Netflix Released First Look Images for Season Five of THE CROWN

Pin

DIANA ALERT! DIANA ALERT! It seems like we’ve been waiting a decade to finally catch Elizabeth Debicki’s performance in the role she was seemingly born to play, Diana, Princess of Wales. While there have been some dribs and drabs of information and pictures coming out over the past year, Netflix released the first official batch of first-look photos ahead of the premiere of season five next month. Time to get used to all the new faces in the same old roles.

Pin

Pin

Pin

Pin

Pin

Pin

We suppose it will always be a little jarring when the new cast shows up, but as it was with Olivia Colman replacing Claire Foy, we find it impossible to look at Imelda Staunton and believe it’s the same person. But Colman eventually won us over (even if her performance wasn’t as good as Foy’s) and we can’t imagine we’ll be unimpressed by Staunton in the role. Other faces that’ll take some time to get used to: Lesley Manville replacing Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, Jonathan Pryce replacing Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, and the hardest one of all to accept, Dominic West replacing Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles. That one’s never gonna sit right with us. But Debicki as the leggy, newly separated Princess in her “hanging out with Elton and Gianni” years? PUT IT IN OUR VEINS NOW, NETFLIX.

Based on historical events, The Crown dramatizes the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the political and personal events that have shaped her reign.

With the new decade in its stride, the Royal Family are presented with possibly their biggest challenge to date as the public openly question their role in ‘90s Britain.

This turbulent decade for the Royal Family has been well documented and interpreted by journalists, biographers and historians. As Elizabeth Debicki, who takes on the role of Princess Diana, explains “That’s the amazing thing about playing these people at this time, because in the journey of The Crown so far out of all the seasons, this is the most visual content we have of the Royal Family. In the ‘90s everything had started to be filmed and also it was the birth of the 24-hour news cycle so there’s just this incredible amount of content that we have access to.”

With this being the final cast change, Dominic West (Prince Charles) explains “I think people understand, because the cast has changed every two seasons, that this is not an imitation,” he says. “This is an evoking of a character.”

Whilst Imelda Staunton (Queen Elizabeth II) hopes that, like her character, she has done her duty to the audience: “What has been nice, and I hope I don’t prove them wrong, is people saying, ‘I’m really looking forward to seeing her as the queen. So, let’s just hope that works out for them because I’ve done it. Nothing I can do about it now!”

The Crown Season 5
Premiere Date: November 9, 2022
Created and Written by: Peter Morgan
Executive Producers: Peter Morgan, Suzanne Mackie, Andy Harries, Stephen Daldry, Matthew Byam Shaw, Robert Fox, and Jessica Hobbs
Cast: Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, Dominic West as Prince Charles, Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana, Claudia Harrison as Princess Anne, Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker Bowles, Jonny Lee Miller as John Major, Salim Daw as Mohamed Al Fayed, and Khalid Abdalla as Dodi Fayed.

[Photo Credit: Courtesy of Netflix]

• Netflix
• Previews
• The Crown
• TV Previews