The Crown season five – what the critics say about the ‘sprawling soapy epic’
New season does offer several guilty pleasures, but first three episodes are ‘ditchwater dull’

“Hang on to your orbs and prepare once more for the spectre of the poisoned sceptre,” said Jan Moir in the Daily Mail: “The Crown is back.” Starring a whole new cast, the fifth season of the Netflix hit covers the years 1992 to 1997; and though the show seems determined to depict the Windsors “as the most appalling family in the history of history”, I must admit I loved every minute.
Elizabeth Debicki “burns up every scene” as Diana, nailing not only her voice and mannerisms but also “something of her eldritch blend of strength and fragility”. And she is well-matched by Dominic West, who is a great, and quite “hot”, Charles. Imelda Staunton’s “late life Queen”, meanwhile, is envisaged “as a kind of seaside landlady” who “worries about postmenopausal weight gain”. Admittedly, much of it is not in “the best possible taste”, but fans of this “sprawling soapy epic” are quite used to that.
The new season does offer several guilty pleasures, said Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph, including the “hilarious” casting of 1990s heartthrob Jonny Lee Miller as John Major. But for the most part, it “suffers from being really quite boring”, and weighed down with clunky metaphors.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The first three episodes are “ditchwater dull”, agreed Carol Midgley in The Times, but after that the actors settle into their roles and the drama “takes off”. Yes, it is true that “The Crown takes liberties with real people’s lives, but by the end [of this season] it feels more a fond, prolonged stroke than a hatchet job.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
October 13 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include Donald Trump's consolation prize, government workers during shutdown, and more
-
Can Gaza momentum help end the war in Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles hints at ‘warming relations’ between Ukraine and US
-
The Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners being released
The Explainer Triumphant Donald Trump addresses the Israeli parliament as families on both sides of the Gaza war reunite with their loved ones
-
The delightful, smutty world of Jilly Cooper
In the Spotlight Millions mourn the ‘Mrs Kipling of sex’
-
Lee Miller at the Tate: a ‘sexy yet devastating’ show
The Week Recommends The ‘revelatory’ exhibition tells the photographer’s story ‘through her own impeccable eye’
-
6 eye-catching rounded homes
Feature Featuring a central spiral staircase in Michigan and a Balinese-style estate with ocean views in Hawaii
-
A House of Dynamite: a ‘nail-biting’ nuclear-strike thriller
The Week Recommends ‘Virtuoso talent’ Kathryn Bigelow directs a ‘fast-paced’ and ‘tense’ ‘symphony of dread’
-
The Finest Hotel in Kabul: a ‘haunting’ history of modern Afghanistan
The Week Recommends Lyse Doucet’s sensitively written work traces over 50 years of Kabul’s ‘Inter-Con’ hotel
-
The Smashing Machine: Dwayne Johnson is ‘magnetic’ in gritty biopic
The Week Recommends The wrestler-turned-Hollywood-actor takes on the role of troubled UFC champion Mark Kerr
-
Shadow Ticket: Thomas Pynchon’s first novel in over a decade
The Week Recommends Zany whodunnit about a private eye in 1930s Milwaukee could be the 88-year-old author’s ‘last hurrah’
-
Southern barbecue: This year’s top three
Feature A weekend-only restaurant, a 90-year-old pitmaster, and more