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December 03, 2016

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TV Media Weekly | December 3 - 9, 2016 By Kyla Brewer TV Media A s Prince William and Kate Middleton tour the globe with their lit- tle ones and Prince Har- ry makes headlines for his re- cent romance, it seems a new generation of royals has revived public interest in the British monarchy. While Netflix's new hit "The Crown" has been praised for its realistic portrayal of royal life, another series of- fers viewers a deliciously scan- dalous version. Elizabeth Hurley ("Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery," 1997) returns as Queen Helena in the season 3 premiere of "The Royals," airing Sunday, Dec. 4, on E! The fiction- al prime-time soap follows a corrupt British royal family that is nothing like its real-life coun- terpart. Hurley leads the cast as matriarch Helena, who is still reeling from the events of last season's finale. Created by Mark Schwahn, the show is loosely based on Mi- chelle Ray's novel "Falling for Hamlet," and, in fact, each epi- sode of the series is named for a line from William Shakespeare's famous play about the Prince of Denmark. Despite some initial misgivings from critics, who scoffed at the over-the-top melo- drama of the prime-time soap, the series has persevered, and was renewed for a third season in January. Shortly afterward, news broke that E! had signed a development deal with Schwahn, indicating network execs had faith in the series, and in him. "We love what Mark contin- ues to do with 'The Royals'; he has a natural talent for weaving drama and pop culture and cre- ating sensational characters with mass appeal," said NBC executive Jeff Wachtel when Schwahn signed on to continue with the production. Those sensational characters return in season 3, which con- sists of 10 one-hour episodes. The season opener picks up two weeks after the execution of Ted Pryce (Oliver Milburn, "The De- scent," 2005), King Simon's (Vincent Regan, "300," 2006) murderer, who died at the hands of an angry mob. Queen Helena is left scrambling to prove that her children, Prince Liam (Wil- liam Moseley, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," 2005) and Princess Eleanor (Alexandra Park, "The Elephant Princess"), are Simon's and, hence, legiti- mate heirs to the throne. Unfortunately for Helena and her offspring, Simon's brother — and the country's current rul- er — King Cyrus (Jake Maskall, "EastEnders") is determined to make sure Helena doesn't prove the twins' paternity. At the same time, twins Liam and Eleanor have become enor- mously popular, and a #KingLi- am hashtag spreads across Eng- land as the people support their hero prince. However, Liam is tormented by the memory of Ted's execution, and copes with his anger and resentment in a dangerous way. Elsewhere, El- eanor struggles to figure out what to do about her relation- ship with Jasper (Tom Austen, "Grantchester"). Although he once tried to blackmail her, she has fallen in love with him. While fans are no doubt inter- ested in what's going on with the rest of the royal Henstridge family, the real story of the sea- son is the potential reappear- ance of Robert, Liam and Elea- nor's presumed-dead brother. In June, news broke that Max Brown ("The Tudors") had been cast as Simon and Helena's el- dest child, and true heir to the throne. The extent of the role is as yet unknown, but Robert's re- appearance could have big im- plications for his siblings, moth- er and uncle. The whole family was devastated when he was reported dead in the series de- but, and much of what's hap- pened since then has been a di- rect result of his apparent de- mise. Brown is not the only new face this season. Hurley's real- life son, 14-year-old Damian, makes his professional acting debut in "The Royals" as Prince Hansel of Lichtenstein. The cast also welcomes British actor Jules Knight ("Holby City") as Spen- cer, the new Lord Chamberlain. Hurley's son's debut and Rob- ert's return has had fans buzzing about the new season, and E! has taken advantage of the U.S. election year to promote the se- ries. The show made headlines in October with a cheeky promo for season 3, in which Hurley's Queen Helena told Americans that England was ready to wel- come them back following the November election. "The Royals" has amassed a loyal following of fans, more than 800,000 viewers were tun- ing in by the end of last season. However, the show hasn't al- ways been a big hit with critics, many of whom panned the show from the beginning. Re- gardless of what TV critics say, "The Royals" has been reason- ably well received by audiences, scoring a 71 percent Rotten To- matoes approval rating. The plot may have people di- vided, but Hurley's performance has been almost universally praised, even by the show's staunchest critics. The actress first came to the attention of North American audiences as Hugh Grant's girlfriend in the early '90s, when she wore a daring black Versace dress to the L.A. premiere of Grant's "Four Weddings and a Funeral" (1994). More than just a pretty face, she quickly estab- lished herself as a leading lady, appearing in such big screen suc- cesses as "Bedazzled" (2000) and the Austin Powers franchise, opposite Mike Myers. For all her past successes, Hur- ley's biggest claim to fame may very well prove to be her role as Queen Helena in "The Royals," so don't miss the season 3 pre- miere Sunday, Dec. 4, on E! William Moseley as seen in "The Royals" Elizabeth Hurley dazzles in soapy drama 'The Royals' 2 | Cover story A/Grindstone Charlie's B/Norris Insurance 1 x 4" Expires 1/3/17

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