The Crown creator says he’s ‘relieved’ Netflix series has ended

Peter Morgan has spent the last decade working on the fictionalised drama

The Crown creator has said he’s “relieved” the hit Netflix show has ended, as its sixth and final season was released on Thursday (16 November).

Peter Morgan, 60, began working on the Emmy-winning series about the royal family – specifically the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II – 10 years ago, with the first season premiering on Netflix in 2016.

In a new interview, the British screenwriter admitted he was “pretty relieved” that The Crown would conclude with the latest season, adding “it was time” to bring the curtain down on the show.

When asked how he felt that The Crown was ending during an interview for the show’s official podcast, Morgan replied: “I don’t entirely know yet, but pretty relieved. I mean, positively, relieved.”

He continued: “You know, like when people say, ‘What’s the difference between good pain and bad pain?’ I feel good pain.

“I’m probably not sad that we’ve reached the end. I think it was time,” Morgan told podcast host Edith Bowman, adding that he was “stunned” that the show’s makers had achieved what they originally set out to do.

(AFP via Getty Images)

“I’m sort of stunned…we did exactly what we said we were going to do, and we got to the end somehow,” the acclaimed playwright said. “Making a show like this is tough in so many different ways, but I think this is as harmonious and as co-operative a group of people that could go for a decade.”

The final season of The Crown will be released in two parts, with the show’s first instalment arriving on Netflix on Thursday.

The latest instalment begins in the year 1997, with the focus on the relationship between now-King Charles (played by Dominic West) and Camilla Parker Bowles (Olivia Williams), as well as Princess Diana’s (Elizabeth Debicki) romance with Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdalla).

This season will also cover tragic death of Diana and Fayed in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

The Crown (PA)

Ahead of its release, Morgan responded to critics of the show – including Dame Judi Dench, former prime minister John Major and TV host Kate Garraway – suggesting that they “probably feel rather stupid” after a new season airs.

Last year, Dench, 87, called on Netflix to include a disclaimer that The Crown is a “fictionalised drama” while accusing its makers of resorting to “crude sensationalism”. Meanwhile, Major called the show a “barrel-load of nonsense” in response to scenes between him and the late Queen.

“All the criticism about The Crown’s attitude to the royals comes in anticipation of the show coming out,” Morgan addressed these comments. “The minute it’s out and people look at it –whether it’s Judi Dench or John Major — they instantly fall silent.

“And I think they probably feel rather stupid,” he added.

In his two-star review of season six, part one, The Independent’s TV critic Nick Hilton writes that The Crown “feels like an ailing project”, adding that the show “has less to say than ever, about what it means to be British now”.

You can read the full review here.