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The Crown season 4

Season of television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Crown season 4
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The fourth season of The Crown, which follows the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II, was released by Netflix on 15 November 2020.[1] The season was promoted with the tagline "Change Will Challenge Tradition".

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Olivia Colman stars as Elizabeth, with main cast members Tobias Menzies, Helena Bonham Carter, Josh O'Connor, Marion Bailey, Erin Doherty and Emerald Fennell all reprising their roles from the third season. Gillian Anderson, Emma Corrin and Stephen Boxer are added to the main cast. Additionally, Charles Dance returns in the season's first episode and Claire Foy reprises her role as Elizabeth in a cameo flashback scene.

Season 4 of The Crown received critical praise for the performances of Colman, Menzies, Bonham Carter, Anderson, O'Connor, and Corrin as Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Margaret, Margaret Thatcher, Prince Charles, and Lady Diana Spencer, respectively, and was widely regarded as the best of the series.[2][3][4]

Season 4 was also the most-awarded season, making history as the first drama series to sweep all major categories at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, with a leading eleven total wins (including seven major wins) from a leading twenty-four total nominations (including eleven major nominations).[5][6][7][8] The season became the only one to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series.[9][10][11]

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Premise

The Crown traces the life of Queen Elizabeth II from her wedding in 1947 to the present day.[12]

Season 4 spans 1979–1990, during Margaret Thatcher's 11-year premiership. Events depicted include the courtship and wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer,[4][13] their 1983 tour of Australia and New Zealand,[3][14] the Falklands War,[15] Michael Fagan's break-in at Buckingham Palace,[16] Lord Mountbatten's funeral,[17] the Princess of Wales's appearance at the Barnardo's Champion Children Awards, and at the end of the series, Thatcher's departure from office, as well as the marital difficulties of Charles and Diana.[16]

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Cast

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Main article: List of The Crown characters

Main

The following actors are credited in the opening titles of single episodes in which they play a significant role:

Recurring

Notable guests

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Episodes

See also: List of The Crown episodes
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Production

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Development

By October 2017, "early production" had begun on an anticipated third and fourth season,[18] and by the following January, Netflix confirmed the series had been renewed for a third and fourth season.[13]

Casting

The producers recast some roles with older actors every two seasons, as the characters age.[37] In October 2017, Olivia Colman was cast as Queen Elizabeth II for the third and fourth seasons.[18] By January 2018, Helena Bonham Carter and Paul Bettany were in negotiations to portray Princess Margaret and Prince Philip, respectively, for these seasons.[38][39] However, by the end of the month Bettany was forced to drop out due to the time commitment required.[40] By the end of March 2018, Tobias Menzies was cast as Philip for the third and fourth seasons.[19] In early May 2018, Bonham Carter was confirmed to have been cast.[20] The next month, Erin Doherty was cast as Princess Anne.[25] A month later, Josh O'Connor and Marion Bailey were cast as Prince Charles and the Queen Mother, respectively, for the third and fourth seasons.[22] In October 2018, Emerald Fennell was cast as Camilla Shand.[26] In December 2018, Charles Dance was cast as Louis Mountbatten.[27] In April 2019, Emma Corrin was cast as Lady Diana Spencer for the fourth season.[41] In September 2019 Gillian Anderson, who had been rumoured since that January to be in talks to portray Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season, was officially confirmed for the role.[21][42][43]

Filming

The fourth season began filming in August 2019 and completed in March 2020.[44][45] The producers confirmed that filming was completed ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown; the release date was not delayed.[46]

Music

Quick Facts Soundtrack album by Martin Phipps, Released ...
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Release

Season 4 was released on Netflix on 15 November 2020.[47][1] It was later released on DVD and Blu-ray on 2 November 2021.[48][49]

Reception

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Season 4 of The Crown received universal acclaim from critics upon release, with widespread praise directed towards the performances of Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies, Helena Bonham Carter, Gillian Anderson, Josh O'Connor, and Emma Corrin for their portrayals of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Margaret, Margaret Thatcher, Prince Charles, and Lady Diana Spencer, respectively.

Rotten Tomatoes reported a 96% approval rating for the season based on 113 reviews, with an average rating of 8.60/10. The critical consensus reads: "Whatever historical liberties The Crown takes are easily forgiven thanks to the sheer power of its performances—particularly Anderson's imposing take on The Iron Lady and newcomer Corrin's embodiment of a young Princess Diana."[50] On Metacritic, the season holds a score of 86 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[51][52][53]

Writing in The Atlantic, Shirley Li describes the drama as "sharper than ever" and "splashy" but observes that, in contrast to the first three seasons, the fourth criticizes the Queen for her "ignorance" and "stubborn devotion to tradition."[54] In the Evening Standard, Katie Rosseinsky wrote that the season's episodes are "dizzyingly beautiful and staggering in scope", and highlights the outstanding performances of Anderson and Corrin as Thatcher and Lady Diana, respectively.[55] In The New Zealand Herald, university professor Giselle Bastin described the season as "a masterly portrait of the turbulent 1980s" and complimented the production standards, casting, and acting.[56] BBC's arts editor Will Gompertz gave the series a rating of 4 out of 5, praising Corrin and Bonham Carter, but criticizing Anderson's performance for "forever craning her neck from side-to-side as if scanning for a tasty lettuce leaf, while over-egging her Thatcher impression to such an extent she is close to unwatchable at times."[57]

