# The Crown (2016)

> A decades-spanning inside look at Queen Elizabeth II and the prime ministers who shaped postwar Britain, from Buckingham Palace to 10 Downing Street.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/57845

## Facts

- Seasons: 6
- Episodes: 60
- Episode runtime: 58 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, history
- Created by: Peter Morgan
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce, Olivia Colman, Lesley Manville, Dominic West, Matt Smith, Jonny Lee Miller, Claudia Harrison
- TMDB rating: 8.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4786824/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: dense
- Violence: none
- Tone: stately, melancholic, sumptuous, intimate, dignified

## What critics say

Audiences broadly acclaim The Crown for its lavish production, commanding performances and sharp dramatization of the royal family and British politics across decades.

## Synopsis

The Crown (2016-2023) is a British-American historical drama series created by Peter Morgan for Netflix. Imelda Staunton and Olivia Colman take turns playing Queen Elizabeth II across six seasons of ten episodes each, while Jonathan Pryce and Matt Smith portray Prince Philip, Dominic West plays Prince Charles, and Lesley Manville plays Princess Margaret. Jonny Lee Miller appears as John Major. The engine of the series is the tension between private desire and public duty: the young queen must master the rituals of the monarchy while her marriage, her siblings and her sense of self strain against the expectations of the crown. Each season moves through the great events of the second half of the twentieth century, with Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street serving as twin stages for intrigue, love affairs and political maneuvering. The result is a stately, sumptuous period drama, a prestige production in the vein of Wolf Hall and Downton Abbey, with a regal melancholy that fans of The West Wing will recognize in its portrait of power and institutional machinery. Set in postwar Britain, the series unfolds as one continuing chronicle, carefully paced and richly textured, holding the private lives of the powerful against the sweep of national change.

## Shows like The Crown

- [The White Princess (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/61432)
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- [This England (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/119208)
- [Wolf Hall (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/54963)
- [Upstairs Downstairs (2010)](https://ember.film/tv/42229)
- [The Diplomat (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/126780)
- [To Play the King (1993)](https://ember.film/tv/12924)
- [Catherine the Great (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/66403)
- [The Final Cut (1995)](https://ember.film/tv/66668)
- [House of the Dragon (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/80227)

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