Netflix set to produce first original UK series about the Queen

Drama will follow the Queen from her ascent to the throne to the present day

The Queen of England will be the subject of a new Netflix original drama called The Crown (Getty)

The UK looks set to get its first original drama series on Netflix with a budget of £100m.

But while the US has Machiavellian congressman Frank Underwood, the UK’s equivalent of House of Cards will be based on a less conniving character, the Queen.

Netflix has won a multi million pound deal to broadcast a new 20-part biopic of the Queen, according to industry magazine Broadcast.

The drama, called The Crown, will chart Elizabeth II’s reign from her ascent to the throne aged 26 to the present day, and will be written by Peter Morgan, who penned 2006 film The Queen.

The series will also focus on the changing political landscape during her time on the throne.

The Crown will reportedly be directed by Oscar-nominated Stephen Daldry, whose previous credits include Billy Elliot (2000), The Hours (2002) and The Reader (2008), and will be released on Netflix in 2016.

Netflix beat ITV and the BBC to win the broadcasting contract, and is reported to have offered a budget of more than £5m per episode to produce the series.

The streaming service has enjoyed success in the UK with its original US series House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, and won a Bafta TV for its final series of Breaking Bad.

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