Bridgerton on Netflix

HannahLL It did pique my curiosity about Queen Charlotte, so I googled her and found out about her background. Fascinating stuff.

Me too!

I’ve binge watched the whole lot over two days. Loved it although it is Jane Austen without the wit and with lots of sex!
No complaints there but would have liked a sharper dialogue.
It did pique my curiosity about Queen Charlotte, so I googled her and found out about her background. Fascinating stuff.

A ghastly pastiche of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. I lasted until the gratuitous nude sex scene on the sofa. Just awful.

I don't know why the Americans go for such stuff. Have they not heard of Georgette Heyer who pretty much cornered the market in Georgian romances and did it well?
I was amused to hear that they were Stephen Fry's secret weakness.

I wrote my initial post after watching the first episode, but would just like to say that I've changed my mind. It was a bit of frothy escapism, or "TV marshmallow" as Marjgran says.

Makes Sanderton seem nuanced. It is like being smothered in a Barbara Cartland novelette. It is a feast for the eye but not mainly for aesthetic reasons. The fabrics are completely unlikely for the period. The women are all (as usual) woefully coldly underdressed and the men snug. The roads are clean no horse poo or poor folk. In other words pure TV marshmallow, bit like eating Christmas chocolate you know eating yet more cannot be good for you but you do, anyway. Ghastly and compulsive.

The Duke is certainly very easy on the eye-dark and brooding!

Oh, and anyone remember Miss Lambe, the wealthy black heiress in Jane Austen’s Sanditon?

Regency London had between 10,000- 30,000 Black people from the working class to the middle classes and one or two in the aristocracy. Which makes Bridgerton probably a bit more historically accurate than most period dramas!

Given that Queen Charlotte was at least mixed race it really isn’t that anachronistic. The point one of the episodes makes is that it’s an alternate history where people of colour were accepted into high society partly because of that. Of course, Regency London was pretty racially diverse, just for the most part not at the level portrayed in the show.

I love the novels and this was a delightful adaptation!

Watched 3 episodes and think it's great escapism. Even DH is watching with me.

Watching at the moment and loving it. Romance, beautiful young ladies,stunning costumes and smouldering rakish young men!!! What's not to like, everything doesn't have to be perfect to enjoy. Pure escapism just what we need now, well do after my dreadful xmas day.

Surely one of the anomalies is that it’s race-fluid

I got so sick of the old repeats and trash on tv that l decided to rewatch Breaking Bad again. I love a gritty series.

Very twee and too fluffy for my liking. Lacked depth - Barbara Cartland springs to mind. One thing going for it is that Bath as ever is very beautiful. I had a council flat in The Circus in the 70s. If I’m desperate I’ll watch episode 2.

The point is that the series is based on a set of novels written by Julia Quinn. She is American and writes romantic historical novels....hence the anomalies.

Yes, most of the outside shots are of Bath (they managed to cleverly disguise Primark which is in a very distinguished building close to the Pump Room). I shall carry on watching it for Bath and the clothes.

I'd watch a single episode for the costumes .. ?

Jane Austin it ain’t. The dialogue is awful, but the material and clothes are a wonder to behold. Not sure it is worth sticking with though just for the clothes.

Yes I thought it was Bath pretending to be Grovesner Square etc.

Aaaarrrgh! It's gone "all Hollywood" now and is spoilt

We watched a couple of episodes, as expected, a Jane Austen pastiche! Netflix big budget so lovely locations, I imagine a lot of it was filmed in Bath but did spy Hampton Court, a mere trot up the road from us, well for a horse at any rate!

I believe the lead actress is the daughter of Coronation Street's Sally, not that I've watched that in yonks. The leading actor who I've never seen before is devilishly handsome and does justice to his britches or maybe it should be breeches, cos britches sounds too much like bitches although I was drifting off in some of it, he was typical of a male Regency love interest, somewhat aloof, in this case that was cos his dad wasn't nice to him Anyway we all know what'll happen, eventually he'll overcome his inner demons and fall madly in love with Daphne. The end!

JaneandMolly what's the 'obvious anomaly' to which you refer?

I'm trying to find a series to watch, well, for DH to watch really. He really likes (some) period dramas.

Beautiful people in beautiful surroundings, but Jane Austen without the wit.
I found the music extremely irritating. Chopin, Shostakovich? Wasn't the year meant to be 1813?

sparklefizz the 'did nots' instead of 'didn't' etc ie speaking in old fashioned written English. Smacks of writers faking it.

That 'obvious anomaly' is pretty irritating!

I’ve been listening to the series on audiobooks for a while now.
So far, I’m enjoying the Netflix version, even with the most obvious anomaly. Love the costumes.