Netflix’s Royal drama series The Crown will return with its penultimate fifth season on November 9, as revealed during the streamer’s annual TUDUM event this weekend. The announcement was made via very simple but symbolic poster that featured the show’s title against a wall with a long, single crack in it, which considering the time period that the series is heading into, is a sign of the crumbling reputation of the UK monarchy during the 1990s.
The first look at The Crown’s new season previously promised an “all-out-war” between then Prince Charles and Princess Diana. There are also a number of changes coming to the cast, which now sees Imelda Staunton taking on the role of the late Queen Elizabeth II from Olivia Colman, with Jonathan Pryce playing Prince Philip. In addition, Dominic West plays Prince Charles, Elizabeth Debicki is Princess Diana, Lesley Manville is Princess Margaret and Jonny Lee Miller will make his surprising appearance as Prime Minister John Major.
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There have been very few specific details revealed about the latest season, which there have been plenty of castings to show what the main plotline of this season will be. Obviously being based on the real life events surrounding the British monarchy, and the show already being confirmed to cover the most troubled years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the season will run up to the death of Diana towards the end of the decade and the resulting downturn in public opinion of the Royal Family.
The Death of Queen Elizabeth II Has Seen A Huge Surge of Interest In The Crown
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The Crown has always been, so to speak, one of Netflix’s crown jewels, but following the death of Queen Elizabeth II earlier this month, there was a huge spike in viewership. According to data released by Whip Media, the U.K. viewer numbers for The Crown jumped by over 800% week on week. No doubt this has come from audiences who have not previously watched the series now wanting to jump onto discover more about the life of the second longest reigning monarch in history, albeit a partially fictionalized one.
With season five now coming in just over a month’s time, Netflix will be expecting a lot of interest in the show, which has already been announced as the penultimate. The story of Queen Elizabeth II has now come to an end in real life, and that has already raised questions of whether the final season of The Crown will complete the story writer Peter Morgan set out to tell in its entirety. Although it had already been decided that the sixth season would be the last of the series, it seems like there is no way that it could end without in some way linking to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, who has always been the show’s main focus.
The first four seasons of The Crown are available now on Netflix, with season five joining on November 9.