The death of Queen Elizabeth II has brought the Netflix series “The Crown” up to date: here is everything you need to know about the fifth season, expected on the platform for the end of the year.
More than a week after the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the proclamation of King Charles III, the Netflix series The Crown has experienced an unprecedented resurgence in popularity, as the series is currently in the ranking of the most viewed programs on the platform!
While many Netflix subscribers are currently immersing themselves in the four seasons of the series currently available, here is everything you need to know about the next season of the historic program chronicling the reign of the late monarch.
What release date?
The fifth season of The Crown does not yet have an air date; it has nevertheless been announced that the series will be broadcast on Netflix, unless postponed, during the month of November!
How many episodes?
Like the first four, this season 5 will total ten episodes.
What is it about ?
The series focuses on Queen Elizabeth II, then 25 years old and faced with the daunting task of leading the world’s most famous monarchy while forging a relationship with legendary Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. The British Empire is in decline, the political world in disarray… a young woman then ascends the throne, at the dawn of a new era.
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Who is in the cast?
The great particularity of the series is to renew its cast every two seasons, to emphasize the aging of the protagonists without resorting to make-up and other special effects.
Thus, from this season 5, Queen Elizabeth II will be embodied by Imelda Staunton. The interpreter of the detestable Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter saga succeeds in the role of Claire Foy (seasons 1 and 2) and Olivia Colman (seasons 3 and 4).
Introduced during season 4 in the guise of Emma Corrin, Princess Diana is already changing actress since she will be interpreted in this fifth season by Elizabeth Debicki; her husband the future King Charles III, previously played by Josh O’Connor, will be camped for the last two seasons of the series by Dominic West.
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Elizabeth II, played by Claire Foy (left) and Olivia Colman (right).
What historical events will be at the heart of this season 5?
The plot of this season 5 will take place in the 90s. A pivotal decade in the history of British royalty, culminating in the famous annus horribilis 1992, marked by a succession of scandals that marred the festivities of the fortieth anniversary of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
It was this year in particular that the separation of the couple Charles and Diana was announced (their divorce would not take place until a few years later), as well as the shock interview of the Princess of Wales at the BBC (which will be replayed for the needs of the series), and the revelation to the public of the affair maintained by her husband with Camilla Parker-Bowles, the current Queen Consort of England.
The other key event of this decade is of course the tragic death of Diana on August 31, 1997. The few days following the disappearance of the “People’s Princess” (to use the words of Prime Minister Tony Blair) are considered the darkest days of the reign of Elizabeth II, strongly criticized by her subjects for the silence in which she had chosen to wall herself.
For the record, this period was the subject of an excellent film by Stephen Frears, The Queen, scripted by Peter Morgan (the creator of the series), which could be considered as a kind of season 5 bis of The Crown. It will therefore be interesting to compare the treatment of the event in the film and in the series.
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The royal family hates the series
Highly anticipated by Netflix subscribers, season 5 of The Crown is unlikely to arouse enthusiasm within the British monarchy. In August, King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, publicly expressed his disapproval of the portrayal of him in the fourth season.
As for Prince Harry, if he conceded that the series allowed to get a rather fair overview of reality, the latter would have expressly asked Netflix that the series end before the start of his idyll with the actress Meghan Markle.
Will there be a season 6?
While it was announced from the beginning of the series that The Crown would total six seasons in total, it was for a time considered to complete the program at the end of the fifth season. Idea finally abandoned, since a season 6 will indeed see the light of day, although its filming has been postponed following the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, on September 8th.