Ex Doctor Who star Matt Smith to play Prince Philip in Netflix series The Crown

Matt Smith has been cast as a young Prince Philip in new Netflix show The Crown.

The former Doctor Who star will play Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh opposite Wolf Hall’s Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II and John Lithgow as Winston Churchill in the first original UK commission for Netflix.

The Crown is inspired by the award-winning West End and Broadway play The Audience, and follows the story of Queen Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne and her relationships with the various prime ministers over the years.

Claire Foy (Ian West/PA)

Netflix is believed to be splashing out US$100million (£63 million) on the new drama, which they say '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 of the Queen’s reign, with the first series centred around her coronation and her fledgling relationship with Churchill.

Interstellar star John Lithgow will play Winston Churchill (Sylvain Gaboury/AP)

The Queen writer Peter Morgan and Stephen Daldry, who directed Dame Helen Mirren in The Audience, are both on board to create the show.

The first 10 episodes of The Crown will premiere in all Netflix territories in 2016.