TV REVIEW: THE CROWN - Season 6

4/5

Long Live The Queen.

10 Episodes. Starring: Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce, Lesley Manville, Dominic West, Ed McVey, Meg Bellamy, Luther Ford, Olivia Williams & Elizabeth Debicki. Created By: Peter Morgan. On: Netflix.

A Parisian man walking his dog late at night minds his own business whilst waiting for his best friend to do his. Streaming through the streets of an Orwellian 'Down and Out' Paris, his lonesome stroll is surprised by the screeching of tyres. A familiar black car, with blonde hair in a blur, barely visible in the rear window. He sees the car speed down a bend and into a tunnel. He pays little mind. This is Paris, after all. Then he hears the kind of noise that just shakes you to your core. Because you know something just isn't quite right. That's the closest, and even this description is too much, we get to seeing the crash that took the lives of Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed and their driver Henri Paul on that truly tragic night in France that we are still haunted by (I remember waking up my shocked parents to tell them about it after reading it on Ceefax of all places in disbelief). And in terms of not showing the crash, that's a good thing. 

As the respectable forger of 'The Crown' Peter Morgan recently told Variety magazine that that was something they were never going to even consider. Even though, the creator has faced constant criticism for what some (most notably with royal appointment, Judi Dench) think is a hollow crown. Instead of the actual jewel in Morgan's career cap, from royal stage, to knighted big-screen, that it really is. From the sex lives of Charles and Camilla to ghosts that come in the night like a Christmas Carol, many want Peter to rethink his choices like Scrooge on the third visit. That's why the show now comes with a disclaimer like all those Disney stereotypes they refuse to put to bed (to learn, or make money from), all whilst accordingly cancelling gems like Goldblum's world. But what's so wrong with celebrating the love and youthful lust that still exists in couples past a half-century? Even if a May to December man like myself is fine wine biased. Love is love. And as for the ghost? Respectfully done, it'll give you anything but the Dickens.

What does truly terrify you is the state of affairs we are left in. Not only is the sixth and final series of 'The Crown' on Netflix, told over two parts from November to December, it also hits us in the heart with two losses. One being, of course, the death of Diana. And the other being the fact that as 'The Crown' calls curtain, this not only is it, but this reminds us of what else we've lost. Her Majesty. God save the Queen, and in this final furlong of the big-three told over six seasons, two-by-two, respect is not only paid to the Holy Trinity of great actresses that have played her, the incredible Claire Foy, the great Olivia Colman, and the legendary Imelda Staunton, but of course her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth herself. The one nobody can possibly top, no two sides of the same coin, but just one, stamped in history. Knighted for reigns to come that will never come quite as close. We miss you, ma'am. Just like we still can't believe you're gone. 

It still feels strange saying King Charles. But long live. And 'The Wire' star Dominic West is wonderful as Charles, especially when making peace with Diana, who along with Dodi always steals the show. This series may not touch controversies like the Prince Andrew or Harry ones (after all, you only have to watch 'South Park' to see they want their privacy) in spare scenes. But they do show just how claustrophobic the cameras of the paparazzi made Diana and Dodi. Just how scary these stalkers were. And what those bright lights and tabloids did to the young couple just trying to try out their love in headlines that will forever be etched in our flashbulb memories. The isolation captured perfectly as a forlorn Diana hangs her legs over a board in a perfect blue paradise she should and would have been so happy to have, if it wasn't for the reflections of all that lied below.

From Emma Corrin, and their first walk out into the public eye, to the redefining, chameleonic Elizabeth Debicki. Many have played Lady Diana, from Naomi Watts to Kristen Stewart as 'Spencer'. And no one has done her dirty like a Michael Jackson song the Princess wish she heard at a concert where the King of Pop left it off his set list out of respect. This series even had two iconic performances. Soon this will be like Hamlet, or Macbeth, when many people will play her with their own inspired interpretations. But unlike Shakespeare's globe reach, this face famous all around the world was real. So respect is of the highest order. Yes, this show knows how to hold up a mirror to the drama with its own nuanced look at the grey area, but what's really to be celebrated, before it is commiserated in a cruel twist of fate's fickle fingers, is the love and fun Diana had with her family. And of course we mean her two boys, who we are still heartbroken for, no matter what has transpired since, for better or worse. 

Driving her car like Stewart or Murakami, and listening to 90s nostalgia like Chumbuwumba, or an 'Older' George Michael, this was a different time, and an iconic one, until tabloids and tragedy struck like the Big Ben chimes of the six o'clock news. No matter how many times Diana got knocked down, you know what she did again, never letting anyone keep her down. And yes, that sentiment shared in a song feels fitting. All until everyone else was too much. The great Jonathan Pryce, a heartbreaking Lesley Manville and outstanding Olivia Williams. The brilliant brand-new love of Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy as William and Catherine. Not to mention Luther Ford as Harry, acting above being sometimes branded as a stock villain. They all help 'The Crown' shine with its sixth seal. But none like The Queen herself and the one that would have been if we just let her breathe. Diana should still be here, the people's princess, taking care of her own, as others speculate about her sons. Making peace with the mother-in-law who just wanted her to find hers. Maybe now, watching over us all, they have found both of theirs, together. Forever. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'Spencer', 'The Queen', 'Downton Abbey'.