West’s casting nearly completes the final cast overhaul for “The Crown.” The show’s final two seasons will feature Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II (taking over from Claire Foy and Olivia Colman), Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip (taking over from Matt Smith and Tobias Menzies), and Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana (taking over from Emma Corrin, who debuts in the fourth season). While “The Crown” showrunner Peter Morgan originally planned for the series to run for five seasons, he changed his mind earlier this year and extended the series’ final run into two seasons.
“As we started to discuss the storylines for Series 5, it soon became clear that in order to do justice to the richness and complexity of the story we should go back to the original plan and do six seasons,” Morgan said. “To be clear, Series 6 will not bring us any closer to present-day — it will simply enable us to cover the same period in greater detail.” The upcoming fourth season of “The Crown” will be the final run of episodes for Colman and the gang. Gillian Anderson is also joining the show this year as Margaret Thatcher. Netflix’s synopsis for the new season reads: “As the 1970s are drawing to a close, Queen Elizabeth and her family find themselves preoccupied with safeguarding the line of succession by securing an appropriate bride for Prince Charles, who is still unmarried at 30. While Charles’ romance with a young Lady Diana Spencer provides a much-needed fairytale to unite the British people, as the transformation from teenager to Princess of Wales takes place, it is anything but a fairy tale for Diana.” “The Crown” Season 4 will debut Sunday, November 15 on Netflix Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.