Netflix’s Emmy-winning drama, “The Crown” is past the half-way point of its run. And while we have recently been talking about who is joining the show for the final two seasons, there’s still the business of Season 4 to go, which will not only continue the show’s march forward in time but will also be the final batch of episodes starring Olivia Colman as the Queen.
READ MORE: ‘The Crown’: Elizabeth Debicki Cast As Princess Diana For Final Two Seasons
According to a new teaser from Netflix, those Season 4 episodes are set to premiere in November, giving fans of “The Crown” a gift this fall, as the series ends its second chunk of stories. You see, after the first two seasons, Claire Foy was replaced by Colman in the lead role. And after Season 4, Colman will be replaced by Imelda Staunton, who will end the story of Queen Elizabeth II.
Season 4 is also notable for another major, real-life reason. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the newest group of episodes wasn’t fully completed in March, as Netflix had to shut down the production of pretty much everything that was happening during that time. And unfortunately, that means the producers of the show had to make the tough decision to not finish production of Season 4 and just work with the footage that was already shot. Luckily, that was only 2 weeks’ worth of filming that was cut. However, as discussed in a recent interview with THR, series creator Peter Morgan explained that it just made sense to end the season early versus trying to get everyone back together months later to finish filming.
“In order to hit the release schedule for season four, we needed to start editing and lock episodes, which we’ve been doing throughout this time,” Morgan explained. “And everything takes much longer under these new social distancing regulations and rules, [even postproduction.] So if we’d, for example, waited until next month, when a number of people are starting to film again in late August, beginning of September, to pick up these extra scenes, I think a) everyone would have been out of the rhythm of it and it would have felt very strange, and b) I think it would have compromised our post schedule. And we had to weigh up, ‘Is it worth it or not?’ And, actually, that we’re still able to hit our release schedule in November for seasonal four has been worth it.”
As mentioned, “The Crown” Season 4 is set to arrive on Netflix on November 15.