The Crown: When does season 4 start and how many episodes are there?

Season four will see Gillian Anderson playing Margaret Thatcher and Emma Corrin as Lady Diana Spencer

We’re just days away from the return of The Crown, with the highly anticipated fourth season of Netflix’s historical drama hitting our screens in November.

Season four marks Olivia Colman’s final outing as Queen Elizabeth II, as well as Tobias Menzies’s final season as Prince Philip. Josh O’Connor will also be returning to the role of Prince Charles, along with Erin Doherty as Princess Anne and Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret.

However, all eyes are likely to be on the show’s newcomers, with season four focusing on two key figures from the 1980s: Margaret Thatcher, played by Gillian Anderson, and Lady Diana Spencer, played by Emma Corrin.

The new episodes have already been praised by critics, with many reviewers particularly singling out Anderson’s performance as the Conservative prime minister. You can read The Independent’s four-star review of the series here.

Here’s how you can watch The Crown season four...

Tobias Menzies and Olivia Colman as Prince Philip and the Queen (Alex Bailey/Netflix)

When does The Crown season 4 start?

The Crown season four will be released on Netflix on Sunday 15 November.

Whereas most Netflix shows are released on Fridays, the show’s third season also debuted on a Sunday, with season four following in its footsteps.

However, if you’re looking to catch up before then, all three previous seasons of The Crown are available to stream on Netflix right now.

How many episodes will there be?

Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher (Des Willie/Netflix)

Like the seasons before it, The Crown’s fourth outing will consist of 10 episodes.

The episode titles are yet to be revealed.

Do you need to be a Netflix subscriber to watch The Crown?

Emma Corrin as Lady Diana Spencer (Des Willie/Netflix)

In short, yes. The Crown is a Netflix Original series, which means only paying subscribers can watch it. Netflix no longer offers free trials.

The previous seasons of The Crown have additionally been released as DVD box-sets, but no release date for the season 4 DVD has been announced and it is unlikely to come out this year.

Subscriptions for Netflix range from £5.99 to £11.99 a month and give users access to a vast back catalogue of films and TV series, ranging from old classics to the most talked about new projects.