Other Doctor Lives: The Crown: Season 1, Episode 6 – “Gelignite” (2016)

Another episode where knowing some background from The King’s Speech really helped me out – not so much for the specific events that occur in this episode, but for the added context given to them by past events (relationship spoilers – I realize this is based on a true story, so it’s technically just history, but like me, you may have been previously unaware.)

Elizabeth is taken aback when her sister Margaret comes to her with both a reveal and a request: Margaret has secretly been seeing Peter, a member of the late George VI’s staff, and she asks for Elizabeth to allow their eventual marriage. Not one to stand in the way of her sister’s happiness, Elizabeth agrees, but as the press swirls around the story, the issue magnifies to the point where it may be beyond Elizabeth’s control.

I mentioned both the actors back when I reviewed the pilot, but I’ll repeat here that Margaret is played by Vanessa Kirby (Estella from the 2011 Great Expectations), Peter by Ben Miles (Patrick from Coupling.) Their love story has been conducted in stolen scenes away from prying eyes, but here, it’s brought into the open. This is where, as I said above, The King’s Speech comes in handy. Margaret’s situation draws parallels with David/Edward’s, especially given that Peter, like Wallis Simpson, is divorced. There are differences to consider – given that Elizabeth already has two children of her own, Margaret is unlikely to ever be queen and thus subject to less scrutiny – but the idea of one member of the family abdicating/leaving the country for his “forbidden love” and another getting to welcome hers into the fold a mere 17 years later smacks of inconsistency at best, hypocrisy at worst, and it quickly becomes a tangled web for Elizabeth to navigate.

Another not-great episode for Phillip. I’ll admit, I’m growing less hopeful for him by the week. I still keep my fingers crossed for him to turn it around, because I like Matt Smith and he’s good in the role, but Phillip’s disappointing qualities aren’t really interesting enough to make the character compelling in his flaws. Whereas, for example, David is perfectly awful in a way that I love to watch, Phillip is often more frustrating than anything else.

One thing that this episode crystalizes for me is how tenuous Phillip’s “modern man, royal of the people” routine is. In earlier episodes, we see Phillip getting on with Peter quite well, being friendly and casual with him during his flying lessons, but as soon as we learn that Peter wants to marry Margaret, it’s, “He’s a servant,” “He’s divorced,” and, “He had a breakdown after the war!” How quickly his good-natured magnanimy evaporates. We see the same sort of thing in his relationship with Elizabeth. He’s quick to tout that a modern marriage is about equal partnership, but that equality mainly seems to extend to where it would benefit him – he insists that it would be outdated for him to kneel before her at her coronation, but he very much expects the children to take his last name.