The Crown will now be releasing a surprise additional season to Netflix

Here's everything you need to know...

With the coronavirus-enforced lockdown 2.0 isolating us once more to our homes, we have never been more ready for the highly anticipated return of The Crown.

Sseason four landed on Netflix this weekend and we're all in binge-watch mode, already getting ready for The Crown season five.

The fourth season sees its star-studded second cast return, with Olivia Coleman reprising her role as Queen Elizabeth, Helena Bonham Carter playing Princess Margaret and Game of Thrones’ Tobias Menzies returning to his role as Prince Philip.

Also joining the cast for season 4 are Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher and Emma Corrin as Princess Diana, among others, with the controversial affair storyline catching the world's attention.

Probably the biggest talking point however is the amount of seasons that we have ahead of us.

It was always thought that The Crown would span six seasons, with the actors recast every two seasons to reflect the passing of time. It was announced earlier this year however that The Crown had been called to an end much sooner than expected.

As the show's writer and creator confirmed Imelda Staunton as the third Queen Elizabeth in the series, he also appeared to announce that the fifth season would actually be she show's last.

‘The first three seasons of The Crown defined an era, and I know the upcoming fourth season will build further on that success,’ announced Cindy Holland, vice president of original content at Netflix. ‘It's a stunning example of award-winning entertainment, created in the UK and loved by millions of fans around the world.’

She continued: ‘I fully support Peter Morgan's creative decision and am excited to see how he, Imelda Staunton and the cast and crew of season five, bring this landmark series to a fitting and spectacular end.’

Now however, the Netflix show has seemingly done a U-turn, announcing that the show's schedule will revert back to the original six season plan.

'News from the palace: we can confirm there will be a sixth (and final) season of The Crown, in addition to the previously announced five!', announced the streaming platform.

'Writer/creator Peter Morgan: "As we started to discuss the storylines for Series 5, it soon became clear that in order to do justice to the richness and complexity of the story we should go back to the original plan and do six seasons." So to summarise - we'll have one more season with Queen Olivia Colman, before she passes the crown to Imelda Staunton. We're just half way through! Lovely.'

Well, this is extremely exciting.