Bridgerton

Bridgerton is an American streaming television period drama series created by Chris Van Dusen and produced by Shonda Rhimes. It is based on Julia Quinn's novels set in the competitive world of Regency era London's ton during the season, when debutantes are presented at court. It is Rhimes's first scripted Netflix series.

Bridgerton's first season debuted on Netflix on December 25, 2020 to positive reviews, with a viewership of 82 million households, it became the most-watched series on Netflix at the time of its premiere, and remains the second most-watched series by total watch time on the platform. The second season debuted on March 25, 2022 and reached number one in 92 countries amassing 193 million hours of viewing time in its premiere weekend, the highest for any English-language Netflix series in its first three days. It also recorded 251.7 million hours of viewing time the following week, breaking the streamers record for the most viewed English-language TV series.

In April 2021, it was announced the series had been renewed for a third and fourth season.

Premise
Set against the backdrop of Regency era London, the Bridgerton siblings – Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory and Hyacinth – navigate the London society in search of love, surrounded by friends and rivals alike. Each episode includes narration by actress Dame Julie Andrews, who voices the anonymous and ever-scandalous newsletter columnist known as Lady Whistledown, who possesses knowledge of all the information in London, drawing everyone's interest, even Queen Charlotte.

Unlike the series of novels, Bridgerton is set in an alternate history with a racially integrated London where people of color are members of the ton, some with titles granted by the sovereign. Creator Chris Van Dusen was inspired by historical debate over the 1940s African ancestry claims of Queen Charlotte "...to base the show in an alternative history in which Queen Charlotte's mixed race heritage was not only well-established but was transformative for Black people and other people of color in England." Van Dusen says the series is not "color-blind" because "that would imply that color and race were never considered, when color and race are part of the show."

Main

 * Adjoa Andoh as Lady Danbury, a sharp-tongued, insightful doyenne of London society
 * Lorraine Ashbourne as Mrs. Varley, the Featheringtons' housekeeper
 * Jonathan Bailey as Anthony, Viscount Bridgerton, the eldest Bridgerton son and head of the family
 * Ruby Barker as Lady Marina Crane (née Thompson) (season 1; guest season 2), a Featherington cousin from a rural gentry family
 * Sabrina Bartlett as Siena Rosso (season 1), an opera singer and Anthony's lover
 * Harriet Cains as Philippa Finch (née Featherington), the middle Featherington daughter
 * Bessie Carter as Prudence Featherington, the eldest Featherington daughter
 * Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington, the youngest Featherington daughter and close friend of Eloise Bridgerton
 * Phoebe Dynevor as Daphne Basset, Duchess of Hastings (née Bridgerton), the fourth Bridgerton child and eldest daughter
 * Ruth Gemmell as Violet, Dowager Viscountess Bridgerton, mother of the Bridgerton children
 * Florence Hunt as Hyacinth Bridgerton, the eighth and youngest Bridgerton child
 * Claudia Jessie as Eloise Bridgerton, the fifth Bridgerton child and second daughter
 * Ben Miller as Archibald, Baron Featherington (season 1), the patriarch of the Featherington family
 * Luke Newton as Colin Bridgerton, the third Bridgerton son
 * Regé-Jean Page as Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings (season 1), one of London's most eligible bachelors who famously refuses to marry
 * Golda Rosheuvel as Queen Charlotte, the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
 * Luke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton, the second Bridgerton son and an artist
 * Will Tilston as Gregory Bridgerton, the seventh Bridgerton child and youngest son
 * Polly Walker as Portia, Baroness Featherington, the matriarch of the Featherington family
 * Dame Julie Andrews as the voice of Lady Whistledown, the author of a scandalous society newsletter
 * Simone Ashley as Kathani "Kate", Viscountess Bridgerton (née Sharma) (season 2)
 * Charithra Chandran as Edwina Sharma (season 2)
 * Shelley Conn as Lady Mary Sheffield Sharma (season 2)
 * Rupert Young as Lord Jack Featherington (season 2)
 * Martins Imhangbe as Will Mondrich (season 2; recurring season 1), a boxer and confidant of the Duke of Hastings based on the real-life Bill Richmond
 * Calam Lynch as Theo Sharpe (season 2), a worker at the print shop where Lady Whistledown is published, as well as an ally-turned-love interest of Eloise

