The fifth season of Netflix’s “The Crown” has drawn far more scrutiny and negative publicity than any of its predecessors.
A combination of moving into an era that many still remember, combined with the recent Queen’s passing, has led to the royal family drama getting a backlash from critics and various members of the British establishment.
That now includes two former British Prime Ministers. Sir Tony Blair (played by Bertie Carvel) and Sir John Major (played by Johnny Lee Miller) are featured in the series in which both become caught up in the royal family’s relationship drama.
This has not sat well with the real-life pair, who say the scenes are entirely fabricated. A spokesman for Blair told The Telegraph in a brief statement: “It should come as no surprise that this is complete and utter rubbish.”
Major, on the other hand, penned a letter to the paper and made his views quite clear: “Netflix may well take the view that any publicity is good publicity. But I assure them it is not — most especially when it disrespects the memory of those no longer alive, or puts words into the mouths of those still living and in no position to defend themselves. Fiction should not be paraded as fact.”
Previously showrunner Peter Morgan has said that there are “unavoidable accuracy blips” with creating scripted drama based on real historical scenarios and people who are still living, but he adds that he’s “absolutely fastidious about there being an underlying truth.”
We’ll see for ourselves when “The Crown” season 5 premieres this Wednesday, November 9th on Netflix.
