The Crown (2016) Review: The Woman Inside the Queen

Is The Crown worth watching?

Yes. The Crown is one of the most accomplished historical dramas television has produced, a lavish and surprisingly moving portrait of a woman slowly absorbed by the institution she serves. Peter Morgan’s writing turns decades of British history into intimate character drama, and the performances, especially from Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, are exceptional. The reservation is that the later seasons, covering more recent and contested events, are less assured and more open to debate about where fact ends and invention begins.

What is The Crown about?

The series begins in 1947 with the wedding of the young Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip, and follows her through her unexpected accession to the throne and the decades that follow. Each episode tends to focus on a particular event or relationship, from political crises and royal scandals to private tensions within the family, set against the changing fortunes of Britain in the second half of the twentieth century.

The show’s boldest choice is its casting. Every two seasons, the entire principal cast is replaced to reflect the characters’ ages. Claire Foy plays the young Queen in the first two seasons, Olivia Colman takes over for the middle years, and Imelda Staunton plays her in the final two. Matt Smith and Tobias Menzies are among the actors who play Philip, and Elizabeth Debicki appears as Diana in the later seasons.

The Crown was created and largely written by Peter Morgan for Netflix. It is a British production in English. This review covers the complete series: six seasons and 60 episodes released between 2016 and 2023. The story has ended.

The person versus the office

Morgan’s great subject is the gap between the human being and the symbol she must become. Again and again, the series stages a collision between private feeling and public duty, and duty almost always wins. That slow erosion of self is treated as genuine tragedy, and the show’s sympathy for its characters coexists with a clear-eyed view of the institution’s costs. It neither worships the monarchy nor mocks it cheaply.

The recasting reinforces the point. Actors come and go while the role endures, a formal expression of the idea that the office is permanent and the people who fill it are not. The transitions are handled with remarkable care, and each lead brings something distinct: Foy’s uncertain resolve, Colman’s weary restraint and Staunton’s stoic reserve.

Opulence with a purpose

The production values are astonishing. Costumes, palaces and ceremonies are recreated in exquisite detail, and the series has the scale of a feature film. But the opulence is not mere spectacle. The gilded rooms and elaborate rituals become a kind of cage, emphasising how isolated the characters are from ordinary life and from each other.

Some of the strongest episodes are the quietest, built around a single conversation or a private decision. Morgan’s method, trusting stillness and subtext over melodrama, gives the series its distinctive, contemplative rhythm. The show won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series for its fourth season, and both Foy and Colman won Emmys for their performances.

Where the later seasons stumble

The final seasons, which reach the 1990s and beyond, are less consistent. Dramatising events that many viewers remember vividly invites closer scrutiny, and some storylines feel more speculative or sensational than the earlier episodes. The structure also becomes more scattered as the focus shifts between the Queen and a growing cast of younger royals. There is still much to admire, but the precision of the first half is harder to sustain.

Who should watch The Crown?

It is essential for viewers who love period drama, British history and character-driven storytelling. Six seasons of roughly hour-long episodes make it a substantial commitment, though each two-season block works as its own chapter. There is little violence or explicit content, but it deals with grief, family conflict and mental health, and it mixes documented history with invented private scenes.

For more acclaimed British drama:

• Mr Bates vs The Post Office for another gripping dramatisation of real events and the power of institutions.
• Time, a far starker British drama about how an institution shapes and wears down the people inside it.

The verdict

The Crown is a sumptuous, melancholy study of duty and its price, the rare prestige drama that uses its lavish budget to examine power rather than flatter it. The later seasons wobble, but its best episodes are among the finest historical drama on television.

Rating: 4.5/5