(Not Really a) Review: First Impressions of The Crown

For today's review I'm going to try something new. Instead of reviewing a whole series, I'll give my first impressions of The Crown's first two episodes.

This week I finally got around to watching The Crown, a docudrama series about Queen Elizabeth II. It took me ages to watch it because frankly, I'm generally not interested in series set after 1900. Besides, making biopics of living people is pretty weird. (I have to wonder what the royal family think of the series!) When I started it, I didn't expect much. I was surprised, pleasantly and unpleasantly.

Instead of a proper review, this is just going to be a list of everything I liked or didn't like, in something approaching chronological order.

• Of all the ways I expected this series to start, "the king coughing up blood" was not among them 😮

• My thoughts when King George was talking to Philip: "One of those men in the background looks sort of familiar. ...Wait. Is that-- Willoughby!" Similarly, my reaction to Queen Mary was an excited squeal of "Miss Deborah!". Queen Mary's personality has some resemblances to Miss Deborah's, too. I half-expected her to say "The uproar is temporary" or "Speculation is the enemy of calm" 😄

• While we're on the subject of my reactions to actors, I laughed at the idea of the Eleventh Doctor marrying Little Dorrit 😆 And I knew I'd seen King George somewhere before, but I couldn't think where. Then I saw the credits, and it struck me. "Moriarty? Moriarty?"

• Winston Churchill needs to be taken down a peg or twenty. Insulting Philip's mother at the wedding? Making sure his own entrance at the wedding is as conspicuous as possible? *facepalm*

• ...Is there any period drama actor who isn't in this series?

• The series' creators really need to learn that it's possible to make a compelling drama without crudity or nudity. I was not expecting any of that 😠

• Princess Margaret and Townsend are easily my least favourite characters in the series. I wish they hadn't been included in it. I fastforward their scenes to get to the actually interesting parts.

• Why do they hunt those poor birds? 😟 That's something I've never liked in period dramas.

• The scene of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip meeting an elephant is awesome and terrifying! I have to wonder if it ever really happened, though.

• Ouch, ouch, ouch 😭 I wasn't expecting King George's death to be so heartbreaking 😭

• I remember reading that it's royal protocol to always bring black clothes on trips in case someone dies. So why did someone forget to pack a black dress for Queen Elizabeth? Was it not protocol at the time, or is the series taking dramatic license?

• Queen Mary bowing to Queen Elizabeth is honestly the most eerie, tragic thing I've seen for a looooong time 😢

Overall I think the good outweighs the bad in this series. So far, at least. When I finish watching series one I might write a proper review of it. In the meantime, this will have to do.

Is it available online?: It's originally a Netflix series, so I'm pretty sure it's available there.

Rating: 7/10.