Thursday Murder Club makes cheeky reference to one of Helen Mirren's most iconic roles
There's a meta royal connection in the new Richard Osman adaptation.
The new film adaptation of Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club – which is now out in select UK cinemas – is stuffed with stars, and one of the biggest of the lot is Dame Helen Mirren.
Of course, Mirren's long career has seen her take on a whole host of varied parts –and at one point the new movie makes a cheeky reference to one of her most iconic previous roles: her Oscar-winning performance as Queen Elizabeth II in 2006 biopic The Queen.
The moment comes when her character (also called Elizabeth, funnily enough) dresses herself up as part of a scheme with fellow Thursday Murder Club member Joyce (Celia Imrie), which involves them infiltrating the police station to speak to PC Donna De Freitas (Naomi Ackie).
As she is leaving the house – complete with a headdress and walking stick – her husband Stephen (Jonathan Pryce) laughs incredulously and says: "What on Earth are you wearing?"
He then adds: "You look just like the Queen!" to which Elizabeth responds: "Do I?"
Stephen then makes reference to the Queen's funeral, which he calls "a sad day", prompting a shocked reaction from Elizabeth, who is surprised he can remember it due to his struggles with dementia.
"Of course I do," he says. "September 19th, 2022. We watched it on the telly. You were obsessed with the security arrangements."
The exchange is especially meta given that in addition to Mirren's Oscar-winning role as the Queen, Pryce played Prince Philip in the final two seasons of The Crown – so they've both had pretty major royal parts.
Meanwhile, despite the reference to the Queen, it's another of Mirren's most iconic roles that fans may well be reminded of during the film – with her no-nonsense approach to sleuthing having something in common with her legendary Prime Suspect character Jane Tennison.
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The Thursday Murder Club is now showing in select UK cinemas and will be available to stream on Netflix from Thursday 28th August 2025. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
