Review: The Crown (2016) Season 1

I've finished watching season one of The Crown, so here's the full review of it.

Actors I recognised:
Claire Foy (Amy in Little Dorrit 2008) as Queen Elizabeth
Matt Smith (the Eleventh Doctor in Doctor Who) as Prince Philip
Vanessa Kirby (Estella in Great Expectations 2012) as Princess Margaret
Eileen Atkins (Miss Deborah in Cranford) as Queen Mary
Victoria Hamilton (Mrs. Forster in Pride and Prejudice 1995) as the Queen Mother
Greg Wise (Sir Charles in Cranford and Willougby in Sense and Sensibility 1995) as Mountbatten
Jared Harris (Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows) as King George
Alex Jennings (Rev. Hutton in Cranford) as that oaf known as the Duke of Windsor
Harriet Walter (Fanny Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility 1995) as Clementine Churchill

The story starts before Queen Elizabeth's coronation, shortly before her father dies. Among other things, we get to see her marry Philip, become Queen, face several trials and crises, and deal with her Prime Minister's attempts to hide things from her.

Elizabeth

Philip

My opinion of the series is best summed up in one word: overrated. Or perhaps it would be better to describe it as "good idea, poor execution". The cinematography and music are beautiful. The costumes are... sometimes beautiful. The historic events are interesting. I'd never heard of the Great Smog before this series, and I'd no idea how much work it took to film the Queen's coronation. But the whole thing falls flat on its face in the most important part of any series: the characters.

No one wants to watch a series full of immature jerks with only one or two decent characters. But that's what this series subjects its viewers to. There are exactly three truly likable characters, two of whom die less than half-way through: Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary, and King George. Everyone else is a spoilt brat.

The Duke of Windsor is the sort of "royal" whose mere existence puts the monarchy in danger. Princess Margaret is an overgrown child throwing tantrums. Instead of feeling any sympathy for her and Townsend, I wanted to box their ears. Prince Philip isn't far behind. I spent a lot of his scenes thinking "For goodness's sake, grow up!". The Queen Mother has all the personality of a brick wall. And Winston Churchill is an arrogant imbecile. Yes, let's just hide the fact two of the most important politicians in the country are seriously ill. What could possibly go wrong?

Almost as bad are the clumsy attempts at exposition. I find it very hard to believe Queen Elizabeth was as naïve as the series portrays her. Do the series' creators really expect us to believe she didn't know what a regnal name is? 😒

Overall this series is interesting for the history, but has many glaring shortcomings.

Is it available online?: I'm pretty sure it's on Netflix.

Rating: 5/10.

(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.