Netflix’s The Crown is branded ‘colourless and drab’ by critics

Daniel D’Addario, of Hollywood showbiz bible Variety, said that the series is ‘its weakest outing yet’. The chief TV critic added: ‘A ­generally scattered and unfocused show is less disciplined than ever.’The show, which will air on Wednesday, has already faced ­criticism for continuing to blur the lines between truth and fiction.Many have called for a disclaimer to state that it is not 100 per cent accurate yet the first previews of the show, made available to critics last week, carried no such warning.Producer Netflix has stuck to its line that The Crown is ‘based on historical events’.Mr D’Addario points to a plot line of the Queen’s famous annus horribilis Christmas broadcast, which in the show sees the Queen pay tribute to her sister Margaret.Mr D’Addario said: ‘The real speech is online. No such grateful mention of her family, in those terms or any other, exists.’This is not unethical, exactly – The Crown is not fact and does not present itself as such – but it’s an overreach that gives the game away.’ Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki as Charles and Diana (Image: Netflix)Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Princess Diana, said that audiences know there is dramatic licence.She said: ‘It is clearly ­fictional. I feel like audiences know that, because there are actors, playing parts.’I never watched The Crown and thought, ‘This is a documentary’ or ‘This is obviously true’.’But two former prime ministers, royal correspondents and historians have questioned its accuracy.On the absence of a disclaimer, former BBC royal correspondent Michael Cole said: ‘I think it’s remiss of Netflix. I understood that the programme-makers were going to make that clear.’In the new series, Prince Charles asks for PM Tony Blair’s support in helping him to marry Camilla. But Sir Tony recently said that his scenes are ‘complete and utter rubbish’.The new season also features Charles holding a secret meeting with Sir John Major about the Queen abdicating. However, the former PM maintains it never happened.Mr Cole said the word ‘abdication’ was taboo in the Royal Family after the Edward VIII debacle.He said: ‘When I was a royal correspondent, I said the one thing we can rely upon is that an abdication will never happen.’The Queen will see it out because she made her Coronation vow, not to the Government but to God, and that was a ­contract between her and the Almighty. Andshe was always going to be Queen until her last breath.’ Another former BBC royal correspondent, Jennie Bond, said there is now less appetite for such a drama.’People’s mood has changed since the death of the Queen, including their attitude towards the now King Charles.’It did actually focus people’s attention on the continuity and stab­ility of the Royal Family. It was such a smooth transition. So very well handled partly by the Queen herself because she made it clear that Camilla should be Queen Consort. It was just very calm.’I also think in the present political climate, you realise that it’s quite comforting to have stability somewhere in the country.’ One royal historian said it is ‘disappointing’ when dramas about real-life people and events did not tell the facts and left viewers feeling ‘betrayed’.Miranda Carter, historical biographer and novelist, added: ‘There is a thing with historic stories. There is an expectation that you are being told the truth and sometimes with drama serials they blur things or they’ve actually made something up which has no grounding in truth.’You end up thinking, ‘Oh that’s a bit of a shame, I thought that was true’.’Miranda appears in Royal Mob, a TV drama documentary which reveals the history of the Royal Family told through the lives of Queen Victoria’s four favourite granddaughters, the Hesse sisters, the children of her late daughter Princess Alice. It airs tomorrow at 9pm on Sky History.The budget for The Crown, said to be the most expensive TV series in history, has been estimated at £230millon in total.A spokesman for Netflix said: ‘The Crown has always been presented as a drama based on historical events.’Series five is a fictional dramatisation, imagining what could have happened behind closed doors during a significant decade for the Royal Family – one already scrutinised and well documented by journalists, biographers and historians.’