The Atlantic The Crown Takes the Shine Off Queen Elizabeth’s Reign In its fourth season, the Netflix drama is sharper than ever as it paints a portrait of an out-of-touch ruler caught off guard by change. Early in its fourth season, The Crown finds Britain at a low. It’s 1982, and the so-called Winter of Discontent still lingers over the country as unemployment numbers soar and a war brews in the Falklands. But inside Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II (played by Olivia Colman) has a more personal catastrophe on her mind: She’s not sure which of her four children is her favorite.