The Crown - Netflix

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Sorry but I thought the line about not looking up to the west was ridiculous. It sounded like something a Netflix writer from 2023 would say, not Dodi Al Fayed who wanted to bang blonde supermodels, make Hollywood movies and hang out in various European locales in his super yacht. He never made any indication that he had any real connection to his homeland or Islam and Mohammed Al Fayed certainly wouldn’t imagine his son saying those things. Also this was supposed to be in 1998, far far removed from modern day politics.
 
A surprising lack of Blair in the first four, especially considering how heavily he was featured in The Queen surrounding Diana's death. I suppose, however, that the film focused mostly on the Queen's reaction and Blair's counsel, whereas the series also had to include the al-Fayed's and Charles/William/Harry.

Bertie Carvel's portrayal has definitely improved since the final episode of the last series. In that, I felt he was too much of an ill-fitting caricature, whereas this time he was distinctly more Blairish.
 
I thought it was good that they didn’t show Diana dead in the hospital but then they showed Dodi being buried in the shroud and I found that quite uncomfortable to watch
 
Mr Krabs said:
Sorry but I thought the line about not looking up to the west was ridiculous. It sounded like something a Netflix writer from 2023 would say, not Dodi Al Fayed who wanted to bang blonde supermodels, make Hollywood movies and hang out in various European locales in his super yacht. He never made any indication that he had any real connection to his homeland or Islam and Mohammed Al Fayed certainly wouldn’t imagine his son saying those things. Also this was supposed to be in 1998, far far removed from modern day politics.
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You do realise that the Islamic, African and Asian parts of the world have - for centuries - had a continuous dichotomous discourse about how they should relate to Europe and North America? It wasn't a sentiment that popped up last month. You have great philosophers and activists in each continent/region in the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries who explicitly spoke on these issues.

If you remember, specific to The Crown, that last season explored whether Al Fayed had a lifelong complex with status and recogntion - since he grew up in British occupied Egypt as part of the working class and so was shut out of society until he married into his first wife's established, well connected Egyptian family. That too on the expectation that he would not just 'prove himself', but exceed.
 
Personally, I thought those 4 episodes were like pulling teeth. It really did become The Diana Show, the Queen was barely there. I would hope the next 6 episodes make the previous 4 (and the Queen’s absence) make more sense with context. I don’t presume to know the real man so I’m talking about the fictional character of Charles here, but I just didn’t buy that he was *that* torn up by Diana’s death that he was wailing in the morgue and on his walk outside. The ghost scenes were execrable. You couldn’t imagine someone‘s ghost showing up in those early seasons. It’s jumped the shark just a little bit.

I didn’t even finish the 4th episode because the morgue/funeral scenes were making me miserable. So I suppose it had that going for it, it did procure some emotion out of me.
 
I’ve watched all four episodes and have to agree with @emerald, it’s been a bit dull. I feel a bit underwhelmed by it. I remember Diana’s death really well and I just felt the show failed to capture the essence of the time. Diana’s ghost was laughable. The queen comes across as being a right witch as well, cold and uncaring. Absolutely no warmth or humanity.
 
You know what, I think it’s okay! I’m finding it very easy to watch. I was only 4 when Diana died though so I never knew of her alive (just the hysteria around her death) so the focus on her is interesting for me.

This cast is an absolute dud though. Imelda Staunton, Dominic West and Johnathan Pryce are all just playing themselves? I also think that’s why I’m enjoying much more than the previous series (which was a chore to get through) - when watching Diana, Dodi + the boys it does feel like I am viewing the real life characters, with the actual Royal family it just feels a bit laughable, I have to continually remind myself who they are meant to be. Not sure how West and Pryce have been allowed to perform without the RP accent at all, at least Imelda has somewhat given it a go.
 
Eureka said:
I’ve watched all four episodes and have to agree with @emerald, it’s been a bit dull. I feel a bit underwhelmed by it. I remember Diana’s death really well and I just felt the show failed to capture the essence of the time. Diana’s ghost was laughable. The queen comes across as being a right witch as well, cold and uncaring. Absolutely no warmth or humanity.
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Well, she didn't have any warmth or compassion at that time.
 
