New and familiar faces in fourth season of ‘The Crown’

Gillian Anderson and Peter Morgan attended AFI Fest: The Crown & Peter Morgan Tribute at TCL Chinese Theatre on Nov. 16, 2019, in Hollywood.Araya Diaz/Getty Images for Netflix

I’m already excited about season 4 of “The Crown,” even though season 3 only just became available on Netflix. Partly that’s because I want more of Olivia Colman’s more withholding version of the queen, but it’s also because I am eager to see Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher. That just sounds too good to be true. By the way, Anderson has been dating show creator Peter Morgan since 2016.

Another nice upcoming bit: Claire Foy, the original Queen Elizabeth actress, will return to the series in season 4 in a flashback sequence. The flashback will take place in 1947, before Elizabeth became queen, when she toured South Africa to celebrate her 21st birthday. Fortunately, there will be no strained effort to make Colman look younger. Season 4 will also include Emma Corrin as Lady Diana Spencer, soon to be Princess Diana.