The Queen was a 2009 British drama-documentary showing Queen Elizabeth II at different points during her life. Broadcast on Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 over five consecutive nights from 29 November 2009, the Queen was portrayed by a different actress in each episode. The Queen was portrayed by Emilia Fox

Emilia Fox

Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox is an award-winning English actress, known for her role as Dr. Nikki Alexander on BBC crime drama Silent Witness, having joined the cast in 2004 following the departure of Amanda Burton. She also appears as Morgause in the BBC's Merlin beginning in the programme's second...

, Samantha Bond, Susan Jameson

Susan Jameson

Susan Jameson is an English actress who is best known for her television work.Jameson was born in Barnt Green, Worcestershire, England, UK. She is married to actor James Bolam with whom she has a daughter, Lucy...

, Barbara Flynn

Barbara Flynn

Barbara Flynn is an English actress. She first became known for her appearance in the ITV drama A Family at War, that followed the fortunes of a lower middle class family living in Liverpool from 1938 and through World War II.During the 1980s Flynn's acting skills led to her being cast in several...

 and Diana Quick

Diana Quick

-Life:Quick was born in London, England. She grew up in Dartford, Kent, the third of a dentist's four children. She was educated at Dartford Grammar School for Girls, Kent. She was greatly aided by her English teacher, Miss Davis, who encouraged her to pursue acting...

. Katie McGrath

Katie McGrath

Katherine Elizabeth McGrath is an Irish actress from Ashford, County Wicklow, Ireland, best known for playing Morgana in the BBC One TV series Merlin.-Background:McGrath graduated in History at the Trinity College, Dublin...

 played Princess Margaret in the first episode and Lesley Manville

Lesley Manville

Lesley Manville is an award-winning English actress.-Early life:Born in Brighton, Manville was raised in Hove, East Sussex, one of three daughters of a taxicab driver. Training as a soprano singer from age 8, she twice became under-18 champion of Sussex...

 played Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

 in the third episode. The series was co-funded by the American Broadcasting Company

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

, the network which aired the series in the US.

This reunited Emilia Fox

Emilia Fox

Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox is an award-winning English actress, known for her role as Dr. Nikki Alexander on BBC crime drama Silent Witness, having joined the cast in 2004 following the departure of Amanda Burton. She also appears as Morgause in the BBC's Merlin beginning in the programme's second...

 and Katie McGrath

Katie McGrath

Katherine Elizabeth McGrath is an Irish actress from Ashford, County Wicklow, Ireland, best known for playing Morgana in the BBC One TV series Merlin.-Background:McGrath graduated in History at the Trinity College, Dublin...

 who had played sisters in BBC one's TV show Merlin

Merlin (TV series)

Merlin is a British fantasy-adventure television programme by Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps. It began broadcasting on BBC One on 20 September 2008. The show is based on the Arthurian legends of the wizard Merlin and his relationship with Prince Arthur but differs from...

.

Production

The series was shot in Southern England

Southern England

Southern England, the South and the South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region with a distinct...

. Locations used in the filming included Stourhead House

Stourhead

Stourhead is a 2,650 acre estate at the source of the River Stour near Mere, Wiltshire, England. The estate includes a Palladian mansion, the village of Stourton, gardens, farmland, and woodland...

, Longleat

Longleat

Longleat is an English stately home, currently the seat of the Marquesses of Bath, adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of Warminster in Wiltshire and Frome in Somerset. It is noted for its Elizabethan country house, maze, landscaped parkland and safari park. The house is set...

, Neston Park

Neston Park

Neston Park is an English country house and estate, 2 miles south of Corsham, Wiltshire, in the village of Neston. The name of the village comes from the name of the house.The house was built just after 1790....

, Grittleton House

Grittleton House School

Grittleton House School is a small, family-run independent school and children's daycare provider situated in the village of Grittleton near Chippenham in Wiltshire. The school is co-educational with around 300 pupils and toddlers aged 2-16....

, Knebworth House

Knebworth House

Knebworth House is a country house in the civil parish of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England.-History and description:The home of the Lytton family since 1490, when Thomas Bourchier sold the reversion of the manor to Sir Robert Lytton, Knebworth House was originally a genuine red-brick Late Gothic...

 and Orchardleigh Estate

Orchardleigh Estate

Orchardleigh is a country estate in Somerset, approximately two miles north of Frome, and on the southern edge of the village of Lullington. It comprises a Victorian stately home, an island church, and an 18-hole golf course...

.