Recurring

 * Ruby Stokes as Francesca Bridgerton, the sixth Bridgerton child and third daughter.
 * Molly McGlynn as Rose Nolan, Daphne's loyal maid and confidant
 * Joanna Bobin as Lady Cowper, Cressida's mother
 * Jessica Madsen as Cressida Cowper, a rival debutante
 * Jason Barnett as Jeffries, the Basset butler
 * Hugh Sachs as Brimsley, the Queen's gossip-mongering secretary
 * Geraldine Alexander as Mrs. Wilson, the Bridgerton housekeeper
 * Kathryn Drysdale as Genevieve Delacroix, a high society modiste (dressmaker)
 * Simon Ludders as Humboldt, a Bridgerton footman.
 * Julian Ovenden as Sir Henry Granville, an artist who befriends Benedict.

Guest

 * Jamie Beamish as Nigel, Lord Berbrooke, a suitor of Daphne
 * Caroline Quentin as Lady Berbrooke, mother of Nigel
 * Simon Lennon as Lord Ambrose
 * Freddie Stroma as Prince Frederick of Prussia, the Queen's grandnephew.
 * Amy Beth Hayes as Lady Trowbridge, the hedonistic widow of an earl
 * James Fleet as King George III, the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
 * Georgia Burnell as Celia, lady's maid to Lady Berbrooke
 * Céline Buckens as Kitty Langham, a general's wife
 * Chris Fulton as Sir Phillip Crane, a baronet
 * Oscar Coleman as 4-year-old Simon
 * Cairo Eusebe as 6-year-old Simon
 * Lucas Booth-Clibborn as 11-year-old Simon
 * Lynette Clarke as Simon's nurse
 * Daphne Di Cinto as Sarah Basset, Duchess of Hastings, Simon's mother
 * Richard Pepple as Duke of Hastings, Simon's father
 * Pippa Haywood as Mrs. Colson, housekeeper at the Hastings' country estate
 * Emma Naomi as Alice Mondrich, Will Mondrich's wife
 * Anthony Head as Lord Sheffield, Lady Mary's father
 * Shobu Kapoor as Lady Sheffield, Lady Mary's mother
 * Rupert Evans as Viscount Edmund Bridgerton

Development
On July 20, 2018, Netflix announced that Shonda Rhimes would produce the Bridgerton series based on Julia Quinn's bestselling novels, while Chris Van Dusen would be showrunner. Quinn explained on The Tamron Hall Show that when she heard from her agent that Rhimes was interested in adapting her novels, she "almost fell off of [her] stool", and quickly agreed to the offer. On June 19, 2019, Julie Andrews was cast as Lady Whistledown, whose voice-overs explain much of the series' action. Van Dusen said in a Shondaland article: "I think [period shows] are considered a bit traditional and conservative. With Bridgerton, I wanted to take everything I loved about a period show and turn it into something fresh, topical, and relatable." On January 21, 2021, Netflix renewed the series for a second season. On April 13, 2021, creator Van Dusen revealed on Twitter that the series had additionally been renewed for a third and fourth season. On May 14, 2021, it was announced that Jess Brownell would be serving as writer and showrunner for the third and fourth seasons, replacing Van Dusen.

Casting
On July 10, 2019, it was announced that Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page would play leads, while Jonathan Bailey, Golda Rosheuvel, Luke Newton, Claudia Jessie, Nicola Coughlan, Ruby Barker, Sabrina Bartlett, Ruth Gemmell, Adjoa Andoh and Polly Walker were cast in as regulars.

On February 15, 2021, it was announced that Simone Ashley had been cast as Kate Sharma, the female lead for season 2. On April 5, 2021, Charithra Chandran then joined the cast as her sister Edwina in addition to Rupert Young, who is set to play a new character. The same day, Shelley Conn was cast as Kate and Edwina's mother Mary, and Calam Lynch was cast as Theo Sharpe for the second season. On May 28, 2021, Rupert Evans joined the cast as Edmund Bridgerton, the patriarch of the Bridgerton family for the second season.

Filming
Principal photography commenced in July 2019 and wrapped in late February 2020. Bridgerton was filmed in London and Bath, as well as at various estates and parks around England. Although the series takes place in London, most street scenes were filmed in Bath, York, and Chatham. The grounds of Wilton House were used for Hyde Park and the grounds of Somerley were used for Hampstead Heath. Garden scenes were filmed at Painshill near Cobham and the Commissioner's House in Chatham.

