Into Season 3 episode 2. Snooze-fest so far. Why did they switch out the characters of the Queen and Margaret? Unnecessary. They could have aged them both, if they wanted to stay in the filming. I’m missing Claire Foy as The Queen. She did such a wonderful portrayal.

I've only watched the first episode of Season 3. It was okay, but like dawna3 I wonder why the actors were switched rather than aged. I suppose it's possible the leads, or some of them, in Seasons 1 and 2 opted out or had scheduling conflicts. I'll get around to viewing the rest of the new season eventually. My husband binged and watched it all in a couple of days time.

While I normally love her in anything, for some reason I don't care for Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret AT ALL. It reminds me too much of her [fine] portrayal of Elizabeth Taylor a few years ago. Maybe my opinion will change after viewing more than the first episode, but that's been a big turn off for me and one reason why I haven't continued watching. Besides, it's kind of hard to match the high drama of the WWII period and the early days of Atomic Age hedonism that followed.

I've never watched this series, but just want to mention that I read, in TV Guide magazine, that it was decided, before the overall The Crown series was ever started, that the cast would be changed after every two seasons, to keep things with age-appropriate participants. I gather that each such cast change represents the transition of something like 20-25 years. So the next cast, after that of this season and next, will probably be actors and actresses who are around age 60-ish.

I just so happen to still have the TV Guide issue in question, as it's the one that ran through Nov. 24th, and I was able to retrieve it from a bag of recycling. Following are some excerpts that I'll type in:

....In a move almost unheard of in television, [series creator Peter] Morgan overhauled the entire cast, as the series - which covered 1947-64 in its first two seasons - portrays the now-middle-aged royals from 1964 through 1977. Besides Colman, who takes over for...Claire Foy, Tobias Menzies...steps in as Elizabeth's husband, Prince Philip, Helena Bonham Carter...transforms into the queen's rambunctious sister, Princess Margaret, and Ben Daniels...portrays Margaret's defiant husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones. Other new faces include Elizabeth and Philip's young adult offspring, Princess Anne (Erin Doherty) and Prince Charles (Josh O'Connor), plus his love Camila Shand (...Emerald Fennell), who would later wed to become Camila Parker Bowles. //...(T)he plan had always been in place for the cast to change every two rounds (another group will take over in Seasons 5 and 6)....

Hey, good to know genplant29! Thanks for the info! Though considering advancements in makeup techniques, it's an odd approach.

I have to say that switching actors kind of broke the spell for me. Maybe I'll get used to it. I can't complain about Colman and Menzies - they seemed well cast in Ep. 1.

Unfortunately, I hear that Victoria is going to be doing the same starting whatever season soon; star Jenna Coleman has stated that the costume and make-up departments have already padded and aged her as much as can reasonably realistically be done for someone of her size and young age (and considering how chunky and plain the actual middle-aged and onward Victoria was), and she acknowledges that she realizes it's time to pass on the mantle to an actress who's more age appropriate.

Actually, I think Olivia Colman would make a perfect middle-aged Queen Victoria, in the event maybe someone would offer her that role!

I've wondered how long Victoria would run, whether or not ratings would hold up for it to go the entire length of her very long reign. It'll be interesting to see who may replace the beauteous Jenna Coleman if it continues. However, I suspect interest could drop off precipitously once Prince Albert dies, but I may be wrong. IMO a mournful, aging, widowed queen may only hold interest for a little while for those whose main enjoyment has been the romance of Victoria and Albert and the obvious chemistry of the actors. Time will tell.

A thing that'll help keep things interesting, going forward into Queen Victoria's higher ages (if that series sticks around for multiple seasons more), is that she had so very many children, all survived to adulthood, I think all but one married, and thus so many great European royal dynasties, and their stories (eldest daughter Vickie's family group being one of the particular biggies), come naturally in to play. Those children's marriages began in I think the late 1850s onwards - and Prince Albert's death was, contemporaneously, in 1861.

So, there will be a lot of interesting new storylines able to start up, beginning, I suspect, during the Victoria season that PBS will start airing I think probably in the next month or so.

