing there (with two others) watching Philip and Elizabeth eat breakfast and says, "Turn up the TV."  And Philip was MAYBE 3 feet from the TV himself.  Oh, the horrid days before remote controls, when we all had to hope our footmen were standing nearby to turn up our television volume.  

i wish the show would have gone a bit deeper on the whole royal family economizing.  The show used it to illustrate how out of touch the Windors are, but there is a lot more to it.  They really can't let the staff go and just do things themselves without any backlash.  If they did let a bunch of staff go, then they would be seen as adding to the growing number of unemployed.  The best they can do is a hiring freeze, even then they would still be expected to promote from within when tradition dictates.  The show also chooses to ignore the dilapidated condition of parts of Buckingham Palace back in the 70s.  For me, this is a major ball they dropped this season.  

[PeterPirate]

On 4/17/2020 at 3:11 PM, NYGirl said:

I just started watching (binge-watch during self-distancing).  

I'm really enjoying this series.  I'm the same age as Prince Charles.

I just wonder why they changed all of the actors at the beginning of Season 3.  I know the were supposed to have aged but I feel they could have used the same actors made up to be older.  I feel like it's just starting as I have to figure out who's who.

Does anybody know why?

What I do find amusing is that in the beginning credits it says:

Violence - Nudity - Smoking... LOL smoking.

I hope you will be back to comment on the rest of the season.  Personally, I found this episode to be rather dry.  The next five episodes are substantially more interesting to me. 

 

On 4/25/2020 at 7:20 AM, AZChristian said:

Oh, the horrid days before remote controls, when we all had to hope our footmen were standing nearby to turn up our television volume.  

My parents had me.  In fact, that's why they had me.  

[7isBlue]

On 11/18/2019 at 8:20 AM, Blakeston said:

Just a year after the end of the Jackie Kennedy episode! (And less than a year after the end of the season two finale.)

I'd have guessed that they'd skip ahead a few years. I figured the first season was primarily about the 50s, and the second season primarily about the 60s, and the third would pick up with the '70s. But apparently not.

This is exactly what took me out of the show this season. Going from Claire Foy to Olivia Coleman is a bit startling (my apologies to OC). But to ask the audience to accept the sudden change within a year of S2 Ep10 is tough. In 1964 QEII was around 38. I guess 38 year olds looked older back then. 
 

I do love the casting, though, especially HBC and Ben Daniels as Lord Snowden (Tony). Really, they’re all fantastic, and the sets and costumes never disappoint. 
 

ETA: @JudyObscure - Haha! The Chin! Yessss. 

Edited August 7, 2020 by 7isBlue

[Camera One]

I finally got to Season 3.  I too had expected a bigger time jump (I was thinking 10 years), so I was very surprised that it was just 1-2 years after the Season 2 finale.  

The main characters all looked like they were in their late 40s in this one, so it was a bit weird.  Especially since they made no attempt to make anyone look any older in late Season 2 than they did in Season 1, even when the child actors were recast.  I didn't realize until I looked it up that Season 1-2 spanned 16-17 years.

Still, the new actors are very good, so it won't be too hard to get used to.  Having said that, I could only see Philip as an older version in terms of mannerisms.  Olivia Colman had the look, and I liked her, but she seemed like a slightly different person.  I can't reconcile the older Margaret or Tony since they looked so drastically older.

It was smart idea to have this cast change amidst the theme of change in this episode, both in the government/Prime Minister and with the end of the Churchill era, which was a nice constant.    

I hope we get some flashbacks to the Season 1-2 Elizabeth, since I felt like they hit a lot of same beats (Elizabeth vs. Margaret, Elizabeth vs. Philip) almost to the point of beating a dead horse, but left out other facets of Elizabeth, like her relationship with her mother, or her kids.

[Razzberry]

It's a shame Morgan didn't tell the true story about why Blunt was protected for so long, which is far more interesting than the silliness about Philip we were spoonfed. 

Reading that article again I was struck by the last line:  "In The Crown—if they complete the story—that lies still far ahead, in the fourth series."

Well, we still didn't get it because Morgan thought Thatcher's boring day at Balmoral was more entertaining than her blowing the whistle on the Royal Coverup for Soviet spies.

[Razzberry]

The only FBI files I could find on Blunt are so heavily redacted that it's frustrating.  I'm tempted to complain about their sloppy paperwork.  hehe

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by Razzberry

[Camera One]

On 1/11/2021 at 12:47 PM, Razzberry said:

It's a shame Morgan didn't tell the true story about why Blunt was protected for so long, which is far more interesting than the silliness about Philip we were spoonfed. 

If they had planned ahead, Blunt could have appeared in Season 2, showing his involvement in procuring the drawings of Philip.  The article also mentioned that Blunt was sent to Germany to retrieve classified information, so he could have been in the episode about the Duke of Windsor and the Nazi's.  That would have made his reveal in this episode a lot more shocking and powerful.  

[Johnny Dollar]

While I can’t complain about the quality of the actors in S3, the transition from S2 to S3 was quite jarring. S2 ended with the birth of Andrew in March of 1964 and S3 picked up with Wilson’s ascension to PM in October of the same year. I love HBC but even she can’t pull off playing a 34 year old Margaret. And poor Michael Adeane looked like he aged forty years over those seven months. It would’ve been better to age the main actors from S2 then carry on the story line so soon from 2 to 3. 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I was taken aback at the changes from the last ep and this premiere of the new season.  I am sure this is partly due to my having just seen the S2 finale and not had intervening months from that viewing.

Morgan made a significant change with Elizabeth's confident and wry speaking.  This, to me, was more problematic than the change of actors.  She was practically Margaret in her utterances.  The encounter with Wilson, after the shock of realizing her assumptions as to the spy, could not have happened with the Foy version at the end of S2.  Her bedside farewell to Winston also included way too much content and meaning.  The Crown kissing his forehead?  Having said this, OC's physical bearing is definitely closer to the actual Elizabeth.

So, too, the Philip character.  The perpetually slightly sour look and his simple resemblance is night and day better.  I also like that Morgan toned his physical energy way down from Smith's portrayal.  Huge difference.

The "spy" scene of Tony being disgusted with Margaret's singing into the night was a very powerful contrast to the occasion which turned out to be George's last evening on earth.  What misery!  HBC was excellent.  This was a home run, or is it "six hit?"

Interesting camera choice/perspective as Adeane took the enormous phone call alerting him to the discovery of the spy Blunt.  The actor's hard eyes and stoic mien suggested to me that he was more a "Tommy" now than he was when he took over for Lascelles.  Here again, so little spoken, so much said.  Well done.

I was struck again at the lack of an obvious security phalanx as the Crown moved about outside her home.  I have no idea if this is a fair representation of such in 1965, or laziness by TPTB.