'The Crown': Cast members share their experience while shooting for season 4

Season 4 of The Crown, which premieres on November 15, became highly anticipated with the arrival of Princess Diana and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies return as their roles portraying Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

The cast members gave their characters the royal send-off. In a behind-the-scenes video of Netflix series The Crown, actress Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies, Helena Bonham Carter, Erin Doherty, Josh O'Connor and Charles Dance talked about the making of fourth season — including welcoming "newbies" such as Emma Corrin and Gillian Anderson into the cast.

"For us, it was really exciting to see Emma come in — and Gillian," Bonham Carter, 54, who plays Princess Margaret, said. "It was like, 'We're the six formers. Hee-hee.' "

While Anderson shared that she "couldn't tell anyone" that she was cast in the series as Margaret Thatcher, the actress nonetheless had a blast portraying the British prime minister and the "complexity" of her relationship with Queen Elizabeth.

"We're two characters and the friction and the rhythm is so enjoyable to play," Colman added. "It was just really fun to have those 'horrible moments' with brilliant Gillian."

For the cast, one of their most memorable moments was when they all gathered to film a scene in which the royal family plays a game with Thatcher. According to Doherty, who plays Princess Anne, it "was so much fun" to let their hair down for a moment — even if there was so much tension between their characters.

"Just the tension that lies even in the idea on the page is so fantastic," Anderson, 52, says. "That was loads of fun."

However, season four is a bittersweet one for some cast members as they bid farewell to The Crown and hand off their roles to successors.