I am not typically one for period dramas. I often find the petty troubles of the social elite tediously trivial, and the day to day lives of those who serve them unfathomably dull. However occasionally one will come around and pique my interest, usually because it approaches the period drama from a different angle, and Netflix’s Bridgerton is one such case.
It is the start of the courting season in nineteenth century London. It is the time of year when debutantes are shown off to the rest of society as they have reached an age appropriate for marriage. Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) is one such debutante who is vying for the Queen’s title of the season’s ‘incomparable’, giving her a significant advantage over the other young ladies who are all vying for the wealthiest, or highest ranking husband they can get.
Simon Basset (Rege-Jean Page), the Duke of Hastings, makes his return to London during this season to set some of his affairs in order. He wishes to remain a bachelor for the rest of his days, but when approached by Daphne with an offer that is difficult to refuse, the two begin to court under the guise of potentially leading to romance. But when scandal brews and a new exposer of secrets emerges under the pen name of Lady Whistledown (Julie Andrews), Miss Bridgerton and the Duke are forced to make commitments neither of them expected for fear of dishonour.
Meanwhile the Featherington family welcomes in Marina Thompson (Ruby Barker), a distant cousin of Baron Featherington (Ben Miller). Miss Thompson becomes the object of desire for many young men, though she conceals a secret that could not only ruin her, but also the Featherington name and the family that welcomed her into their home.
The moment to moment story of Bridgerton is almost exactly what you would expect. There certainly are a lot of petty troubles for those in high society, but what Bridgerton does very well is adding this element of ever-present danger in the form of Lady Whistledown. Her identity is kept a secret, and as such every conversation that takes place and every scandalous move the characters make can cause their delicate house of cards to come crashing down around them. This in turn could affect more than just themselves and puts entire bloodlines in jeopardy simply because someone did something improper. This domino effect is what keeps the show truly interesting. It’s Gossip Girl meets Pride and Prejudice, and I would be lying if I didn’t admit I did find it quite thrilling at times.
The show plays fast and loose with historical accuracies, the most obvious alteration is that of high-ranking individuals, such as the Queen herself, not being white. Quite a few of the high-ranking individuals in Bridgerton belong to ethnic groups that at the time would not have had any wealth or power. I’ve seen a lot of negative reactions to this online citing historical inaccuracies as an excuse for blatant racism, but in actuality Bridgerton’s utilisation of non-white acting talent to me is intended as a reflection of today’s societal diversities. This is only echoed further in other aspects of Bridgerton’s production.
It is the start of the courting season in nineteenth century London. It is the time of year when debutantes are shown off to the rest of society as they have reached an age appropriate for marriage. Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) is one such debutante who is vying for the Queen’s title of the season’s ‘incomparable’, giving her a significant advantage over the other young ladies who are all vying for the wealthiest, or highest ranking husband they can get.
Simon Basset (Rege-Jean Page), the Duke of Hastings, makes his return to London during this season to set some of his affairs in order. He wishes to remain a bachelor for the rest of his days, but when approached by Daphne with an offer that is difficult to refuse, the two begin to court under the guise of potentially leading to romance. But when scandal brews and a new exposer of secrets emerges under the pen name of Lady Whistledown (Julie Andrews), Miss Bridgerton and the Duke are forced to make commitments neither of them expected for fear of dishonour.
Meanwhile the Featherington family welcomes in Marina Thompson (Ruby Barker), a distant cousin of Baron Featherington (Ben Miller). Miss Thompson becomes the object of desire for many young men, though she conceals a secret that could not only ruin her, but also the Featherington name and the family that welcomed her into their home.
The moment to moment story of Bridgerton is almost exactly what you would expect. There certainly are a lot of petty troubles for those in high society, but what Bridgerton does very well is adding this element of ever-present danger in the form of Lady Whistledown. Her identity is kept a secret, and as such every conversation that takes place and every scandalous move the characters make can cause their delicate house of cards to come crashing down around them. This in turn could affect more than just themselves and puts entire bloodlines in jeopardy simply because someone did something improper. This domino effect is what keeps the show truly interesting. It’s Gossip Girl meets Pride and Prejudice, and I would be lying if I didn’t admit I did find it quite thrilling at times.
The show plays fast and loose with historical accuracies, the most obvious alteration is that of high-ranking individuals, such as the Queen herself, not being white. Quite a few of the high-ranking individuals in Bridgerton belong to ethnic groups that at the time would not have had any wealth or power. I’ve seen a lot of negative reactions to this online citing historical inaccuracies as an excuse for blatant racism, but in actuality Bridgerton’s utilisation of non-white acting talent to me is intended as a reflection of today’s societal diversities. This is only echoed further in other aspects of Bridgerton’s production.
