Season 3 felt oddly disjointed to me. As if each episode was completely separate from the whole. It's been a long time, but my memory of the previous seasons was more positive.
I enjoyed Season 3 of The Crown a great deal more than I enjoyed Seasons 1 and 2. For me, Season 3 was far more interesting as it explored the personal cost to the members of the royal family of being stuck in their positions. Many of them examine how they were not allowed to live a life they were suited for, that they could have been happy in, because of the positions they were born into. I thought that this was handled very well, with a subtle, quiet power. I find Season 3 to be very satisfying and intriguing.
I am also specifically thinking of the episode with the astronauts and the episode in which the Queen studies horse breeding and training in other countries. In fact Episodes 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 all contain the type of exploration of personal cost to the royals of their positions which I was referring to.
Princess Anne was the only member of the royal family at all in touch with the music of the time, as presented in Season 3 anyway. I thought that Season 3 might mention the Beatles and the British Invasion bands, as a comment showing pride in something good happening in the country if nothing else. But there was nothing in Season 3 about the music and the "swinging London" of the 1960s. That may have been a realistic portrayal of how much the royal family was cut off from the outer world though.
It was cool to hear Got Love if You Want It by The Kinks and, if not The Zombies, a Colin Blunstone version of She's Not There, plus Squeeze Box & Starman in season 3! Wish they'd had a bit more period music, but subtly and wryly done...
You’re right about the lack of music, bar the Bowie cuts and a few others (as above) but Tony Snowdon and Roddy Llewelyn were very much part of swinging London, if I remember it right (though as they say...if you remember it, you weren’t there...!). Terrific Season 3 though...loved the focus on specific stories each episode. The Aberfan one was tremendous, albeit very sad.
I'd be curious to find out who is actually making the decisions - his son David Jones the director? (nee "Zowie Bowie") I'm not mistaken David actually turned down a knighthood.
His business manager Bill Zysblat I imagine looks after that side of things, perhaps Duncan has a final say. It’s a big show, so there’s no reason now for them not to license it, but who knows.
I was a little disappointed with season 3, especially the fact that it's taking place in the 60s and early 70s. It was a game changing decade for every country. I was surprised that the Beatles weren't even mentioned at all. Not even in a side conversations. The queen mother saw the Beatles at the Royal Variety Show and she didn't have much of a role in season 3. They could have had her mentioned this in a scene. Missed opportunity.
On the other hand, is the decision to avoid mention of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, etc. consistent with what people the age of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip would have actually been thinking and doing at that time? My parents are their age and they thought absolutely zero about the pop music of 1963 and onward, except to say “oh God no, what is that awful noise” on the few occasions they inadvertently came across it. In that context, having the royal family talking about the Beatles and other British bands of that time would have been cheap pandering to a present day audience
Season 3 ended in 1977. Will Season 4 begin where Season 3 left off, with an episode about the UK's troubles in the late 1970s, and include the Queen's reaction to the Sex Pistols' song "God Save the Queen."
True but on the other hand, the royals also represented progress in a time where British society was still very old school, plus the royal children were of that age to listen to that type of music throughout the 60s. Princess Margaret, the "wild sister" loved that beat culture. I'm not saying that they should have focused solely on the Beatles in a full episode but a mention as a nod to what was happening back then in regards to pop culture which did have a ripple affect in the halls of Buckingham Palace. Whether the Queen or Prince Phillips liked that type of music, is irrelevant. A lot more was happening in Britain in the 60s than just the moon landing and political issues. They could have set up a simple scene by having the queen mother mention that she saw them at the Royal Variety Performance and everyone went mad with excitement, then have Queen Elizabeth say something cheeky like "oh that awful noise".
QEII has met a number of rock stars during her reign, The Beatles, Ray Davies among them. Wonder what she made of them? BTW, and not to get political, but... Princess Anne was in the news this week regarding the U.S. President's visit......
0Mick Hucknell of Simply Red and Kate Bush met the Queen at a reception at Buckingham Palace. She asked what they did, and Mick answered "We're Pop stars, ma'am."
I don’t think Bowie’s estate licensing “Starman” to the show means that Bowie was a royalist. I’m not a royalist, I’m glad to live in the United States without a king or queen rather than in the United Kingdom, and I still watch and enjoy The Crown. Whether or not one is a royalist, Queen Elizabeth II exists and her life has been fascinating, and the show is as much about the UK as a whole during her reign as it is about her. “Starman” was part of the era this season of the show covered, and, by all accounts, Princess Anne was in tune with the youth culture of the day, so why not? I’d rather see a Bowie song in the show than the Beatles. Thank God they didn’t do an episode about John Lennon smoking pot in Buckingham Palace or whatever wet dream the Beatle freaks wish they had dedicated an episode to.
I very vaguely recall reading in some Beatles biography that Queen Elizabeth made some some kind of remark to somebody around 1967 that The Beatles were becoming somewhat weird. Like I said-- vaguely.
Very much enjoyed season 1, in fact it prompted me to question my father about "pea soupers" when he was a teenager. Just started watching season 2. Only downside is my mother-in-law seems to forget it's a work of fiction, and indulges in rants about how Charles has been treated by his mother. She lacks a nuanced understanding of how many Britons regard the royal family and is not going to pick it up from this show (which to be fair is not its aim).