While fans can expect The Crown season 4 to arrive later this year, they should be aware that it’ll be a long wait for the next run of the Netflix royal drama after that as the critically-acclaimed series is taking a lengthy production break that’ll mean season 5 won’t debut on the streaming service until 2022.
Deadline, who revealed the news this morning, reports that Left Bank Pictures is holding off on getting cameras rolling on season 5 until next June. As things would have to be gearing up now if there was any hope of seeing it next year, that means we can safely say that The Crown‘s penultimate batch of episodes will skip 2021.
Though this would be the obvious reason for the delay, it’s actually noted that this break was scheduled even before the COVID-19 outbreak hit, with sources acknowledging that the planned hiatus happening now is coincidentally well-timed as the show should miss this initial difficult period in the entertainment industry.
Of course, The Crown skipping 2021 is similar to the two-year gap between seasons 2 and 3. Just like on that occasion, the production took some time off in between changing over its leading ladies. Claire Foy handed over the keys to the kingdom (literally) to Olivia Colman during the last gap. This time, though, Colman will be replaced by Imelda Staunton.
To date, we only know one other cast member who’ll be joining Staunton in season 5 – Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret. It was recently announced that The Crown will be getting a sixth season as well, even though it was originally decided to call it a day with five.
The Crown season 4, meanwhile, covering such events as Margaret Thatcher’s terms as Prime Minister, the marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana and the birth of their sons, is expected to land on Netflix this November or December.
