The end of the year brings two exciting dates for fans of The Crown. For those with Netflix subscriptions, Season 4 of this outstanding series will have its streaming release on 15 November, and for everyone else who has had to remain patient, Season 3 is finally getting a DVD release.

This season covers the period between 1964 and 1977, and opens with the death of Winston Churchill, who was brilliantly portrayed by John Lithgow in the previous two seasons. We are introduced to an outstanding new ensemble cast, though it does take some time to get used to the new actors who step into all of the roles from Seasons 1 and 2. Gone is Claire Foy’s youthful Queen, and in her place comes Olivia Colman, portraying Queen Elizabeth II as she enters middle age. Matt Smith’s handsome Prince Philip is replaced by a rather stern Tobias Menzies. Vanessa Kirby’s dazzling Princess Margaret turns wonderfully bitter in a charismatic performance by Helena Bonham Carter. The standout new face in this season is Josh O’Connor, who brilliantly captures the torment of Prince Charles. I know it is only a TV characterisation, but I must admit to feeling quite a bit of empathy for Charles, who is forced to do so much for the Royal Family against his will. Indeed, Wallis Simpson warns him to ‘never turn your back on true love’ and ‘to watch out for your family’. As viewers have come to expect, the script, acting, production and cinematography this season are all first class.

With Season 3 covering events in more recent memory such as the Aberfan disaster in Wales, the 1972 Miners’ Strike and Princess Margaret’s divorce, it will be interesting to see how the remaining seasons play out, as the show starts to enter periods in which the Royal Family had a far higher profile in the media–think the tabloid obsession with Princess Diana. For now, however, this series continues to delight.

Dave Clarke is the music and DVD manager at Readings.