Upcoming Netflix show The Crown almost suffered a horrifying setback when the Eleventh Doctor himself, Matt Smith, who plays the Duke of Edinburgh nearly broke his neck while riding horseback.
Luke Cornell, the expert who provided the animals for the royal family drama including Cheetahs, a Baboon and a hawk, said:
“Matt Smith very nearly broke his neck. He had a near accident which could have killed him. I had arranged stunt doubles to ride my horses because Claire Foy (who plays Queen Elizabeth II) and Matt both said they couldn’t ride.”
There’s a scene where Elizabeth and Philip gallop off for a bit of romance in the bushes and try and escape their bodyguards. We shot it from a helicopter and I got stunt doubles to do that. But when I was moving locations with some of my animals and had my back turned, Matt climbed on the horse himself, and it was a near disaster.”
He adds:
“The horse took off charging through the equipment, lighting stands, into cameras, at a terrific speed and Matt had no helmet on. He was very lucky he didn’t get seriously hurt but was very shaken, white as a sheet. He bit off more than he could chew. It was horrendous.”
Well to brighten things up, how about we spend sometime to remind ourselves of more pleasant times between Matt Smith and horses (no not like that!). Be they real or not.
Here’s a behind the scenes snippet of the Doctor galloping a fake horse on his way to the Pandorica:
Or how about the horse Matt had to ride for A Town Called Mercy?
See, don’t you feel better?
Anywho, all episodes of The Crown, which tells ‘the inside story of Queen Elizabeth II’s early reign, revealing the personal intrigues, romances, and political rivalries behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th Century’, will be available on Netflix worldwide on November 4th.