Overview
Since 2016, the British royal family's ups and downs haven't just played out across newspaper headlines. They've also fuelled Netflix's hit drama The Crown. If you're fond of the streaming platform, regal intrigue and combining the two, then you're obviously a fan of the series — and you can now lock Wednesday, November 9 in your diary for your next date with the show.
If this sounds familiar, that's because it was announced a year back that viewer would need to wait until November 2022 to watch season five of the series; however, Netflix has now revealed the exact premiere date. In focus in this batch of episodes: the royal family in the early to mid-1990s, including the breakdown of Prince Charles and Princess Diana's marriage.
As the series is known to, it's shaking up its cast with this leap forward. After starting out with Claire Foy (The Electrical Life of Louis Wain) as Queen Elizabeth II, Matt Smith (House of the Dragon) as Prince Philip and Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret (Pieces of a Woman) in its first two seasons, which aired in 2016 and 2017, the series returned in 2019 with Olivia Colman (Heartstopper), Tobias Menzies (This Way Up) and Helena Bonham Carter (Enola Holmes) in those roles. Plus, it added Josh O'Connor (Mothering Sunday) as Prince Charles — and, in season four in 2020, Emma Corrin (Misbehaviour) and The X-Files icon Gillian Anderson joined the cast as Lady Diana Spencer and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, respectively.
When season five premieres in a few months, Downton Abbey, Maleficent and Paddington star Imelda Staunton will don the titular headwear, while Game of Thrones and Tales from the Loop's Jonathan Pryce will step into Prince Philip's shoes — and Princess Margaret will be played by Staunton's Maleficent co-star and Phantom Thread Oscar-nominee Lesley Manville. Also, Australian Tenet, The Burnt Orange Heresy and Widows star Elizabeth Debicki plays Princess Diana, with The Wire and The Pursuit of Love's Dominic West as Prince Charles.
Netflix also dropped its first sneak peek at The Crown's fifth season as part of Tudum: A Netflix Global Fan Event — the streaming platform's big unveiling of everything set to hit your queue in coming months. The first teaser does indeed focus on Charles and Diana, and the tension between them as their separation is announced.
Season five will arrive two months after Queen Elizabeth II's death in early September, and following a pause in the show's production afterwards.
News around the show's fifth and sixth seasons, which'll follow the monarch into the 2000s, has changed a few times over the past few years. At the beginning of 2020, Netflix announced that it would end the royal drama after its fifth season. Then, the streaming platform had a change of heart, revealing it would continue the series for a sixth season after all.
The first teaser for The Crown's fifth season is only available as part of Tudum: A Netflix Global Fan Event, at around 20 minutes in — you can check it out below:
The Crown's fifth season will hit Netflix on Wednesday, November 9.
Images: Keith Bernstein / Alex Bailey / Netflix