Crowning glory
The Crown isn’t Jessica Hobbs’ first period drama by a long shot. No, the Emmy-nominated New Zealand director, who has overseen five episodes in the two most recent seasons, has a long history in shows with a long history.
In the mid-1970s, she had a role in The Governor, the biggest local television series of the era. Her mother, Aileen O’Sullivan, was cast as Sir George Grey’s adopted niece. Young Hobbs was duly frocked as part of the extended Grey clan. She remembers the late Corin Redgrave, who played Sir George, keeping her amused between takes. “It’s only now that I’m working with kids that I oft en think about those devices that he used to just keep my attention really on what he was doing.”
Hobbs laughs on the line from London when it’s pointed out her elevation from vice-regal to regal drama has taken a while. She must know how Prince Charles feels. But she thinks the experience on The Governor may have planted a seed about making dramas rather than starring in them.
“Even then, I remember being more interested in how they were creating it than being in it myself. There was an indication then that I was clearly not meant to be an
