Skip to main content

The Crown season 5 came out on Netflix on Nov. 9, and many fans and critics alike are unimpressed with the new season. Here’s what you need to know about season 5 and what people are saying about it. 

Photo of Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in season 5 of "The Crown."
Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana | Netflix

‘The Crown’ season 5 introduced Netflix fans to new cast members in familiar roles

On Nov. 9, Netflix released season 5 of The Crown. The new episodes were highly anticipated, as season 4 premiered two years ago in November 2020. 

As the show did in season 3, new actors took over the roles to show the passage of time. Imelda Staunton, who played Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter movies, took over for  Olivia Colman (who was preceded by Claire Foy) as Queen Elizabeth II. 

Jonathan Pryce plays Prince Philip, taking over for Tobias Menzies and Matt Smith. Pryce appeared in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. He earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Pope Francis in The Two Popes. 

Lesley Manville took over the role of Princess Margaret from Helena Bonham Carter (who, like Imelda Staunton, appeared in the Harry Potter films). Trainspotting star (and Angelina Jolie’s ex-husband) Jonny Lee Miller plays Prime Minister John Major. 

Prince Charles and Princess Diana, played by Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki, starred in the season set in the early 1990s. And Olivia Williams took on the role of Camilla Parker-Bowles.

‘The Crown’ fans are disappointed by season 5, say it ‘sucked’

Fans have already binged season 5 of The Crown, and many have expressed disappointment in the new episodes.

“Yes, it is official, season 5 of The Crown falls short,” one fan tweeted.

“I binge watched all 10 episodes of the crown last nite,” tweeted another fan. “I thought this season sucked!”

And one fan wrote on Twitter, “I waited forever for Season 5 of #TheCrown and I [am] so disappointed.”

The Netflix show also received negative reviews from critics

Twitter users aren’t the only ones unhappy with season 5 of The Crown. On Nov. 10, The New Yorker published a scathing review of the new episodes titled, “Even Diana’s Revenge Dress Can’t Save Season 5 of ‘The Crown.’”

The review said that season 5 “lacks narrative deftness and historic scale.” What made the show so captivating in the past was emotional retellings of events like the 1966 Aberfan mining disaster or the Apollo 11 moon landing. But, according to the publication, “season 5 focuses narrowly on the domestic drama inside the palace.”

The New York Times wrote, “Season 5 doesn’t have the life, the hard snap, of ‘The Crown’ at its best.” Although Imelda Staunton’s performance was praised as “splendid,” Diana and Charles “remain opaque.” The publication criticized writer Peter Morgan, concluding, “The problem is that Morgan hasn’t figured these characters out, and his writing for them isn’t as good or as moving as it has been… Morgan resorts to the same shallow, sentimental notions of love gone sour and family inflexibility that were the stuff of public mythmaking.”

Best in Entertainment