Netflix epic The Crown will reportedly take a year off from filming, meaning that the fifth season of the show will not be released until 2022.

Filming on the fourth season was completed before the coronavirus lockdown began in March and it is still on track to be released later this year.

The fifth season will see Imelda Staunton take over from Olivia Colman as The Queen, with Lesley Manville portraying her younger sister Princess Margaret through the final years of her life.

According to Deadline, filming of the new season will not begin until June 2021, meaning that it will be released in 2022, with the sixth and final season premiering in early 2023.

The publication says that the break in production was always planned - mirroring the gap between seasons two and three for the last cast changeover - and is not directly related by the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier this year Netflix revealed that The Crown has been watched in more than 73 million households worldwide since its debut in 2016.