Netflix's The Crown verdict: Ten hours, one Crown and a lavish royal soap

By Michael Idato
Updated November 13 2016 - 2:08pm, first published November 11 2016 - 11:45pm
<i>The Crown</i>, starring Claire Foy and Matt Smith, is about the early married life of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. Photo: Alex Bailey/Netflix
<i>The Crown</i>, starring Claire Foy and Matt Smith, is about the early married life of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. Photo: Alex Bailey/Netflix
Coronation: <i>The Crown</i> delights in the detail of royal protocol, the complexities of titles and precedence and the minutiae of ancient royal rituals. Photo: Alex Bailey/Netflix
Coronation: <i>The Crown</i> delights in the detail of royal protocol, the complexities of titles and precedence and the minutiae of ancient royal rituals. Photo: Alex Bailey/Netflix

In an era where television has become a cacophony of noise and fast edits, the first thing that strikes you about the royal soap opera The Crown (Netflix, available now) is not its luminous cast, its sumptuous sets, its extraordinary locations or its £100 million budget, although all of those things seem so very present, the series is almost overpowering.

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