Timothy Dalton On The Queen, Questionable Roles, And Quickstep

Simon Button chats to the cinema titan about starring in the fifth series of The Crown and more

- Simon Button

WHEN HE WAS asked to join the new series of The Crown, Timothy Dalton didn't hesitate to say yes, not least because the invitation came from none other than Lesley Manville. “I got a message from her saying she was playing Princess Margaret, would I come and play Peter Townsend?” Dalton relates. “I thought that was such a wonderful thing for her to do so of course I said yes. I also think it’s terrific television, beautifully made the way we used to make TV 20 years ago.”

Townsend, played in the first series by Ben Miles, was the former RAF Group Captain and equerry to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. He had an affair with the latter’s younger sister until she ended it in 1955. In the show, their paths cross again many years later but under tragic circumstances.

Did Dalton already know his costar? The actor, who turns out to be much funnier than most of his screen roles suggest, laughs. “Well, I do now. I’ve danced the quickstep with her.” Referencing a scene in the fourth episode of the fifth series of The Crown, Dalton adds: “Well, I think it was a quickstep, not a foxtrot. I’m your man for a waltz and I’ve even danced the tango with Jennifer Connelly in The Rocketeer, without music I have to say.”

He laughs again. “But this one was all changing beats and rhythms and the rest of it. It’s not something I was confident about and had Lesley known how unconfident I was, as she was hurtling through the air with her feet off the ground, she wouldn’t have done it. I struggled but it was wonderful and by the end of it you know these two people are in love.”