series would end with season five.
What's quite innovative about The Crown is the show's risky casting choices. The first two seasons starred Doctor Who's Matt Smith as a young Prince Phillip, with Claire Foy portraying a young Elizabeth before and after she ascended to the English throne. The show's third season not only replaced Foy and Smith with Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies as Elizabeth and Phillip respectively but also had Helena-Bonham Carter take over as the dynamic Princess Margaret, replacing Vanessa Kirby. The risky casting choice indicates the shift in different eras of Elizabeth's reign, showing how the maturing Queen has to deal with everything from family scandals to significant historical events.
Thankfully The Crown had finished filming the fourth season before being forced to shut down due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Because of that, the show was well into the planning stages for the fifth season. Per an interview with Collider, Peter Morgan came to a realization that there were two seasons worth of story left to tell.
"As we started to discuss the storylines for Series 5, it soon became clear that in order to do justice to the richness and complexity of the story we should go back to the original plan and do six seasons."
Ending the show with season 6 had actually been Morgan's original plan, but it is understandable why he might've changed his mind initially. Some shows tend to drag on far longer than necessary. However, the Queen's life has been so rife with drama and intrigue that it could probably last another four seasons. Ultimately, the six-season plan seems to be a great compromise between not enough and too much. Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies, and Helena Bonham Carter all return for season 4, plus actress Emma Corrin is also expected to be introduced in as Princess Diana. The show's fifth season will pull off a recast again, with Imelda Staunton replacing Colman as the Queen.
Although The Crown has a ways to go before its final season, it will be interesting to see where Morgan decides to wrap up the Queen's story. Will the show end in the present day? Who will replace Tobias Menzies and Helena Bonham Carter as Phillip and Margaret? Will The Crown cover the relationship between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle? There's a lot of ground to cover. Thankfully, viewers have one extra season to catch up on all the drama before the show becomes history.
Source: Collider