The Crown season 5 release: 5 key talking points from confused Harry Potter fans to tampongate
Season five has finally landed on Netflix
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The Crown viewers rejoiced at the arrival of the show’s fifth season on Netflix.
The historical drama returned on Wednesday (9 November) with a new cast stepping into the (rather sensible) shoes of the British royal family.
As The Crown heads into the Nineties, Imelda Staunton has taken over from Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II. Jonathan Pryce plays her husband Prince Philip, a role last portrayed by Tobias Menzies.
Season five focuses on the demise of the relationship between the then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana, played by Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki.
The breakdown of their marriage, including the “tampongate” scandal and Diana’s Panorama interview, are among the most contentious topics covered this season.
The Crown has also been surrounded by controversy as royal supporters have demanded that the series comes with a disclaimer clarifying that it is a work of fiction.
Below you can find six of the major talking points from the season five release.
Fans were hyped by the return of Claire Foy
Episode one of the new series starts with a black-and-white flashback of the queen in her youth. It featured the series’ original Elizabeth II – Claire Foy.
Foy played the Queen in the first two seasons of the show, earning acclaim as well as two Emmy Awards for her performance.
Many hailed Foy’s performance, with one calling her “irreplaceable” and another stating she is “by far the best portrayal of the queen I’ve seen”.
John Major looked a little too appealing for some viewers
Many were left feeling conflicted as they found themselves fancying the former Conservative prime minister. In the series, Major is played by Trainspotting actor Jonny Lee Miller.
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“Why is Johnny Lee Miller playing John Major...he is far too hot. I don’t want to fancy John Major,” one fan wrote, while another added: “If you make me fancy John Major I’ll be furious.”
The Independent previously investigated why a show about largely unsexy people is so ripe with sexy actors.
Harry Potter fans couldn’t get one character out of their mind
Some people found it hard to detach Staunton’s most famous role from her new one as the Queen. Staunton famously starred as the wicked Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
It’s made particularly difficult as Umbridge’s high-pitched, RP accent is not a million miles off Staunton’s interpretation of the Queen’s accent.
“I love Imelda Staunton & she’s cast well as the next queen in The Crown, but sadly I still only hear Umbridge from Harry Potter when she speaks!” one person wrote.
An ‘emotional’ scene between Princess Diana and her sons
One scene from the first episode in particular had fans reaching for the tissue box. In it, Princes William and Harry defend their mother after Prince Charles mocks her suggestion of going shopping while the family is on holiday.
In a follow-up scene, Diana tells her sons: “Thanks for sticking up for me. That was brave.”
“Prince Harry and Prince William standing up for Diana, my heart is lowkey weeeeeeping,” one viewer wrote.
The tampongate scandal refers to a 1989 phone call that was leaked to the press between the then-Prince Charles and his mistress at the time, Camilla Parker Bowles (now the Queen Consort).
The scandal is tackled in the series, however, Princess Anne star Claudia Harrison she believes the British public will be “surprised by” the “truth” of the affair.
In a scene in which Anne talks to Dominic West’s Prince Charles about the recording, she tells him “no one deserves” the humiliation he’s going through, and says that when she got over the “gyneaological” aspect of the transcript, she saw “two teenagers of a certain age being so gloriously human and entirely in love”.
Relive all the major reactions from release day below...
The Crown season 5 will arrive on Netflix this morning
Morning all! The day is finally upon us: The Crown season five arrives on Netflix this morning.
We’ll be keeping you updated ahead of the show’s release at 8am GMT.
What are the critics saying about The Crown season 5?
The fifth season of The Crown arrives on Netflix this AM, but The Independent’s critic Nick Hilton has already offered his verdict on the show.
It’s fair to say he wasn’t too impressed...
The Crown season five is the very definition of first world problems – review
The drama was initially intended as a piece of historical fiction, but the longer it has gone on, the more tawdry it’s become
One of the reasons fans love the Netflix series is for its warts-and-all portrayal of the British royal family.
