Claire Foy

The Crown stars Matt Smith and Claire Foy will reunite for a socially distanced production of Lungs from the historic Old Vic theater in London. 

The 2018 Emmy Awards ceremony may have been a bit ho-hum, but for TV viewers who happen to be fans of British performers, writers and directors, there were more than a few bright spots.

Let’s take a look at the drama series that garnered praise from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and brought home the hardware for their British cast and crew members earlier this week. (Plus, we'll tell you where you can see them for yourselves.)

Popular Netflix period drama The Crown is getting a new monarch. The series, which currently stars Claire Foy and Matt Smith as Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, will drop its highly anticipated second season this December. But when the show returns for its third go around – ostensibly sometime in 2018 or 2019 – it will jump forward in time, and the royal family will look quite a bit different. 

In this installment of British Actresses You Should Know, we review some of the period drama highlights of Claire Foy. From her portrayal of a young Queen Elizabeth to a beloved Dickens' heroine, Ms. Foy is a graceful and talented performer who deserves a closer look.

God save the Queen, indeed. Netflix has released the full trailer for its upcoming original series The Crown, and you're going to want to watch it immediately. 

The ten-episode series is based on Peter Morgan’s award-winning play The Audience, and is meant to tell the inside story of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. The first season of The Crown focuses on Elizabeth as a 25-year-old newlywed, faced with the daunting prospect of leading the world’s most famous monarchy while forging a relationship with legendary Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. The British Empire is in decline, the political world is in disarray, and a young woman takes the throne. In short: A new era is dawning.

Most of us probably know the basic facts about King Henry VIII – his multiple marriages; his break from the Catholic Church to form the Church of England in order to enable said marriages; his quest for a male heir; and the unfortunate circumstances that befell most of his spouses who couldn’t provide him with one.

However, if you want to dig deeper into this time in Tudor history (and be entertained at the same time) you will probably want to watch Wolf Hall which will premiere on PBS’ Masterpiece beginning this Sunday. This six part series is based on two of Hilary Mantel’s Booker Prize-winning historical fiction novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. Both books are said to be painstakingly researched though no one can know exactly what transpired behind closed doors almost 500 years ago.

I must admit that I attempted to read Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall…twice. I knew I was in trouble when I saw a six page list of characters following the table of contents. The intimidation factor may have finished me before I even began. I soldiered on for a while, but found it was difficult to keep the various Thomas’ separate and the Dukes of This or That straight in my mind.

Therefore, before you settle in to watch the first episode of Wolf Hall on April 5^th at 10 pm ET (check your local listings) I thought it might be helpful to have a guide to some of the series major characters.