Bye Mark, we can’t ignore it: the new season of The Crown.
True, one of the most popular series worldwide, and one of the most popular productions on Netflix, can now be seen. We are now at season five, the penultimate season. A special season too: this series marks a change of cast. I think that’s quite a daring construction. After all, viewers have become familiar with the previous actors. Movies sometimes choose to make someone older, but in such a long-running series as The Crown that just doesn’t work.
“Imelda Staunton, an outstanding actress, now plays Queen Elizabeth. Sir Jonathan Pryce plays Prince Philip. I think that duo is one of the strong points of this season. We also see a new Prince Charles played by Dominic West, an actor people may know from The Wire and The Affair. The role of Lady Di is fulfilled by Elizabeth Debicki. Staunton faced the daunting task of following in the footsteps of Olivia Colman, one of the world’s greatest actresses.
“But she does it really well. Staunton plays a role that fits the stage the queen is in. It starts with a medical examination on her 65th birthday. She is entering an elderly stage of life.
‘Basically running The Crown until the nineties. So it’s not like the series ends with The Queen’s funeral. Speaking of which, this is the first new season since both Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth passed away. All observations about old age and succession to the throne, which play quite a role this season, are suddenly extra meaningful.
‘In her review (★★★☆☆), colleague Herien Wensink writes that the stories surrounding the palace in previous seasons are set against a grand, compelling and international backdrop. As the monarchy and Great Britain lose importance in the world, so does the The Crown a smaller drama – more of a palace drama. The focus will be on family stories, and the fact that all of Queen Elizabeth’s children have bad marriages. The marriage between Charles and Diana, the most famous and most observed, is of course the central issue. While the production value of this series still shines from all sides, it makes for a smaller world.
‘Of course it remains a top series, with top actors. I would like to mention the fourth episode of this new seasonAnnus Horribilis, about the terrible year, according to Elizabeth, 1992. In that episode everything comes together: the family history, the ceremonial, the very personal. Oh yes, do you think this is The Crown at its best.’
Let’s take a look. Which series do you recommend?
‘The four-part BBC thriller series Inside Man, created by Steven Moffat and available on Netflix. Moffat is the man behind the series Sherlock, with Benedict Cumberbatch, as far as I’m concerned one of the highlights of TV history. That made me curious, I find everything that Moffat does interesting.
This series also has a supercast. Actor Stanley Tucci plays a man awaiting his death sentence in an American prison. He’s some kind of genius criminologist who killed his wife. Meanwhile, from behind bars, he shines his light on all kinds of unsolved cases, because – like Sherlock – he has a genius ability to see things that others don’t. This figure is also a bit reminiscent of Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambswho is a serial killer himself but also manages to profile other serial killers.
“And then we have the part of David Tennant, an English preacher in a small town. The two worlds couldn’t be further apart. Through a series of events, the preacher finds himself in an increasingly difficult situation. Maker Moffat turns it into a kind of puzzle. We hear Tucci as the genius criminologist say that under certain circumstances anyone can become a murderer. Pastor Tennant is an illustration of this: someone who is a good person can ultimately do a lot of harm.
‘There are clearly good scenes in it, with strong actors. But I did occasionally have trouble with the constructed puzzle that Moffat presents viewers. The somewhat improbable decisions that the English preacher takes to illustrate that a good person can also be a murderer, demand a lot from the viewer. “Don’t do it!” I yelled at my TV screen. That detracts somewhat from the tension.’
And this is also worth a look:
The Old Man (★★★★☆) is above all a brilliant acting duel between veterans Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow.
The Bear (★★★★★) is a perfect mixture of heartbreaking top drama and successful comedy.