'The Crown' Season 5 won't debut until 2022

The fifth season of Netflix’s royal drama The Crown will not debut until 2022. Season 4, Olivia Colman’s final season as Queen Elizabeth II, is still scheduled to launch later in 2020.

As per a report on Deadline, Left Bank Pictures has taken a break from shooting the fifth season – which sees Imelda Staunton taking over as the Queen – and won’t resume until Summer 2021.

The report adds that the break in production was not a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and was always part of the shooting schedule.

The upcoming fourth season of the hit show will cover the life of the Royal Family up to 1990 and will see Gillian Anderson playing Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The new series will also see Princess Diana (Emma Corrin) marrying Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) in 1981.

Read more: The Crown finds young Prince Andrew

Production wrapped on the fourth season in March just before the pandemic closed down productions, with the cast recording additional dialogue for the show from home.

Although initially announced as the final season, the fifth season – in which Leslie Manville will play the Queen’s sister Princess Margaret – will be followed by a sixth season. The show’s creator Peter Morgan originally planned for a six-parter and had said the fifth outing would be final, saying earlier this year: "Now that we have begun work on the stories for S5 it has become clear to me that this is the perfect time and place to stop."

However, Netflix and Morgan backtracked, announcing another season earlier in July.

A tweet from the Netlix UK & Ireland Twitter account read: "News from the palace: we can confirm there will be a sixth (and final) season of @TheCrownNetflix, in addition to the previously announced five!"