UK wants Netflix to add warning to 'The Crown'
Los Angeles: The latest season of the acclaimed Netflix period drama 'The Crown' has already ruffled many feathers, thanks to its apparently candid depiction of the Princess Diana years. And now, the United Kingdom government plans to ask the OTT platform to run a note informing viewers that the show is fictional in order to ensure viewers can tell truth from fiction.
According to a report in The Guardian, UK's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden, plans to write to Netflix and ask them to add a "health warning" to precede the show. The warning will inform viewers that the show is a work of fiction and a documentary.
The report comes amid growing concerns in the UK regarding the portrayal of the royal family in 'The Crown', especially since the release of its latest season that deals with the turbulent life of Princess Diana.
'The Crown' tracks the lives of the British royals starting from the time when Queen Elizabeth II of England took over the British monarchy as the nominal head of state. The series is considered by many to be the first of its kind dramatization of the British royals, who are notorious for being extremely tight-lipped about their personal lives.
In the fourth season, many viewers have expressed their discontent at the portrayal of the troubled relationship between Princess Diana and Prince Charles.
Not just the UK government, Princess Diana's brother Earl Charles Spencer had raised concerns that while watching the show, audiences may forget that the show is a work of fiction.
Speaking to The Sunday Mail, Dowden said that 'The Crown' is a "beautifully produced work of fiction, so as with other TV productions, Netflix should be very clear at the beginning it is just that". He added that without the warning, he feared that a "generation of viewers who did not live through these events may mistake fiction for fact".
The explanation did not go down well with fans of the show who argued that the fact that the show was categorised as a drama series and not a documentary was enough for viewers to gauge that it was a work of fiction.
