Queen Elizabeth II passed away Thursday Sept. 8, 2022 at the age of 96. The queen had the longest reign in the British monarchy, leading the royal family for 70 years. A television series based on her life has seen increased interest after her death.
What Happened: First released in November 2016, “The Crown” follows the life of Queen Elizabeth II from before taking the role of queen up through her reign in the 21st century.
Four seasons of the show have been released, consisting of 10 episodes released on streaming platform Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX). The show is co-produced by Sony Group Corp (NYSE:SONY).
The four seasons break down with coverage of the following time periods:
Season 1: 1947 to 1955
Season 2: 1956 to 1964
Season 3: 1964 to 1977
Season 4: 1979 to 1990
A weekly report from Netflix shows that “The Crown” ranked seventh among English-language shows for the week of Sept. 5 through Sept. 11.
The first season of the series had 17.57 million hours viewed in the week. The show beat out the fourth season of “Stranger Things” for the week. Season four of “Stranger Things,” which has been in the top ten for 16 straight weeks, had 16.56 million hours of viewership.
The fifth season of hit show “Cobra Kai” ranked first for the week with 106.7 million hours in its first week of release.
A report from Variety said show viewership of “The Crown” was up 800% in the United Kingdom from Friday to Sunday compared to the previous week. U.S. viewership more than quadrupled according to the report, according to data compiled from Whip Media. Worldwide viewership of the Emmy Award-winning show was four times higher than the previous weekend.
Related Link: Queen Elizabeth II Dies At Age 96: Looking At Legacy Of Longest Reigning British Monarch
What’s Next: Two more seasons are set to be released for “The Crown,” which could see strong viewership based on the coverage of the later years of the Queen’s life.
Show creator Peter Morgan announced recently that production on the sixth season of “The Crown” will pause due to Queen Elizabeth’s death.
“As a mark of respect, filming on ‘The Crown’ was suspended. Filming will also be suspended on the day of Her Majesty the Queen’s funeral,” a Netflix spokesperson said.
The fifth season is scheduled for a November 2022 release on Netflix, with the release date not expected to be impacted by the queen’s death. A sixth season will be the final in the series. The final two seasons are expected to cover the Queen’s life in the 2000s and the turn of the 21st century.
A new cast will be in place in the fifth season including Imelda Staunton, known for roles in “Vera Drake” and as Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter franchise, playing Queen Elizabeth.
“The Crown” has won 21 Emmy Awards over its first four seasons.
NFLX Price Action: Netflix shares are up 2.75% to $224.12 on Wednesday.
Photo: Courtesy of netflix.com
