For the last like 10 to 15 years of network drama, one name reigns supreme: Shonda. You probably know Shonda Rimes if you’ve ever wept along with Grey’s Anatomy or gasped at the latest shocking twist in How To Get Away With Murder, but now the celebrated show-runner has made the move to Netflix.
Bridgerton is her production company Shondaland’s first Netflix release, and it looks totally worthy of the love and attention lavished on those previous shows.
Created by Chris Van Dusen, Bridgerton is an eight-part adaptation of the beloved series of novels, focusing on the eight siblings of the illustrious Bridgerton family as they seek love and fortune in Regency-era London.
You’ll want to set aside some time on Christmas day to binge the show on Netflix: all eight one-hour episodes arrive on December 25.
The trailer looks like a bodice-ripping good time, almost luxuriating in the very tropes of saucy historical drama itself with its knowing scenes of brutal corset-tightening and dashing suitors. Check it out below, but don’t blame us if you start talking with an annoying plummy accent for the rest of the day.
One other cool thing about Bridgerton is its proudly diverse cast, especially in a typically snow-white genre. Zimbabwean-British hunk Regé-Jean Page plays the rebellious love interest Duke of Hastings, alongside talent from the US and UK.
Most notably? Dame Freaking Julie Andrews voices the Gossip Girl-esque Lady Whistledown, a mysterious ‘scandal sheet’ personality whose narrations of high-society rumours will throw the Bridgerton family into turmoil.
