IT IS THE BEGINNING OF THE END for The Crown, much praised for its A-list acting and circa $277,000-per-minute production values, but widely criticised for its screenwriter Peter Morgan inventing dialogue for the royal family in actual and imagined situations. Netflix has now released the first four parts of the sixth and final series, with the last six to follow next month. This run begins with the death in Paris of Diana, Princess of Wales - though with actress Elizabeth Debicki reappearing as the princess's ghost, which suggests that Morgan and the producers (Left Bank Pictures) have not been cowed by rows over taste.
But as it ends, it's increasingly clear what The Crown started: a seismic shift in royal representation on stage and screen. Take two new plays just opened in London: Backstairs Billy, by Marcelo dos Santos, imagines the relationship between the queen mother and her closest servant, Billy Tallon; while Jonathan Maitland's The Interview explores the 1995 Panorama interview Diana gave to Martin Bashir.
Both shows overlap with The Crown: The Interview closely parallels its season five episodes which dealt with negotiations between Diana and Bashir; Penelope Wilton is playing the queen mother in Backstairs Billy, a play that is on newer ground, Tallon being one of the few royal characters not animated by Morgan.
It's hard to imagine, though, that either play could exist without the example of The Crown. Nor that two films about Prince Andrew's disastrous Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis would currently be in production: Netflix's Scoop and Amazon Prime's A Very Royal Scandal with, respectively, Rufus Sewell and Michael Sheen as the prince, and Gillian Anderson and Ruth Wilson as the interviewer.
Bu hikaye The Guardian Weekly dergisinin November 24, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Guardian Weekly dergisinin November 24, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
If kids get protected from online harm, how about the rest of us?
The Australian government has proposed a ban on social media for all citizens under 16.
'It's not drought - it's looting'
Spain is increasingly either parched or flooded - and one group is profiting from these extremes: the thirsty multinational companies forcing angry citizens to pay for water in bottles.
Life in the grey Zone
Neonatal care has advanced so far that babies born as early as 21 weeks have survived. But is this type of care always the right thing to do?
Out of tune? Band Aid under fire for Africa tropes as it turns 40
Forty years ago this month, a group of pop stars gathered at a west London studio to record a single that would raise millions, inspire further starry projects, and ultimately change charity fundraising in the UK.
Deaths shine spotlight on risks of drinking on party trail
Vang Vieng is an unlikely party hub. Surrounded by striking limestone mountains and caves in central Laos, it morphed from a small farming town to a hedonistic tourist destination in the early 2000s.
Different strokes My strange and emotional week with an AI pet
Moflin can develop a personality and build a rapport with its owner - and doesn't need food or exercise. But is it comforting or alienating?
Strike zone Waking up to the rising threat of lightning
When the Barbados National Archives, home to one of the world's most significant collections of documents from the transatlantic slave trade, reported in June that it had been struck by lightning, it received sympathy and offers of support locally and internationally.
Cheap pints and sticky carpets: the old-school pub is back
In the Palm Tree pub, east London, barman Alf is taking only cash at the rattling 1960s till.
Brain gain Can a radical tax scheme convince the country's brightest to stay?
In the autumn of 2018, I moved to Lisbon for a month-long course at the Universidade .de Lisboa.
Fear and sympathy in small town divided over asylum camp
A year after anti-immigration riots, a site for asylum seekers faces hostility while some locals try to help new arrivals
