news ‘The Crown’ Returns to Netflix’s Top 10 Following Queen Elizabeth II’s Death

The Crown” is back in power. Following the Thursday passing of Queen Elizabeth II, drama series “The Crown” returned to Netflix’s Top 10 English-language TV list for the week of September 5-11.

Season 1 of “The Crown” drew 17.57 million hours viewed last week, according to Netflix, good enough for seventh place. That viewership tally pretty much just counts Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. (There would definitely have been some natural, albeit very late, sampling of the first season Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, too, though it is same the assume the lion’s share came during the early mourning period.)

It is interesting to note here that while the series itself is back on the list, this is the first appearance for Season 1 as the show’s initial season predates the existence of Netflix’s publicly-shared Top 10 lists.

“Cobra Kai” season 5 was number one on the week with 106.70 million hours viewed. Limited series “Devil in Ohio” was second with 70.81 million hours viewed. There was a steep drop off from there.

A week earlier, the seventh-ranking show on the English (again the language, not the nationality or ethnicity — an important distinction in this story) TV list was Season 1 of NBC drama “Manifest” with 16.41 million hours viewed. The number-one show of that week was limited series “Echoes” — we’ve got a whole write-up about that performance too.

Queen Elizabeth II died September 8 at age 96. In tribute, “The Crown” creator Peter Morgan paused production on the fifth season, which is expected to premiere on Netflix this November. Over the course of the series, Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, and Imelda Staunton have portrayed the late ruler. “The Crown” season 5 marks Staunton’s first turn as the monarch, with fellow new cast members Jonathan Pryce, Lesley Manville, Jonny Lee Miller, Dominic West, and Elizabeth Debicki joining the ensemble.

Morgan, who also penned Oscar-winning “The Queen” with Helen Mirren in the lead role, told IndieWire in 2020 that Queen Elizabeth II is a “mother to the nation.”

“We don’t want a head of state to be a troubled figure. We want someone parental and reassuring,” Morgan said. “She hasn’t put a foot wrong with her constancy, when we’ve had a shockingly turbulent time. When it has felt impossible to have any confidence in our political class during our schizophrenic war over Brexit, the country has felt rudderless and unhinged. It has been unsettling for everybody psychologically and emotionally.”

“She’s a constant, not just in your life, but there’s not anyone alive in the U.K. who hasn’t had her as head of state the entirety of their life,” he said at the time. “She ties the generations together.”

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning British monarch, was queen of England for over 70 years.
 
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