Matt Smith joins new drama 'The Crown'

Los Angeles: Netflix's ambitious new series "The Crown" has added Matt Smith, who will play Prince Philip.

The former "Doctor Who" actor will play Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, and join an all-star cast in the drama, which also features Wolf Hall's Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II and John Lithgow as Winston Churchill, reported Variety.

"The Crown", which is believed to be costing USD 100 million and is inspired by the play "The Audience", follows the story of Queen Elizabeth and her relationships with various prime ministers in the post-war era.

According to Netflix, the show "tells the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world - Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street - and the intrigues, love lives and machinations behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century".

Each season will focus on a different decade in the Queen's reign, with the first run of episodes focusing on her coronation and her fledgling relationship with Churchill. The show - the first original UK commission for Netflix - comes from "The Queen" writer Peter Morgan and Stephen Daldry, who directed Helen Mirren in "The Audience".

All ten episodes of "The Crown" will premiere in all Netflix territories in 2016.