Olivia Colman has been announced as the successor to Claire Foy in the hit Netflix show, ‘The Crown’.

According to Variety, the former ‘Broadchurch’ star will take over the role of Queen Elizabeth II from next year, when the show enters its third series, playing the monarch from the ages of 40 to 60.

It’s thought she’ll stick around for the show’s fourth series, at which point another actress will take over the throne, should the show be commissioned for a fifth and sixth run.

The first series of ‘The Crown’ co-starred former ‘Doctor Who’ star Matt Smith as Prince Philip and John Lithgow as Prime Minister Winston Churchill, with the second series set to begin streaming on Netflix in December.

Show creator Peter Morgan – who previously wrote the 2006 film ‘The Queen’ and the royal-based play ‘The Audience’ – has always intended for a more mature star to play the lead role of Elizabeth II as the character gets older, aiming for the show to wrap after its sixth series.

Further casting is expected to be announced in due course, with the Daily Mail reporting that production will begin on series three of ‘The Crown’ next year, though we shouldn’t expect to see Olivia in the title role until 2019.

Claire Foy won universal praise for her performance in the first series of ‘The Crown’, bagging a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as a nomination in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at this year’s Emmys.