The music is perhaps the next most obvious example. Much of the music you will hear throughout your time with the show will be modern pop songs presented in a classical manner. You’ll hear chart toppers like Ariana Grande’s ‘Thank You, Next’, Maroon 5’s ‘Girl Like You’, and Billie Eilish’s ‘Bad Guy’. It’s not always immediately obvious either which is nice. You’ll enter a ball scene and be so engaged with the conversation that’s happening that it takes you a short while to realise you’re bopping along to the orchestra because your favourite tune is playing.
A third and final thing I noticed which most period dramas I have seen do not address is opinions on the role of women. All the ladies in the series are very vocal with each other that the societal expectations for women are outdated and must begin to change. Even some of the men in the series are looking at what role women play and the societal norms and questioning why it is like that because it seems barbaric at times. The most notable moment of this is when a male declines dowry money from the ladies family as he doesn’t understand the practice of paying a man to marry a women and instead wishes it to be donated to a charity of the bride’s choosing if the family insist on parting with the money. Whilst much of this social commentary is outdated in terms of todays societal norms, it is refreshing to see a period drama address that so many of the social norms at the time were wrong. Hopefully, it will allow us to continue shining a lens on our own social practices to highlight more problematic things we can progress from.
One issue I do have with the series is that it does take a little while to get going. The first three episodes set the stage for the following five where the meat of the story developments happen. Considering each episode is an hour long that’s a long time of setup and it can be somewhat droll when its handling the secondary plotlines. Thankfully, these do pay off well in the later episodes, but it’s a slow start for sure.
Secondly the camera is clearly being held most of the time because it is really wobbly , but the way it’s been edited has been done in a way to try and stabilise the image around the characters in focus. So, what you get often is some wobbly backgrounds that made me feel a little ill at times. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it’s most noticeable when two characters are speaking to each other in the same frame and particularly indoors.
I also feel slightly misled. I was informed by countless news articles and posts on social media that Bridgerton was crammed full of raunchy sex scenes. But over the eight episodes there were only a few instances where it happened, and they weren’t even as explicit as say Game of Thrones. I believe it was episode four that had the most sex in it but even then, much of it was just seeing the occasional bare bum and some heavy panting. If you’re going in for the sex prepare to be disappointed!
I’m still not a period drama convert, but I did have a good time with Bridgerton. I eagerly await the next season (and based on the fact that the book series it is based on has eight entries I’m sure it’s going to be around for a while), and though the ending to season one feels like it closes a lot of storylines off I have a feeling they are going to re-emerge in one way or another.
Bridgerton does a lot of things right, and whilst it can certainly improve in some key areas, overall it’s a very enjoyable show even if you’re not a massive fan of period dramas.
A third and final thing I noticed which most period dramas I have seen do not address is opinions on the role of women. All the ladies in the series are very vocal with each other that the societal expectations for women are outdated and must begin to change. Even some of the men in the series are looking at what role women play and the societal norms and questioning why it is like that because it seems barbaric at times. The most notable moment of this is when a male declines dowry money from the ladies family as he doesn’t understand the practice of paying a man to marry a women and instead wishes it to be donated to a charity of the bride’s choosing if the family insist on parting with the money. Whilst much of this social commentary is outdated in terms of todays societal norms, it is refreshing to see a period drama address that so many of the social norms at the time were wrong. Hopefully, it will allow us to continue shining a lens on our own social practices to highlight more problematic things we can progress from.
One issue I do have with the series is that it does take a little while to get going. The first three episodes set the stage for the following five where the meat of the story developments happen. Considering each episode is an hour long that’s a long time of setup and it can be somewhat droll when its handling the secondary plotlines. Thankfully, these do pay off well in the later episodes, but it’s a slow start for sure.
Secondly the camera is clearly being held most of the time because it is really wobbly , but the way it’s been edited has been done in a way to try and stabilise the image around the characters in focus. So, what you get often is some wobbly backgrounds that made me feel a little ill at times. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it’s most noticeable when two characters are speaking to each other in the same frame and particularly indoors.
I also feel slightly misled. I was informed by countless news articles and posts on social media that Bridgerton was crammed full of raunchy sex scenes. But over the eight episodes there were only a few instances where it happened, and they weren’t even as explicit as say Game of Thrones. I believe it was episode four that had the most sex in it but even then, much of it was just seeing the occasional bare bum and some heavy panting. If you’re going in for the sex prepare to be disappointed!
I’m still not a period drama convert, but I did have a good time with Bridgerton. I eagerly await the next season (and based on the fact that the book series it is based on has eight entries I’m sure it’s going to be around for a while), and though the ending to season one feels like it closes a lot of storylines off I have a feeling they are going to re-emerge in one way or another.
Bridgerton does a lot of things right, and whilst it can certainly improve in some key areas, overall it’s a very enjoyable show even if you’re not a massive fan of period dramas.