Netflix has begun the process of launching a prequel to The Crown.
The hit drama, which will debut its fifth season on Netflix later this year, will end after its sixth season. However, the streaming giant is already looking for a way to keep things going.
According to Deadline, Netflix has begun discussions with Left Bank Pictures, producers of The Crown, as it looks to secure a spin-off for the show.
The report states that the idea behind the prequel would be to cover the era before World War II or to chronicle the late Victorian era when Queen Victoria reigned. Netflix has yet to comment on the report.
The Crown's first season chronicled Queen Elizabeth's life from her wedding in 1947 right up until 1955, with her ascent to the throne coming in 1952 after the death of her father, King George VI.
Subsequent seasons have chronicled Elizabeth's reign, with the forthcoming fifth installment set to focus on the early-to-mid 1990s, including the tragic death of Princess Diana.
The Crown is one of Netflix's biggest and most expensive shows, with each season costing around $130 million (£100 million) to produce, but it's also one of Netflix's (no pun intended) real crown jewels.
Analysis: Would a prequel to The Crown work?
Unless Netflix were to commit wholeheartedly to a new show based around the life of Queen Victoria, any prequel would have a much shorter life than The Crown has enjoyed.
In the first season of The Crown, we meet Elizabeth at the age of just 21, so there's not a lot of life before that to pick through. The remaining part of her life that remains undocumented by The Crown showrunner Peter Morgan is her activities during World War II, where the future Queen was rather active. As a 14-year-old, Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast to the world, offering comfort to children who had been evacuated from the UK's cities, and she later trained as a driver and mechanic.
Perhaps Elizabeth - The War Years could be fun? But if Netflix is looking for something on the size and scale of The Crown, they'll need to look back in time.
For more information on the fifth season of The Crown, which sees the debut of Imelda Staunton in the role of Queen Elizabeth II, with Dominic West, Lesley Manville, and Elizabeth Debicki joining the cast, click here.
