Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: The Crown, Netflix, Entertainment, Royal Family, The Queen, King Charles III, Prince William, Prince Harry
Dominic Smithers
Topics: The Crown, Netflix, Entertainment, Royal Family, The Queen, King Charles III, Prince William, Prince Harry
Season five of The Crown has finally landed on Netflix.
Yep, the wait is finally over, guys, so get ready to lose your life to the hit series once more with the mother of all binges.
For those of you out there who have been living under a rock for the past few years, The Crown is a long-running series that chronicles the reign of the late Elizabeth II, from the 1940s through to (almost) present day.
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And the latest instalment covers the turbulent 1990s, which saw the royal family suffer a spate of divorces, a devastating fire at Windsor Castle and the untimely death of Princess Diana.
The synopsis for the series reads: "Inspired by real events, this fictional dramatisation tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the political and personal events that shaped her reign.
"It’s a new decade, and the royal family are facing what may be their biggest challenge yet: proving their continued relevance in ‘90s Britain.
"As Diana and Charles wage a media war, cracks begin to splinter the royal foundation."
The series stars Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II, Jonathan Pryce as the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, and Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki as Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
Lesley Manville has also taken on the role of Princess Margaret, while Jonny Lee Miller plays former Prime Minister John Major.
As is often the case with series based on true events, though, the series has been met with a huge amount of controversy.
Even before it aired, producers were criticised for sensationalising some aspects of what actually happened.
For example, John Major came out and branded scenes in which Charles appears to attempt to oust Queen Elizabeth II as ‘a barrel load of nonsense’.
In the end, the show's makers had to add a disclaimer onto advertising and videos, explaining that it was a fictional show.
"Inspired by real events, this fictional dramatisation tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the political and personal events that shaped her reign," it read.
However, the new series seems to have gone down pretty well with most of the critics - even if it's perhaps not as good as earlier incarnations.
Writing for Vanity Fair, Richard Lawson said: "The fifth season really zings when the show turns a hard gaze toward the maddening ways that Elizabeth and her cohort refuse compassion and adaptation."
While ABC News' Peter Travers commented: "Though nothing can rival the Emmy-winning 2020 chapters, Season 5 still proves an ambitious and addictive blast of delicious royal intrigue. The new cast, led by Imelda Staunton as the Queen and dynamite Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, is sheer perfection."
However, Carol Midgley at The Times was not so impressed, writing: "Despite the thousands of outraged words that have been written accusing it of turning the royal family into a cheap soap opera, I’m afraid the first three episodes are ditchwater dull. But here’s the good news. It gets better. Much better."
The Crown season five is now available to watch on Netflix.