In a critical review, Dominic Patten of Deadline Hollywood complimented the earlier seasons but said that the fourth had "substantially tweaked timelines" and was "sub-standard soap," and that, despite Colman's performance, some of the other characters were like "Spitting Image live-action caricature[s]."[58] Writing in The Guardian, Simon Jenkins described the season as "fake history," "reality hijacked as propaganda, and a cowardly abuse of artistic licence" that fabricated history to suit its own preconceived narrative.[59] The season has reportedly received backlash from the British royal family and some royal commentators. Royal historian Hugo Vickers stated: "In this particular series, every member of the royal family...comes out of it badly, except the Princess of Wales (Diana). It's totally one-sided, it's totally against Prince Charles."[60] Royal biographer Penny Junor criticized the season as portraying the British royal family as "villains", stating that "The Crown's royals are wild, cruel distortions of the people I've known for 40 years."[61][62]

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Accolades

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Season 4 of The Crown led the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards with 24 total nominations, including 11 major nominations. The season made history as the first drama series to sweep all categories, with 11 total wins, including 7 major wins.[5][6][7][8] It also became the only season of the series to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series.[9][10][11]

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Historical accuracy

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Vickers further argued that Season 4 is "yet more subtly divisive than earlier seasons", with "pretty much every character" shown as "dislikeable", and that "every member of the royal family ... comes out of it badly, except the Princess of Wales".[68] He also called season four the least accurate season in the series.[69] Royal commentator Emily Andrews said that "sources close to Prince Charles" have labelled some of the scenes "trolling on a Hollywood budget".[70] It was also reported that Prince Charles and Camilla turned off comments on their Instagram and Twitter accounts, such was the intensely negative reaction to their portrayals.[69]

Throughout the season, the Private Secretary to the Sovereign is portrayed as Sir Martin Charteris, yet in reality, he retired in 1977.[71]

The opening scene when Prince Charles first meets Diana is fictionalised, although they did meet during a date with her sister, Sarah. Vickers has stated that Prince Charles had no personal contact with Camilla during the first five years of his marriage; their relationship developed after 1986, by which time the marriage had broken down.[68] The frenzy around Prince Charles and Diana's Australian tour is accurately depicted, including his feelings of being overshadowed by Diana, which have been confirmed by multiple sources. Diana's former press secretary has confirmed their fractious relationship when away from the media.[72] Their schedule was never revised to accommodate Prince William, and the sheep station was arranged for them in advance by the former Australian Prime Minister, specifically so that the couple could be with their son each night.[68] According to Dickie Arbiter, the meeting in which Sir John Riddell, the Prince of Wales's private secretary, questions Diana's mental fitness before her solo trip to New York never happened.[73]

Mountbatten did not write to the Prince of Wales shortly before he died, although he had written advising him in the past.[68] The newsreel clips of Northern Ireland shown alongside Mountbatten's assassination included events that had happened years earlier, and others that had not yet occurred.[74]

Vickers suggested that almost all the details concerning how visitors are treated at Balmoral are inaccurate, and noted that the Thatchers' first visit is depicted out of sequence with Mountbatten's funeral. The Thatchers did not enjoy their visits to Balmoral, but there is no evidence that the Prime Minister dressed inappropriately.[72] Diana's visit happened an entire year later, when the Queen was not present. He added that, as a member of an aristocratic family, Diana was already familiar with royal etiquette, and therefore would not have needed the intensive lessons given by Lady Fermoy that were portrayed in the show.[68]

Charles Moore, Margaret Thatcher's biographer, deemed the scene where Thatcher begs the Queen to dissolve Parliament so she can stay on as PM "factual nonsense".[72] It is true, however, that she used to do her own ironing at Downing Street.[74] It is unlikely that Prince Philip ever mocked her for being a scientist, given his own interest in the sciences.[74] Mark Thatcher going missing during the Paris–Dakar Rally did not coincide with the Falklands invasion.[75]

Michael Fagan has said that his conversation with the Queen in the palace bedroom was "short, polite and non-controversial", and that he never spoke about Margaret Thatcher.[74]

The scene where the Queen guesses who the Prime Minister might appoint to cabinet is entirely fictional, nor would the PM have ever left a royal audience early or criticised the Queen for her privilege.[74] Vickers says that, in reality, it was the Queen's press secretary who took it upon himself to pass his own views about the Prime Minister to the media, and he was forced to leave the palace as a consequence.

The plot involving the family's relationship with the Bowes-Lyon sisters is largely inaccurate. Princess Margaret played no part in discovering their existence, nor did she confront her mother about this. John "Jock" Bowes-Lyon died six years before Edward VIII's abdication, and the sisters were placed in the Royal Earlswood Hospital by their mother Fenella in 1941. The Queen Mother believed her nieces to be dead until 1982 and upon discovering that they were alive, sent money for toys and sweets on their birthdays and at Christmas. According to the Bowes-Lyon family, there was never any attempt at a coverup.[76] The relationship between Princess Margaret and Father Derek "Dazzle" Jennings is also heavily fictionalised. Jennings did not have any involvement with the Bowes-Lyon sisters and remained Princess Margaret's friend and spiritual advisor, with the Princess visiting his sickbed before he died in 1995.[77] Similarly, Princess Margaret's interest in Catholicism is underplayed; she did not convert, but Jennings was reportedly convinced she would, even going so far as to arrange for a dinner between the Princess and Cardinal Hume in 1988.[78]

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References

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