Stephen Daldry, director of The Crown on Netflix, says Taunton will always be home

Stephen Daldry, the director of the hit Netflix show The Crown, moved from Highbridge to Taunton when he was 12-years-old, and says he will always call our little town home.

He first fell in love with acting and directing at beloved entertainment hub The Brewhouse, when he performed in one of the first ever shows in 1978.

Mr Daldry was part of theatre group Taunton Thespians, he made his theatre debut as Sandy Tyrell in Noel Coward’s Hayfever.

“I will always consider Taunton my home,” he said.

“I have to thank Maggie and Tony Bundey from Taunton Thespians, it is all their fault really. They really encouraged me.”

Stephen attended Huish’s Grammar School – now Richard Huish College – where he said he started his directing career under the tutelage of his German teacher Michael Robinson, who also produced school plays.

Mr Daldry has worked directing Broadway shows, plays and movies, including Billy Elliot.

He even directed parts of the 2012 Olympics opening and closing ceremonies.

His newest venture is directing the likes of Claire Foy and John Lithgow in the popular Netflix show The Crown.

The show follows the early reign of Queen Elizabeth II in 10 one-hour episodes.

It covers the period between the Queen’s marriage to the Duke of Edinburgh in 1947 to the disintegration of her sister Margaret’s engagement, all while their choices are watched and scrutinised by the public.

He added: “The Crown is about a family who, in one sense is an ordinary family, on the other hand is an extraordinary family put in really extraordinary circumstances.

“It’s the tensions of that family – internal tensions within the family itself, their responsibility to government, their responsibility to the country and, indeed, their responsibility to God.

“It is in no way a documentary, nor is it a docudrama, it is our imagined response to this extraordinary family and these extraordinary times.”

Now, Stephen and his team are collecting accolades at star-studded awards ceremonies for his work.

The Crown won Best Television Series – Drama at the 74th Golden Globe Awards, Claire Foy won Best Actress at the same awards, as well as Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series at the 23rd Screen Actors Guild Awards, alongside John Lithgow who won the male actor award in the same category.

“We’ve been incredibly lucky with all our casting.

“We have an extraordinary actress playing Elizabeth. I think she’s genuinely dazzling, it will be a real discovery,” he said.

“Claire Foy is already a very celebrated actress but I think this will be a role which she’ll be celebrated for the rest of her life. She’s done extraordinary work.”

The cast and crew have gone straight into working on season two, which doesn’t have a release date yet.

Mr Daldry said: “This has been a hugely ambitious project, because we’re not just setting out to do the first season but we’re straight into work on the second season and hopefully seasons beyond that.

“So you’re setting up a company of actors and a production company, if you like, that can sustain a very long race. It’s a long marathon this one, not a sprint.”

Although he says the series is not a documentary, he still feels a great sense of responsibility when portraying real-life events.

He said: “I personally feel a great sense of responsibility when we’re shooting real events, which is why we do so much research. I love to know everything that’s been written, shown, filmed or said from different perspectives about an event.

“It just gives you then freedom to know what you’re inventing beyond that.”

The show has already gained a cult-following across the world, despite only being in its first season.

“I think that anybody, in any country, will find the subject of this family, but also the extraordinary nature of what they’re put through by the public and by the government, fascinating.”