The Crown: Season 4 [DVD]

Great show to watch

Great show!

I bought it before QE II passed awayshe is so hardworking and committed herself and the Royal family for British people, as Teddy Bear said in last Jubilee, "we are all thank you for what you have done!" the script is so touching, I love the teddy bear I love the late Queen and I am afraid no one can replace. Though I am a hongkonger, my late mother and I admired the late Queen for her determination character thus in order to show a respect to the late Queen QE II , I watch this vedio as a drama more than a documentary. In addition I really appreciate the crew's contributions and hope that they can also show respect to their late Queen when writing the storyboard for coming season series.

Loved the product but inadequate packaging caused damage. Fortunately the discs were not harmed but the plastic container was wrecked as it was put into a flimsy envelope.What were they thinking? A cardboard box would have been better?

It was okay, but a little too much time spent on people who would not be at all interesting were they not "royal".

Product was exactly what I ordered

Life behind the palace walls isn't all peaches and cream. The series explores the interactions among members of the Royal Family in ways that give one a broader perspective on what it's like to be in that special position. Although the Royals have many benefits--servants, castles, etc.--they are still people with responsibilities, family issues, etc. And they have to work these things out while being in the public eye. The series shows that this is not always the easiest thing to do, while also retaining some of the special nature of their lives.

Everything was good

This fourth series is vastly inferior to the first two and continues the cruel downward trajectory increasingly apparent in Season Three. The script is now even more trite and “speculative” and the performances are caricatures that totally lack credibility. Peter Morgan is clearly anti-monarchist and portrays most of the members of royal family as appallingly insensitive bigots to such an extent that the episodes degenerate into ridiculously “over the top” and offensively crude melodrama. For instance, the sequences with the killing of the stag are truly dreadful - the symbolism being as crude as the ropey digital beast itself - and the series production as a whole! Only Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles and Tobias Menzies as The Duke of Edinburgh come out of this mess with any sort of credibility as they struggle to deal with the ridiculous and unsubstantiated antics the script requires of them. Olivia Coleman is much less successful portraying Queen Elizabeth. She regularly lapses into a zombie-like stare reminiscent of someone suffering from an advanced form of intellectual impairment. There is nothing remotely realistic about her callous and risible characterisation of the Monarch other than a good wig and some well made costumes. Similarly the talented Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher gives a vocally impressive but motivationally grotesque and patronising performance - bedecked in a gigantic wig that might have been actionable if the woman was still alive. Sadly the producers of The Crown have allowed a once impressive series to become a sordid self-indulgent vehicle for Morgan’s republican hatred of the aristocracy rather than anything approaching realistic quality television drama. It is nothing more or less than a crude “political” diatribe that lacks understanding, subtlety and ultimately humanity too. I’m no monarchist either but Morgan’s cruel and vicious made-up nonsense is certainly a nasty step too far where I’m concerned. It just shows how low television companies can sink if there’s a buck to be made - however much damage and affront such unjust and fanciful material might inflict. At almost £30 I really can’t recommend this grubby and mediocre set of exploitative discs. Even the soft focus diffused image quality of the blu ray transfer, that often lacks true detail, is inferior to the previous box sets - so I can’t even find much merit there either! I tremble to imagine the lows to which Series Five might probably descend.

