A Netflix notice reminds viewers, and Judi Dench, that ‘The Crown’ is fictional and has no
The Crown is not meant to be taken as a historical document. It is not intended to be a novel about Elizabeth I or about the events leading up to the death of her brother and successor, Edward VI.
The series is a dramatisation. It is a fictional account, based on the true story of Elizabeth I.
It is a biographical drama, based on fact. It is a’soap opera’ – fiction.
As such, viewers are expected to suspend belief. Because, when it comes to fiction, viewers are asked to hold on tight.
It is, of course, part of the job of a so-called historical drama to be historically accurate, but the fact that Elizabeth I is fictional, and this is a historical drama, does not lessen its obligation to be historically accurate.
The Crown’s fictionalisation of events has allowed the series to expand its world, telling a story about one of the most important periods in British history. But it has also extended its world. If every period in the history of the British Isles is treated as though it were real, and every story set within that space treated as though it were true, then every period in the British Isles becomes larger than the sum of its parts, and every narrative loses its coherence.
There is much I can learn from the series
So, one of the most important things I can learn from the The Crown, when it is all said and done, is that the world of Elizabeth I is real. That the story of her life is true. That she is real.
That we are real.
‘The Crown,’ a television series, is not meant to be taken as a historical document. It is not a novel about Elizabeth I. It is not a history of the events leading up to the death of her brother and successor, Edward VI.
It is a dramatisation – fiction. It is a’soap opera’ – fiction.
As such, viewers are asked to suspend belief. Because, when it comes to fiction, viewers are asked to hold on to it, and not to let it go.
In ‘The Crown,’ we see the world of Elizabeth I, but only via the lens of the royal family and of the Tudor court.
It is, of course, part of