Filming locations included Ranger's House in Greenwich (standing in for the Bridgerton House exterior); Halton House at RAF Halton (Bridgerton House interior, Featheringtons' interior); Wilton House (Simon's Hastings House, Clyvedon estate interior, throne room); Syon House and Badminton House (Hastings House); Castle Howard (Clyvedon estate); Coneysthorpe (Clyvedon village); Hampton Court Palace and Lancaster House (St. James's Palace); Holburne Museum (Lady Danbury's estate); Hatfield House (Featheringtons' interior); No. 1 Royal Crescent (Grosvenor Square); Queen's House and Somerley (Somerset House); and Dorney Court (coaching inn).

Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens no longer exists in its entirety. The production team recreated it for Lady Danbury's ball by combining the remaining parts with Castle Howard and Stowe Park. The banqueting room at the Guildhall, Bath was used for another ball as well as the Great Hall at Leigh Court in Somerset.

Anthony Bridgerton and Simon Basset meet in the real life Reform Club on Pall Mall in central London. The scene in which Lady Featherington takes Marina to the slums was filmed at Chatham Dockyard in Kent. Boxing scenes were also filmed here in addition to Normansfield Theatre in Teddington. Theatre scenes were filmed at the Hackney Empire. A café in Bath, Pickled Greens, was used as the site of the Modiste shop and the Bathrooms at No.5 store on Trim Street became the site of Gunter's Tea Shop.

The costuming was led by Ellen Mirojnick and involved over two hundred people and five months of preparation to create 5,000 costumes.

Production on the second season began in March 2021. In May 2021, it was reported that the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead have refused permission to build a film set for the second season in Sunninghill Park near Windsor, despite royal approval. On July 15, 2021, production on the second season was paused for 24 hours when a crew member tested positive for COVID-19, but resumed the following day. However, on July 17, production was halted indefinitely following a second positive test. Production resumed in August 2021. Production for the second season wrapped on November 20, 2021.

New filming locations for season 2 included Wrotham Park (standing in for the Bridgertons' country home Aubrey Hall); West Wycombe Park (Aubrey Hall interior and the Crane estate); Wrest Park (the Orangerie); the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club (Royal Ascot); Old Royal Naval College; Windsor Great Park; and Ivinghoe Beacon.

Music
American composer and pianist Kris Bowers composed and arranged the score for the series. Bowers wrote and composed the first season's soundtrack, featuring nineteen songs. Musicians recorded the score remotely from their home studios during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first season featured orchestral covers of contemporary popular music, which director and executive producer Julie Anne Robinson said was inspired by the use of classic rock songs in the 2001 film A Knight's Tale. Songs featured included Ariana Grande's "Thank U, Next", Maroon 5's "Girls Like You", Shawn Mendes's "In My Blood" and Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy", all four of which performed by Vitamin String Quartet. Also included are Celeste's "Strange" performed by Bowers, and Taylor Swift's "Wildest Dreams" performed by Duomo. Bowers also included modern interpretations of classical music, such as Bach's Cello Suite No. 6 in D major from Peter Gregson's Recomposed by Peter Gregson: Bach – The Cello Suites and Vivaldi's The Four Seasons from Max Richter's Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons. The first season also included JPOLND's "The End" which has a "swingy melody but intense lyrics".

Release
Bridgerton was released on December 25, 2020. The teaser and promotional posters were released in the months prior. The second season was released on March 25, 2022.

A preview of a scene from season 2 aired during Netflix's September 2021 TUDUM: Extended Talent Panel. This was followed by first look stills. On February 14, 2022, the first teaser trailer for the second season was released.

Historical accuracy
Chris Van Dusen has said that the show "is a reimagined world, we're not a history lesson, it's not a documentary. What we're really doing with the show is marrying history and fantasy in what I think is a very exciting way. One approach that we took to that is our approach to race." The aristocratic Bridgerton family, Lady Whistledown and most of the other characters in the show are fictional.