The royals themselves? Not such big fans (at least allegedly).
However, The Independent’s Jessie Thompson reckons they need to “get over” the show and realise that it humanises their image more than hinders it.
The royals need to get over how they’re depicted in The Crown
Everyone from Dame Judi Dench to ‘unnamed friends of the Queen’ has lambasted the new season of the Netflix smash, clutching their pearls over its apparent evils. But, Jessie Thompson argues, they all seem to be missing the point, and the way the show humanises our most ancient institution
Why was 1992 Queen Elizabeth’s ‘annus horribilis'?
Season five of The Crown is set in the Nineties and will focus on the breakdown of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage and the fallout from that event.
The year of the couple’s divorce, 1992, was described by Queen Elizabeth II as her “annus horribilis”, during which plenty of other events went down.
The Crown: What was the Queen’s ‘annus horribilis’ and what happened in 1992?
The Queen said 1992 was a year she would not look back on with ‘undiluted pleasure’
Will The Crown season five feature a disclaimer?
As The Crown season five’s release has approached, many high profile figures have called on the series to have a warning clarifying that it is a work of fiction.
When season four was released, then-culture secretary Oliver Dowden said that the series should come with a “health warning”. However, Netflix refused to add a disclaimer to the show.
In October, Judi Dench joined those calls, stating that the show is a “fictionalised drama” and should include a disclaimer as a “mark of respect” to the late Queen.
This prompted criticism from incoming Prince Philip, Jonathan Pryce, who hit out at his “fellow artistes” and said that “the vast majority of people know it’s a drama” as “they’ve been watching it for four seasons”.
However, the trailer for season five did include a disclaimer that read: “Inspired by real events, this fictional dramatisation tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the political and personal events that shaped her reign.”
One person who doesn’t think The Crown needs to feature a disclaimer is our new on-screen Princess Anne, Claudia Harrison.
The actor told The Independent that she found the comments “patronising”, saying: “Everyone’s fully aware this is a meticulously crafted and researched piece of historical fiction.”
The Crown’s Claudia Harrison says calls for a disclaimer are ‘patronising’
‘I think people are sensible enough to know we don’t know the dialogue that went on behind closed palace doors,’ added her co-star Marcia Warren
The Crown season 5 episode 1 features disclaimer
The first episode of The Crown season five will feature a disclaimer after all.
The Independent understands that the series opens with a disclaimer clarifying that the show is a work of fiction. It does not feature on the further episodes.
Speaking at the show’s premiere on Tuesday (8 November) night, Elizabeth Debicki told Good Morning Britain that she hoped the inclusion of the disclaimer would “ease” questions about the show being fiction and be “potentially helpful for people who don’t understand that it’s a drama”.
“I think it’s clear because we’re actors saying lines,” she said.
Netflix defends The Crown ahead of season 5 launch
Netflix also defended the show from criticism following comments by Sir John Major last month.
A spokesperson said: “The Crown has always been presented as a drama based on historical events.
“Series five is a fictional dramatisation, imagining what could have happened behind closed doors during a significant decade for the royal family – one that has already been scrutinised and well-documented by journalists, biographers and historians.”
Netflix defends The Crown amid criticism from John Major over Charles storyline
New season will reportedly depict Charles ‘trying to force the Queen’s abdication’ in the Nineties
Ed Balls: ‘I love The Crown but I know I’m being manipulated’
Discussing the new season on GMB, host Ed Balls said that he is able to view The Crown critically while still enjoying it.
“I love it but I know I’m being a bit manipulated,” he said.
Imelda Staunton says The Crown gives royal family ‘dignity and empathy'
Imelda Staunton has defended The Crown creator Peter Morgan, saying that the writer aimed to be “respectful” towards the royals.
“Peter Morgan always wants to be respectful and give the characters dignity and empathy and let the audience imagine what it’s like to be that family,” she told Good Morning Britain.
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