Why would you want to live in a great big draughty national monument and rely on an army of strangers (called 'servants') to get the simplest thing done? I'd rather live a normal private life and do me own washing in the coin-op in the basement, and I reckon most people would.

I don't know the Queen, but a lifelong friend knows her quite well, on account of being the senior military officer who runs the royal household. The job has to go to a senior military officer because it's such a big logistical undertaking. My friend and his wife have to live in St James's Palace (paying rent for the privilege, it's not a grace-and-favour apartment) and, on the one hand, you're living in a palace, and on the other hand, as his wife says, 'There are all those soldiers shouting and stamping all the time.'

Being a navy wife, she's used to moving house a lot, and she always makes a place 'home' by hanging up an oil portrait of her grandfather, who was a bishop. When they moved into St James's, she looked around for somewhere to put grandad, and decided the best spot was in the living room, but one of the Queen's Van Dyck paintings was already hanging there, so she just stuck Van Dyck behind the sofa and hung up grandad.

If I hate the queen and anything to do with the monarchy, might I still like this? I do enjoy Downtown Abbey if that means anything.

I'm anti-monarchy (Danish though) and I like it.

We tried to get into this but found it incredibly boring. I'm not the type who needs constant action either. To each their own.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/liv...edium=referral

Olivia Colman to play Her Majesty in S3 & S4. Incredible actor. Helen Mirren is surely the favourite to play Her Majesty in S5 & S6, given her previous collaborations with Peter Morgan in The Queen & The Audience.

olivia colman was great in broadchurch

Olivia Colman as the Queen is a perfect bit of casting. She's brilliant in everything.

2 episodes in, good stuff. claire foy is so fricking good! she is a joy to watch.

i heard she is gonna be cast as the new lisbeth salander in new girl with dragon tattoo movies. i don't see her at all as lisbeth salander

it's mind boggling to me how they care so desperately about appearances. like who gives a **** who marries who, or who sleeps with who?!

pretty much everybody

Episode 2 of the new season is sloooooooooooooooooooooooow and not in a good way.

FWIW, I'll take my working class childhood over theirs any lifetime.

season 2 was even better than 1, and I didn't think they could do that sans Churchill.

Paul Bettany in talks to play Prince Philip, Helena Bonham Carter strongly rumoured to play Princess Margaret.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/on-demand...-paul-bettany/

Thoughts?

I am not terribly familiar with either actor (Don't know if I've ever seen Bettany's work).





Looks good.





Could work (The HBC has her playing Princess Margaret's mum!)

HBC is 8 years older than Olivia Colman & Princess Margaret was 4 year younger than her majesty The Queen.

Paul Bettany has been in a ton of stuff:

Manhunt: Unabomber
Captain America: Civil War
Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Da Vinci Code
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Dogville
A Beautiful Mind
A Knight's Tale

I saw Dogville in the cinema and A Beautiful Mind either in the cinema or shortly after it's release. Don't remember Paul Bettany's performance in either of them. What do you think of him?

he's fantastic.

In A Beautiful Mind, he plays Russell Crow's "best friend" - the one in his mind who doesn't really exist.

What do you think about HBC for Margaret?

Only know him from Uncle Vanya. He was outstanding.

does the show get better after the first 4-5 episdoes?
I started watching a few months ago, but was bored out of my mind for most of it and stopped.
Worth trying to get through S1?

If you didn't like the first few episodes, it's not for you.

Are you sure?

Anderson's Thatcher voice!

hard to keep my Scully boner now

First two episodes of the new season are excellent...Gillian Anderson is remarkable as Thatcher, and Tobias Menzies is again the MVP so far...