Rosie glow said:
I didn't like Olivia Colemans portrayal of the queen I think she was more like queen Victoria and I don't particularly like imeldas queen either I think Leslie manville might have been a better fit and she's totally wasted as Margaret in the last series
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I was not a fan of OC at all in Season 3 - in fact it is my least favourite season of them all.

However I warmed to her much more in Season 4 and thought she was much improved.
 
I've given up. It's absolute guff. I don't know if it's because I remember it happening which is making me stop watching. It's all too soap opera for me. It doesn't feel like that long ago but it is really. I was 20 at the time.
 
ayeayecaptain said:
I was working a very early shift that day as a teenager somewhere that sold newspapers. I was awake getting ready when when it was announced she had died. Then went into work where there were a lot of first edition newspapers not one of them had a good word to say about Diana & Dodi - they were full of pictures slagging then off on that yacht. One even had a supplement dedicated to the pics. In hindsight I wish I had bought them.
I think they are being too kind to Charles in these episodes. Personally I can’t imagine him crying so much for her. Maybe for the impact in the short term for him and possibly the boys. But in the long term it probably helped his ‘situation’.
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You have unlocked a memory for me about the papers. This all happened when I was a child. We didnt know it had happened until late in the afternoon as my family had been on a caravan holiday somewhere in the UK and we were driving home for most of the day. My parents played music tapes in the car for most of the journey, it was only when we were about an hour Way from home that they put the radio on and it was announced on the news. We must have been some of the last people in the country to know.

I can remember seeing the glossy magazine supplement of holiday pictures when we got home. I don't know if one of my parents had bought it a paper at a service station, or if it has been delivered on Sunday morning. I can remember being confused about how they could have printed something like that. I didnt know about papers having different editions.

That whole week was weird tbh.
 
Chinese_whispers said:
I flew through them earlier. They were fine I guess although not very memorable. The last one broke me a bit though, I thought it was very well done. I don’t understand breaking them up though? Is the second part of the series next month also short?
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It crosses two months so people can't just sign up for one month to watch the series. They have to pay two months subscription
 
I think the best piece I’ve seen about the Royal Family in regards to Diana is The Queen with Helen Mirren. Even though Diana was still a big presence in the film because it’s set during the days after her car crash she doesn’t actually appear as a character. I wish the Crown had gone for something like this when bringing in other characters. After Claire Foy’s turn it feels like the Queen became a secondary character in some episodes even though the Crown is the monarch. I’ve no idea what happened but after series 2 the show just jumped off a cliff. (Though I did find it funny that Anthony Eden’s wife appeared in a number of scenes but had absolutely no lines even though the actress has been in many tv shows before).
 
I didn’t mind the recent episodes. It’s certainly not The Crown S1/2 but if you look at it as a Diana drama instead, it’s quite good. The performances of Charles and Diana by the actors are excellent. Although it’s taken artistic licence it did give me a better understanding of how difficult the paparazzi were and how difficult it was to avoid them, especially when they were in Paris on that last day. I had always wondered why didn’t they let them take their photos and then they wouldn’t have had to drive so manically from them. The show does help me understand this better.
 
Libbylulu said:
I didn’t mind the recent episodes. It’s certainly not The Crown S1/2 but if you look at it as a Diana drama instead, it’s quite good. The performances of Charles and Diana by the actors are excellent. Although it’s taken artistic licence it did give me a better understanding of how difficult the paparazzi were and how difficult it was to avoid them, especially when they were in Paris on that last day. I had always wondered why didn’t they let them take their photos and then they wouldn’t have had to drive so manically from them. The show does help me understand this better.
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I rewatched episodes 1, 2, & 4 at the weekend but found 3 too distressing to watch again.

I though episode 2 was particularly good with the juxtaposition of the two photographers. Unsurprisingly Mario Brenna was unhappy with the way he was portrayed.

nationalpost.com

The Crown is wrong about how I got photo of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, says paparazzo

In the show, Dodi Fayed's father hires a paparazzi photographer to take photos of Princess Diana. Mario Brenna says this is 'absurd'
nationalpost.com nationalpost.com
 
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