THE PANORAMA PRINCESS…

The fifth season of The Crown, which follows the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II, was released by Netflix on November 9, 2022. It was the first season of the series to be released following both the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on April 9, 2021, and the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022.

Imelda Staunton stars as Elizabeth, along with main cast members Jonathan Pryce as Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, Elizabeth’s younger sister, Jonny Lee Miller as John Major, Prime Minister 1990–1997, Dominic West as Charles, Prince of Wales, Elizabeth and Philip’s eldest child and the heir apparent, and Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, Princess of Wales, Charles’s wife. All cast members are new to the series; this season marked The Crown‘s final wholesale recasting, following the ensembles led by Claire Foy (seasons one and two) and Olivia Colman (seasons three and four).

The Crown traces the reign of Queen Elizabeth II from her wedding in 1947 through to the early 21st century.

The fifth season covers the time period between 1991 and 1997, and is set during the premiership of John Major. Events depicted include Elizabeth’s annus horribilis in 1992, Diana’s Panorama interview, the separation and divorce of Prince Charles and Diana, Elizabeth’s state visit to Russia, the use of Prince Philip’s DNA to identify the remains of the Romanov family, the decommissioning of Britannia, the handover of Hong Kong, and Major’s departure from office and the beginning of Tony Blair‘s premiership.

After the fourth season, there were increased calls for Netflix to add a disclaimer to The Crown to emphasise that the series is a fictionalised portrayal based on historical events. These calls increased given that the fifth season was released only two months after the Queen’s death. Veteran actress Judi Dench wrote an open letter to The Times, deeming the series “crude sensationalism” and calling for a disclaimer to be added. Netflix updated both the series description and the season five trailer caption on YouTube to refer to the series as a “fictional dramatization”. However, upon the release of the series, no episode contained a disclaimer.

Prime Minister John Major is depicted in one scene as discussing with Prince Charles the possibility of the Queen abdicating. Major issued a statement after the episode aired, labelling the scene as “a barrel-load of malicious nonsense”, confirming that he had never discussed the series with Netflix.

The Crown has been praised for its acting, directing, writing, cinematography, and production values, and has received many awards and nominations. It won all seven drama categories at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards in 2021, becoming the first show to sweep the major drama categories. The series was nominated for two categories at the 75th Prime-time Emmy Awards that were canceled for September 2023 and postponed until January 2024, due to the SAG/AFTRA strike.

The Crown is the Featured Television Blog of the Month for July! With the Featured Blog comes a detailed critique of the fifth season of the series that includes the new cast. There is also a detailed recommendation of the full series with the entire cast from all five seasons. There is also a detailed review of the series with a review of all ten episodes from the fifth season. it is a TODAY interview with Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce, Lesley Manville, Dominic West, and Elizabeth Debicki discussing the fifth season and addressing the criticism. To commemorate all of the Featured Television Blog of the Month, there is a Top Ten List of films or series featured, and for The Crown, the list is My Top Ten British Monarchy Series. Last but not least, the Featured Television Blog of the Month includes an Official Trailer for the featured subject!

You can watch The Crown Season 5 Official Trailer below: