'The Crown' Season 3 Featurette Showcases The New Cast

Big changes are in store for The Crown season 3, which arrives on Netflix this weekend. To better highlight the passage of time, the series has an entirely new cast playing the British Royal Family, with Oscar-winner Olivia Colman stepping into the role of Queen Elizabeth, a part previously played by Claire Foy. A new The Crown season 3 featurette showcases the new cast and the changes in store.

For two strong seasons, Netflix's The Crown showed us the ascension of Queen Elizabeth II, as played by Claire Foy. Those first seasons were about the Queen's early years, but season 3 is a whole new ballgame. In season 3, the Queen has been in power for a solid block of time, and to better convey that passage of time, Netflix and creator Peter Morgan brought in a whole new cast.

Taking over for previous cast members, Olivia Colman is Queen Elizabeth II, Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, and Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip. Then there's Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles, and Erin Doherty as Princess Anne. The third season "sees a new guard sweep into Downing Street, as Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) and her family struggle to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing Britain. From cold-war paranoia, through to the jet-set and the space age – the exuberance of the 1960s and the long hangover of the 1970s – Elizabeth and the Royals must adapt to a new, more liberated, but also more turbulent world."

This video has Colman, Carter, Menzies, O'Connor, Doherty, and writer-creator Morgan discussing the changes at hand. "The new cast didn't bother me, it was how to make the new cast feel like it was the same show," Morgan says in the video. "I just wanted to feel it was seamless and I think it does."

While I was a big fan of the original cast, having seen season 3 in full, I can confirm the new cast does an excellent job as well. The Crown remains one of Netflix's best original shows, and it's only gotten stronger since its incarnation.

The Crown season 3 arrives on Netflix Sunday, November 17.