From the opening scene in Episode 1 of Series 4 where the viewer hears the words of an Irish republican, committed to murder and terrorism (the “armed struggle”) of innocent civilians, this work of fiction is laced with an anti-establishment and anti-Thatcherite bias.Hugo Vickers has previously written a book highlighting the inaccuracies, distortions and outright lies that the viewer observed in the first three series – “The Crown Dissected: Series 1, 2 & 3”Unfortunately, these are even more apparent in this series.Of course, with the production being made by Netflix there comes the usual left-wing ”woke” world view. A couple of episodes are preceded by the warning that Diana vomiting may cause distress, although of course, there is no such warning for the atrocious murder of Lord Mountbatten (labelled an Imperialist) in Episode 1. The republican mindset of the writer, Peter Morgan is shown in nearly every scene to do with Ireland and his extreme left-wing views, with Mrs Thatcher. It is so blatant that after a few scenes of this series it becomes embarrassing. Morgan’s real-life on-off lover, Gillian Anderson, is simply atrocious as the former Prime Minister; her terrible acting in exaggerating Mrs Thatcher’s mannerisms is simply ludicrous and unbelievable.The episode with Michael Fagan could have been written by a Labour Party spin doctor for the then leader Neil Kinnock. Stating that Mrs Thatcher discussed proroguing Parliament in order to remain Prime Minister is simply fictitious – she never said this at all and certainly it would never originate from the private audiences that she held with the Monarch which are never leaked: this narrative is simply a lie and this must be called out. Morgan’s extreme republicanism and leftist views really are not needed in telling the story of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. His partisan and jaundiced personal views on Mrs Thatcher and her attitude to South Africa are obvious too; he attempts to justify his view by quoting Mandela at the end of this episode. His simplistic and divisive story telling might well influence ignorant people, particularly those in the States, but anyone with a semblance of intelligence and knowledge of these events knows, this Series is written with bias and only very loosely based upon historical facts.The acting of Olivia Coleman is not a patch of the first 2 series when Clare Foy was brilliant. Emma Corrin’s performance as Diana is helped by her similarity to the Princess rather than the simplistic writing of her as a latter-day saint.This Series is good for a laugh and helps to recollect events but highlights the writer’s prejudices for it to be credible as an accurate account of events.

The standout element here in Season 4 is the portayal of Margaret Thatcher by Gillian Anderson, no doubt about that.How does she interpret the role? Not dis-similar to how Anthony Hopkins played Dr Hannibal Lecter - in terms of the *visceral* impact of the performance, Anderson has the same effect on your nervous system as Hopkins did, as the unhinged doctor.And 'unhinged' is a good word I think to describe the Thatcher characterisation here - the monster is shown to be a profoundly disturbed, pathological woman with delusions of grandeur and an hypnotic stillness which must have terrified her feckless public-school ministers and made them tremblingly -whimper for their long-departed nannies. [ 'Bring them to see me - one - by - one . . . ' ] A quite brilliant piece of acting, and completely deserving of the Emmy she won recently for the role.Elsewhere, the sympathetic portayal of Charles from Season 3 is well and truly ditched; here he is depicted as effete, wet, needy, egotistical and precocious, regularly thowing his toys out of his gold-plated pram [ well, Racing Green Aston Martin ] when he is upstaged by his missus, who herself is portrayed equally brilliantly by Emma Corrin.My favourite episode is 'FAGAN', an extremely entertaining account of the out-of-work prole from the north London council estate who inexplicably out-manouvered the Palace's multiple security systems [ not once but TWICE, no less!] to end up sitting on the top woman's bed and giving her a state-of-the-nation address first thing in the morning, before being carted orf to Park Lane Mental Hospital in Liverpool for his troubles, poor devil. [I particularly like the sequence where he speaks to his leather-faced DWP advisor behind a spittle-flecked perspex screen and when asked his name he replies, 'Bond - James Bond'. . . ]The world's most high-profile dysfunctional extended family gets another sumptuous multi-million pound outing courtesy of Netflix - and jolly good fun it is, too, for all of us from the lower orders . . .

Season 4 and previous seasons have been very expensively produced. The series has good acting, authentic locations, uniforms, cars, horses, etc. Where would the Royal Family be without its cars and horses?However, dramatized history is not the same as history. The Crown has been adjusted for the sake of dramatic impact.Season 4 continues the rather tragic tone of the series. The protagonists are not getting along;, they are at odds with their jobs and their personal relationships, sometimes to the point of breakdown.. In short, we are treated to a series of tragedies. My reaction after watching all four of the seasons has been to reach for a dvd of a Peter Sellers film. Alternatively, anything with Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas, etc.The Crown suffers from a lack of humour, or comic relief if you will. Great dramatists ranging from Shakespeare to Noel Coward, knew the value of occasional light relief. In the Crown, we have the Duke of Edinburgh, who always had "a twinkle", to quote from a recent royal speech. . This lighter element seems to be missing from the Crown, especially season 4.It is good entertainment , but it could be better.

All of the actors play their part well in this series. But I think a special mention must go to Gillian Anderson for her role as Margaret Thatcher: A stunning portrayal. The look, mannerisms, style and voice are uncanny, as well as her walk and she deserves to win an award for such dedication to getting that role as close to the Prime Minister as must be humanly possible.For me, this fourth series is the most enjoyable. I cannot vouch for the historical accuracy in some parts but watched as a close comparison to the events, it is extremely entertaining.