The theory that Queen Charlotte may have had African ancestry has been called an unhistorical assertion by most scholars. In an interview with Insider magazine, American historian Marlene Koenig said the show's representation of Regency-era London was more diverse than it was in reality, adding that "diversity as we know what the word means did not exist" in Britain during that period. Some classical music pieces used in the first season were composed later than 1813, the year of the first season. Examples include Dmitri Shostakovich's Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 2, which was written in 1938 and "Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour" from Jacques Offenbach's 1881 opera The Tales of Hoffmann.

Prequel series
In May 2021, Netflix ordered a limited prequel series from Shonda Rhimes, which will focus on the rise and love life of a young Queen Charlotte. Rhimes will write the series and serve as executive producer alongside Betsy Beers and Tom Verica. Rosheuvel, Andoh, Gemmell, and Fleet were confirmed to be reprising their roles, while India Amarteifio, Michelle Fairley, Corey Mylchreest, and Arsema Thoma were cast in the series. In April 2022, it was reported that production designer Dave Arrowsmith has been fired from the series amid claims of abusive behavior and bullying on set.

Critical response
For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 87% based on 97 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Sumptuous design, soapy drama, and a sterling cast make Bridgerton a delightful treat." Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 based on 34 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

Kristen Baldwin of Entertainment Weekly gave the series a B+ and wrote, "Bridgerton, it seems, is a wonderful diversion for those who love Pride & Prejudice but wish it had more stairway sex." Richard Roeper of Chicago Sun-Times gave the series four out of four stars and called it "A show that will give you that unmistakable binge twinge and have you activating that "Next Episode" time and again, until there are no more "Next Episodes"." British GQ described Bridgerton as a cross between Downton Abbey and Gossip Girl, but noted that it "may just end up being another disappointment" and "it could have been brilliant." Salamishah Tillet of The New York Times said "Bridgerton provides a blueprint for British period shows in which Black characters can thrive within the melodramatic story lines, extravagant costumes and bucolic beauty [...] without having to be servants or enslaved." Erum Salam of Cosmopolitan wrote "I kept wanting more. I wanted more explanations of how race factored into this society..." Carolyn Hinds from The Observer stated "Bridgerton has been praised as a racially diverse show set in the Regency Era". Vanity Fair Caroline Framke describes the sex in the series "isn't altogether shocking material for Shondaland to mine for its first drama series absent broadcast restraints."

The first season's 6th episode drew criticism with regards to the non-consensual nature of Simon and Daphne's lovemaking which amounted to marital rape. The episode depicted Daphne, while having sex with Simon, changed her position to be on top, not letting Simon to pull out of her when he climaxes despite his objections. Described as one of the toxic plot points of their relationship, it further drew scrutiny due to the fact that the deceit was never addressed as sexual assault in the series. Critics pointed out that it failed to acknowledge the difficulties of male victims of rape, and the further fetishisation of black men in media.

For the second season, Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 79% based on 76 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critics consensus states, "The risqué thrill may have faded, but Bridgerton remains a compulsive episode-turner in this delightful sophomore season." Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 70 out of 100 based on 32 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

Audience viewership
On January 27, 2021, Netflix announced that 82 million households had watched the series in its first 28 days of availability, significantly higher than its January 4 projection of 63 million. It was the most-watched original series launch on the service at the time of its premiere,  prior to being surpassed by Squid Game in October 2021.

Season 2 amassed 193 million viewing hours in its opening weekend, the highest opening for any English-language Netflix series. It then broke another record for most viewed English-language series in a single week, with 251.74 million viewing hours from March 28 to April 3. The first season also re-entered Netflix's top ten in second place.

Impact and fandom
Fashion and interior design trends influenced or made popular by the series have been dubbed "Regencycore" or "the Bridgerton effect". Lyst reported an increase in searches for the likes corsets, headpieces, and elbow-length gloves after the series' premiere. The series' female leads Daphne and Kate were also linked to a popularity in the colours sky blue and lilac respectively.

To ring in the second season, an official "Queen's Ball" was held in Washington DC, Chicago, Montréal, and Los Angeles, with similar events and experiences taking place in London and Johannesburg. Bloomingdale's put together a Bridgerton-themed pop-up collection and tea bar, displaying real costumes from the series in the U.S. for the first time in its 59th Street windows. Castle Howard is hosting an exhibition for the series on location beginning in May 2022.

After season 2 featured the main characters playing Pall-mall, a lawn game considered to be the precursor to croquet, retailer John Lewis reported a 90% rise in sales for croquet sets.