This season of “The Crown” will be more dramatic than ever.
Netflix’s award-winning drama chronicling the life of Queen Elizabeth and the rest of the royal family throughout her reign is back for Season 5 after a two-year hiatus.
Creator Peter Morgan’s latest episodes will premiere on the streaming service this week, and fans are already clamoring for the next installment of the highly anticipated six-season show.
Season 5 will bring the family into the modern era, and while members of the firm have confessed to watching the show — King Charles once even noted he “enjoyed” it, royal biographer Katie Nicholl believes they won’t be viewing the series this time around.
“We don’t know if the king is going to watch this series,” she told Entertainment Tonight last month.
“I can tell you that he’s watched previous seasons of ‘The Crown’ and enjoyed it. I think the last series was a little too close to the bone as well,” she said.
Keep reading for everything you need to know about Season 5 of “The Crown,” including dates, controversies and more.
When will the show premiere?
Season 5 of “The Crown” will drop on Netflix on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 3:01 a.m.
Who is starring in Season 5?
The show has been switching up actors every two seasons in order to show the characters aging, so a new set of cast members will be introduced this season.
This new cast will be at the helm for the final two seasons of the show.
Imelda Staunton becomes the third and final actress to play Queen Elizabeth, taking over the role from Olivia Colman and Claire Foy.
Dominic West is portraying then-Prince Charles, taking over from Josh O’Connor. Elizabeth Debicki is playing Princess Diana, accepting the baton from Emma Corrin.
Olivia Williams is coming on as Camilla Parker Bowles, who was previously played by Emerald Fennell.
Other actors include Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip and Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret. Matt Smith and Tobias Menzies previously were cast as the late Duke of Edinburgh with Vanessa Kirby and Helena Bonham Carter as the queen’s younger sister.
A medley of new characters will also be introduced, including Jonny Lee Miller as Prime Minister John Major, Khalid Abdalla as Dodi Al-Fayed and Prasanna Puwanarajah as Martin Bashir.
West’s son Senan is playing a young Prince William.
What will the season be about?
Every season takes place during a certain time period of the Firm, and this one is no different.
Season 5 will feature the fam during the early to mid-1990s. A plethora of tumultuous ups and down ravaged the queen during this period including a fire at Windsor Castle, Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ divorce, its aftermath, as well as Elizabeth’s 1992 “annus horribilis.”
The now-infamous “TamponGate,” a private conversation between Charles and Camilla, will also be re-enacted.
When was the trailer released?
A two-minute-long teaser debuted on Oct. 20 and showed footage of the cast in full costume and the royal family’s drama in full swing.
Why is this season so controversial?
Aside from the real-life Sept. 8 death of Queen Elizabeth, the upcoming season has been contentious for some royal devotees.
The series came under fire for how it allegedly plans to depict Princess Diana’s 1997 death at the age of 37 in a fiery car crash in Paris.
A production source told Deadline recently that the collision won’t be shown on-screen, but the events before and after the tragic event will be. Recent paparazzi photos showed the production filming in a tunnel in Paris, which may be the events leading up to the tragedy.
Actors such as Judi Dench and former Prime Minister John Major have also slammed the show for its historical inaccuracy. Following the backlash, Netflix added a disclaimer reiterating that the series is a “fictional dramatization” to a trailer that was released last month.