@genplant29 said:

A thing that'll help keep things interesting, going forward into Queen Victoria's higher ages (if that series sticks around for multiple seasons more), is that she had so very many children, all survived to adulthood, I think all but one married, and thus so many great European royal dynasties, and their stories (eldest daughter Vickie's family group being one of the particular biggies), come naturally in to play. Those children's marriages began in I think the late 1850s onwards - and Prince Albert's death was, contemporaneously, in 1861.

So, there will be a lot of interesting new storylines able to start up, beginning, I suspect, during the Victoria season that PBS will start airing I think probably in the next month or so.

Gen, all of her children were married & all but one had children (Louise). Here is a breakdown/chart:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria#Issue

I much prefer 'Victoria' over 'The Crown'. I watched the first 3 episodes of the 'Crown' but was just bored to tears, which is surprising because I generally love this kind of show. Also, everything I have read about season/series four is that it will be a while until we see it. The latest from October said that it hasn't even been decided yet. Some from last summer say March of 2020?

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-10-16/victoria-series-4-release-date-cast-trailer-itv-pbs-jenna-coleman-tom-hughes/

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/9035770/victoria-season-4-start-date-spoilers-cast-jenna-coleman/ (this is from a tabloid so?)

For some reason I thought Princess Beatrice (Victoria's youngest daughter) never married, as I remember reading, seeing, or hearing that Victoria wanted to keep her all to herself. I now see that she did eventually marry though.

I didn't realize that a Series 4 of Victoria hasn't already been produced, as I figured it probably already, by now, aired in the UK and would start being broadcast, on PBS in the States, in late Dec., like seems each of the prior seasons did. That explains why there have been absolutely no "Coming Attractions" type PBS promos for the series' return yet.

@genplant29 said:

For some reason I thought Princess Beatrice (Victoria's youngest daughter) never married, as I remember reading, seeing, or hearing that Victoria wanted to keep her all to herself. I now see that she did eventually marry though.

I didn't realize that a Series 4 of Victoria hasn't already been produced, as I figured it probably already, by now, aired in the UK and would start being broadcast, on PBS in the States, in late Dec., like seems each of the prior seasons did. That explains why there have been absolutely no "Coming Attractions" type PBS promos for the series' return yet.

Victoria didn't want her to marry but she eventually gave in on the condition that she stay with her & remain as her 'unofficial' secretary. Here is a blurb from her wikipedia page:

"Beatrice fell in love with Prince Henry of Battenberg, the son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine and Julia von Hauke and brother-in-law of her niece Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. After a year of persuasion, the Queen, whose consent was required pursuant to the Royal Marriages Act, finally agreed to the marriage, which took place at Whippingham on the Isle of Wight on 23 July 1885. Queen Victoria consented on condition that Beatrice and Henry make their home with her and that Beatrice continue her duties as the Queen's unofficial secretary. The Prince and Princess had four children, but 10 years into their marriage, on 20 January 1896, Prince Henry died of malaria while fighting in the Anglo-Asante War. Beatrice remained at her mother's side until Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901. Beatrice devoted the next 30 years to editing Queen Victoria's journals as her designated literary executor and continued to make public appearances. She died at 87, outliving all her siblings, two of her children, and several nieces and nephews including George V and Wilhelm II."

As for Victoria, this is the one UK series that we get before the UK (which angers some across the pond).

I take back anything negative I've said about The Crown, Season 3. I've resumed watching it and it's GREAT. IMO any quality historical drama prompts viewers' interest in actual history, and Season 3 continues to succeed by this measure. Plus, the writing and performances are terrific, the settings are beyond sumptuous to look at, the direction, camera work and editing are top notch, etc., etc.

Some may be interested to know that the queen's private secretary Michael Adeane is portrayed by David Rintoul, who was Mr. Darcy in the 1980 PBS version of Pride and Prejudice. Charles Edwards, who portrays her other secretary Martin Charteris, played Michael Gregson in Downton Abbey.