The 3rd Rock From The Sun star will star alongside Claire Foy and Matt Smith, who will portray Queen Elizabeth II and Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in The Crown.

The 10-episode show will centre on the inner workings of the royal family, and in particular Queen Elizabeth II's dealings with Britain's post-war Prime Ministers.

Inspired by hit play The Audience, each season of the drama will focus on a decade of the Queen's reign.

The show is slated to premiere on Netflix next year (16).

Lithgow isn't the only actor lined up to play Churchill on the small screen - Sir Michael Gambon will play the World War Two leader in the TV adaptation of Jonathan Smith's book The Churchill Secret: KBO, which chronicled the Prime Minister's recovery from a stroke while he was still in office in the early-to-mid-1950s.

Lindsay Duncan will play Churchill's wife Clementine in the series.

Gambon and Lithgow join a long list of top stars who have portrayed Churchill onscreen, including Simon Ward, Robert Hardy, Bob Hoskins, Albert Finney, and Timothy Spall, who played him in 2010's The King's Speech.