The Crown (2016)
Duty lasts a lifetime.
The gripping, decades-spanning inside story of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who shaped Britain's post-war destiny. The Crown tells the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world – Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street – and the intrigues, love lives and machinations behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century. Two houses, two courts, one Crown.
| Type | TV series |
|---|---|
| First aired | 4 November 2016 |
| Status | Ended, last episode 14 December 2023 |
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | Peter Morgan |
| Starring | Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce and Lesley Manville |
| Seasons | 6 seasons, 60 episodes |
| Episode length | about 58 min |
| Time to watch it all | about 58 hours |
| Rated | TV-MA |
| Scores | TMDB users 8.2/10 |
Where to watch The Crown
The Crown is streaming on Netflix ($17.99 a month) in the US. At ten hours a week, all of the series takes about 2 months of Netflix, or $35.98 at list price.
We check availability daily. Page last updated 12 October 2026. Prices are standard monthly plans and change often, so check with the service before you sign up.
What kind of watch this is
Peter Morgan built The Crown around a simple, heavy premise: duty lasts a lifetime. It follows Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who shaped Britain’s post-war destiny, peeling back the intrigue behind Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street. That is 6 seasons and 60 episodes. At 58 minutes per episode, you are looking at roughly 58 hours of watch time.
What the critics said
Rotten Tomatoes gives the series an overall 81% approval rating, with Metacritic scoring it 78 out of 100. The first season held an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 74 reviews and an 8.6/10 average. Metacritic placed that initial run at 81. Critics noted the lavish cinematography and powerful performances. The Telegraph called it "TV's best soap opera," awarding it five stars. Not everyone was convinced. The Times raised concerns that some episodes relied on false premises. Later seasons saw scores dip slightly, though the fourth was widely considered the best. The final season, however, drew a 54% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics felt the reign extended past its prime.
How it did with audiences
The Crown never reported a box office, so the ledger stays blank. Audiences measured its worth elsewhere, granting it a TMDB user score of 8.2. That number sits comfortably, suggesting viewers treated it as a long-form object rather than a transaction.
What came next for the cast
The cast arrived with distinct trajectories and left with even clearer ones. Claire Foy moved from vampire camp to biographical drama, while Olivia Colman stepped from quirky indie fare into major studio films. Vanessa Kirby pivoted from romantic comedies to high-octane action franchises. Imelda Staunton transitioned from wizarding world extras to period drama leads. The credits list these shifts. They cannot say the series caused them. They can only say what followed.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched The Crown.
Sources
- The Crown on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q20707362 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “The Crown (TV series)” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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