Period dramas are an established part of British culture. We have the works of long dead authors like Jane Austen and Charles Dickens to draw from. Not to mention abundant stately homes, green and rolling hills and a sizeable pool of classically trained luvvies.
That being said, period dramas have a reputation for being a bit formulaic and stuffy. Julian Fellows rebooted the period drama to great commercial success with Downtown Abbey. Netflix have taken the period drama reboot to another level with Bridgerton.
It’s fair to say that we now have period drama before Bridgerton and period drama after Bridgerton. It makes for the perfect, family-friendly Christmas and New Year viewing. Oh, and it’s narrated by Julie Andrews in full grand dame mode. She plays Lady Whistledown, a gossipy society columnist.
Bridgerton is set in the Regency era. It’s based on the romantic novels of Julia Quinn. The story centers around the marriage market Jane Austen chronicled to such great effect in her novels. Noble families are frantically seeking matches for their daughters. Naturally, there are conflicts between making the right marriage and marrying for love. The girls are doing everything they can to avoid spinsterhood – essentially being consigned to the scrapheap. This was the way of polite society at the time.
The story is full of cliches and considerable liberties are taken with the historical facts. The conflict between drama and historical truth has raged a lot this year with the fourth season of The Crown. The facts don’t really matter when the drama is so brash and shiny. Bridgerton is more faithful to the conventions of period drama than history. It’s enjoyable froth and there’s nothing wrong with that.
So, how innovative is Bridgerton? In terms of budget it blows the BBC’s famed period dramas out of the water. The dialogue is sparky and suspiciously modernised. There’s far more drama scene by scene than you’d expect from a period drama. Attention spans have declined with the advent of the smartphone. Bridgerton drags the period drama – kicking and screaming – into the 21st-century.
It may lack the savage bite of Jane Austen’s satire, but so do many of the famed TV adaptions of her books. Bridgerton is more focused on being sexy and energetic than satirical.
All period dramas that follow will be made in the shadow of Bridgerton. It’s silly but it’s very entertaining. This is likely to be the best escapist drama you’ll see all year. Check it out on Netflix
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