Bridgerton Review 2020 Tv Show Series Season Cast Crew Online

Creator: Chris Van Dusen

Stars: Adjoa Andoh, Julie Andrews, Jonathan Bailey

[Editor’s Note: Mild spoilers follow for the Bridgerton series of novels, and this post was first published on October 23, 2019.]

“Grey’s Anatomy.” “Scandal.” “How to Get Away with Murder.” “Private Practice.” “Station 19.” Is there a showrunner with a higher batting average than Shonda Rhimes? I don’t think so. That’s why her 2017 deal with Netflix — reportedly for $150 million dollars— created shockwaves after she was safely cocooned at ABC for over a decade. Rhimes, the highest-paid showrunner in television, knows what audiences want and offers the dream combination of attributes as she brings stories to screen: She’s both brilliantly creative and prolific.

As her “How to Get Away with Murder” is filming its final episodes for its finale in May, Rhimes’ empire is expanding. Her first show for Netflix is “Bridgerton,” and it made IndieWire’s list of most anticipated TV shows of 2020. And now, after a number of social media teases, we have a release date: December 25, 2020.

The first teaser for the show dropped on Nov. 2 and certainly did plenty to whet appetites. With Julie Andrews voicing our Regency-era Gossip Girl narrator, audiences were able to get their first glimpse at the bright and brilliant world Shondaland has created. The colorblind casting is absolutely amazing to see — but it’s coupled with some breathtaking party sequences complete with aerialists, fireworks, and plenty of dancing. Oh, and did we mention sex? Yep, the teaser certainly emphasized that this is Netflix, people, and these characters may be wearing layers of fabric but they’ll be getting down and dirty.

It’s at the same time a safe choice for the streamer — something that is based on existing and beloved book series — and innovative, featuring a race-blind cast in a romance set during England’s early 1800s Regency period. While official details have been few and far between from Netflix, some careful Instagram sleuthing has revealed a trove of key details about the production.

As of early March, production has officially wrapped, and, frankly the wrap party looks like it was a hell of a time. Several of the cast and crew posted heartfelt tributes to their time on set, including Phoebe Dynevor, who wrote on Instagram “love you all you ridiculously marvellous humans.” Bessie Carter lovingly described it as “what a madness” and Nicola Coughlan cheered “high five if you finished filming Bridgerton Series One.” (Is that….a hint or a wish for Season 2? We shall see.”

Now that filming is in the can and it’s up to the gods in post production to make the finishing touches on the show, here’s everything you need to know about “Bridgerton”, including several first look photos released by Netflix:

“Bridgerton” is based on a series of historical romance novels written by Julia Quinn. Quinn is a big, big deal in the romance community: Her sharp comedies of manners have led her to be compared to her heroine, Jane Austen; she’s one of only 16 authors inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame; her books have sold 10 millions of copies in the U.S. alone; and they’ve been translated into 32 languages. The first book in the “Bridgerton” series was published in 2000 and by 2006 the eighth and final book in the series was published, although there have been compilations of various epilogues and novellas to the initial books that add to that total. The first in the series, “The Duke and I,” celebrated its 20th anniversary of publishing on Jan. 5.

As filming goes on, she’s been posting some fun photos from set, including one with star Jonathan Bailey.

The Bridgerton series focuses on the romantic entanglements of the eight — yep, you get it now — Bridgerton children: Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory, and Hyacinth. They are an immense, well-off, smart-mouthed, profoundly well-intentioned family with residences in London and others scattered around the English countryside. They also share an unerring sense of falling in love with people who are…complex, like Duke Simon Basset, played by Regé-Jean Page, above. (For some behind-the-scenes shots of “Bridgerton” while filming, check out his Instagram @RegeJean.) Their antics are overseen and judged by the straitlaced ton, the social circle of debutantes and desperate mothers looking to make good (read: wealthy) matches for their offspring. The whole mix of honorable and catty in the milieu is very, very Shonda.

Well, good news: Shondaland has aggregated every actor you’ve ever liked in a small role and elevated them to a lead, put them in glorious costumes and filmed them in some of the most scenic parts of England, like Bath. Dr. Hannah Greig, senior lecturer in early modern history from the University of York, is serving as a consultant on “Bridgerton” to ensure all the Regency-era details are accurate. If there is one show next year that is going to push costume drama glam and production design to the max and make stars out of its cast, it is this one.