It rules! Reviews for Netflix's new British monarchy drama The Crown roll in... and the critics are impressed 

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There's thrones, queens, crowns, sex, a recent war and even a king who gets killed off by the second episode... so the comparisons to Game Of Thrones were inevitable.

Another thing in common with the early impressions of The Crown: everybody is impressed.

The first reviews of critic's reviews of the new Netflix drama have been rolling in, and they have been overwhelmingly positive.

It rules! Reviews for Netflix's new British monarchy drama The Crown are rolling in... and the critics are impressed (Pictured: Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth)

While most pointed out it is less flashy and steadier-paced than its contemporaries, this was by no means highlighted as a negative.

'At some point in the next couple of years, HBO's prodigiously popular Game of Thrones will end its run with, presumably, one of the beloved or reviled characters sitting atop the Iron Throne,' The Hollywood Reporter declared. 'Viewers will be encouraged to believe that the pursuit of power is more interesting than the reign.

'But while it lacks for nudity and dragons and bloody upheavals, Netflix's new series The Crown makes a solid argument for the exercise of power as the stuff of compelling drama in its own right.

'The Crown is surely Netflix's strongest push yet into the realm of prestige drama,' it concluded, adding it will be a 'real player' when awards season rolls round. 

The Hollywood Reporter: 'While it lacks for nudity and dragons and bloody upheavals, Netflix's new series The Crown makes a solid argument for the exercise of power as the stuff of compelling drama in its own right

'A pricey prestige drama about a British monarch? Should we prepare for an orgy of beheadings, sex scandals and battlefield brutality?' the NY Times asked.

'Well, no; just an orgy of sumptuous scenes and rich performances.

The paper points out that while Claire Foy's Queen-Elizabeth II isn't 'the kind of hard-living, bloodthirsty ruler who makes for frothy television... Netflix, doesn’t try to pretend that she is'.

She’s not exactly the kind of hard-living, bloodthirsty ruler who makes for frothy television, and “The Crown,” a 10-part drama that becomes available Friday on Netflix, doesn’t try to pretend that she is. 

The NY Times: An orgy of sumptuous scenes and rich performances

'This is a thoughtful series that lingers over death rather than using it for shock value; one that finds its story lines in small power struggles rather than gruesome palace coups.'

The Guardian claims the drama 'may not be one to binge-watch quite so rapidly as other Netflix offerings'.

'Crown, state and church favour small, subtle nudges of each other and loaded silences, rather than loaded guns and pile-driver plots, which doesn’t exactly make the pace sluggish, but it does mean that one or two episodes at a time feels plenty. 

But it concludes: 'Netflix can rest assured that its £100m gamble has paid off. This first series, about good old British phlegm from first to last, is the service’s crowning achievement so far. '

The Guardian: 'Netflix can rest assured that its £100m gamble has paid off. This... is the service’s crowning achievement so far'

CNN opined the series 'oozes class' but feared the material might be as restrictive as the source material it portrays.

'To get the obvious out of the way, The Crown is gorgeously produced, impeccably cast and deals with a tantalizing period in British history. It is also grindingly slow, and occasionally feels like it's recycling material previously covered in other movies and miniseries,' it claimed.

'The good outweighs the disclaimers, in a project that oozes class from every pore. The 10-episode series should fill a bit of the void left among those pining for Downton Abbey, even if this is all upstairs, no downstairs, and doesn't attain that level of soapy addictiveness.

Spot on: Just about every review piece lauded the stunning production and the perfect cast, with most praise heaped upon John Lithgow as Winston Churchill

'It's all played with the stiffest of upper lips, which can be somewhat confining, dramatically speaking -- perhaps foremost for Foy, a terrific actress who must convey quite a lot merely with pained expressions. It's so meticulous in replicating the era -- primarily the 1940s and '50s -- as to risk feeling like a museum piece.'

However CNN, as well as just about every other review piece, lauded the stunning production and the perfect cast, with most praise heaped upon John Lithgow as Winston Churchill.

The Crown's entire first season of ten one-hour episodes will stream on Netflix from Friday.

One may binge away: The Crown's entire first season of ten one-hour episodes will stream on Netflix from Friday