Adjoa Andoh: Everybody has that thing about, "My career, my…" "What am I gonna do? What's my work?" All of that. And then at a certain point in your life, you go, "Excuse me again, who am I?"

[vibrant classical music playing]

Alison Hammond: Lady Danbury, Queen Charlotte, there's a lot going on. Why are they butting heads this season? What is going on? 

Adjoa Andoh: Well, you know when you've had someone in your life for a very, very long time…

Alison Hammond: Yes.

Adjoa Andoh: …these things happen. And these ladies have been in each other's life for decades. 

Golda Rosheuvel: Since they were 19, 20, 21, something like that. 

Adjoa Andoh: So they've grown up together, they've grown outwards together, and we've reached a point, as happens in everybody's unique journey through life, where they want more space.

Golda Rosheuvel: Somebody wants something different.

Adjoa Andoh: Somebody wants something different.

Alison Hammond: Yes. 

Adjoa Andoh: And, um, that's gonna have a… cause a, you know…

Golda Rosheuvel: And that rocks the boat a bit.

Adjoa Andoh: …a bit of a ricochet effect. And all the emotions go… [imitates whoosh] 

Alison Hammond: It's so funny. When you do the whole big speech and everything, and you're listening intently, and then there's just a one-word answer. "No." 

[laughs] 

Alison Hammond: It's the best moment. It's so funny. 

Golda Rosheuvel: Heartbreaking, but there's also comedy.

Adjoa Andoh: Funny, but it's heartbreaking. 

Alison Hammond: Exactly that. And that's what they get so right, isn't it? You've got that balance, that vulnerability, the fact that it's not actually that funny, because you really want to go. And then you make it so funny. Queen Charlotte is so, so good. Let's talk about Lady Danbury. What does she want?

Adjoa Andoh: I don't know that she knows what she wants exactly, but she knows she needs to change something. And for me, I think it all kicks in when her brother comes back on the scene. You know, and, uh, we saw in the previous season the row she has with her brother, uh, when he calls her "Soma," which is her given name…

Alison Hammond: Yeah.

Adjoa Andoh: …from Sierra Leone. And I think the churn starts then. Uh, she doesn't want him here. She shut the door on all of that history. She's made her life as Agatha Danbury in this world. And then he gets in her business with one of her closest friends, Lady B. And I think it's all destabilizing, and slowly, the lid is starting to come up. And underneath the lid is a lot of stuff that she firmly shut down when she decided, "Okay, husband dead, four kids." "Charlotte's here now, make a life here. Go." 

Alison Hammond: "It's my time." 

Adjoa Andoh: And so now she's coming full circle, and it's like, "Okay, I think you need to go back and think about what that four-year-old lived in…"

Alison Hammond: Yeah.

Adjoa Andoh: "…before she came to England." "And you need to make your peace with that." 

Golda Rosheuvel: We haven't seen her be vulnerable, have we, in that way?

Adjoa Andoh: Not in that way. No.

Golda Rosheuvel:  In terms of family and thinking about that, because she has been that single…singleminded, you know, woman.

Adjoa Andoh: Yeah. And singlepersoned in her household.

Golda Rosheuvel:  Yes, exactly. 

Alison Hammond: You forget who you are. So it's about finding yourself again, isn't it?

Adjoa Andoh: It's taking that breath.

Alison Hammond: Yeah. 

Adjoa Andoh: But the impact on the friendship is… is quite something. 

Alison Hammond: It's huge. What's going on with Queen Charlotte? Because she's very bored. What's that to do with? 

Golda Rosheuvel: I think there's… I think… I don't know whether it's necessarily boredom. I think there's… Because she's found out who Whistledown is.

Alison Hammond: Yes. Yeah.

Golda Rosheuvel: You know? And I think she is thinking that the season will start with a new best friend. And, of course, all the gossip will come to her. But then, like, who is… who is around for that gossip to start? There's no debutantes. There's no men of, you know, um, notable kind of hotness or excitement. So there is that element at the beginning, especially in the masquerade ball, where she's like, "What's happening?" "What's going on? Where is my entertainment?" And, you know, calls upon Whistledown to create that entertainment for her, but then gets sidetracked and kind of knocked off her senses by Agatha's ask.

Alison Hammond: Yeah.

Golda Rosheuvel: Genuine, emotional, deep friendship ask.And that scares the Queen, I think.

Alison Hammond: Yeah. 

Golda Rosheuvel: Because does that not put her in a space of loneliness? Her best friend is gonna leave her. What happens to her then? What happens to her and the relationship with her husband?  You know, and we have that wonderful, wonderful scene, which was so amazing to film…

Alison Hammond: So powerful as well.

Golda Rosheuvel: …where we argue over the chess game.

Alison Hammond: Yeah.

Golda Rosheuvel: And I bring status into the mix. Which has never been brought in before with these two characters. You feel as though they've always been on equal terms and equal… You know the Queen is the Queen, and you know Agatha, and you know where they stand, but it's never been suggested. And at a vulnerable, vulnerable moment for the Queen, and I think terrified moment for the Queen, she brings that in.

Alison Hammond: Yeah. 

Golda Rosheuvel: And it's a mistake, and she knows it's a mistake. And the rest of the scene, you see these two friends trying to get back their friendship. And the apology happens, which is beautiful. And Agatha holds the Queen in that moment and the vulnerability that she expresses. So there's a lot going on for both of them.

Alison Hammond: It's so beautiful. 

Golda Rosheuvel: Yeah And it's very complex. 

Adjoa Andoh: I think that moment where the Queen says, you know, "You are my subject," and you just see Agatha go, "And now I withdraw." 

Alison Hammond: Yeah. "That's me done." 

Adjoa Andoh: "I'm done. I will be your subject, but you won't get my love." 

Alison Hammond: But she did apologize, she did show her vulnerable side, and I don't think I ever thought I would see the Queen do that, ever. Well, do you know what? It's been an absolute delight watching you both. I've loved it. You are the queens of the chessboard, and you've been running things for a long time.

[laughter]

Alison Hammond: So well done.

[vibrant classical music playing]

[music fades]