The second season of Bridgerton, a Regency romance based on Quinn’s best-selling novels, premiered on March 25.
The Bridgerton family plays a game of Pall Mall in the second season of Bridgerton. Liam Daniel / Netflix
When Bridgerton made its Netflix debut in 2020, it challenged audiences to rethink their visions of Regency England. Between the show’s color-conscious casting, female sex scenes, and searing central romance, many viewers had never seen a TV show, let alone a historical play as it was.
Hence Bridgerton’s dominance as Netflix’s most-watched show in the weeks following its premiere; A record-breaking 82 million homes worldwide streamed the series in its first month on the platform (“Squid Game” later took the top spot).
The Shondaland series was such a hit with audiences that Netflix has renewed it for its fourth season and announced a spin-off after Queen Charlotte’s accession to the throne.
While the Bridgerton world was a revelation to so many, the framework behind it has been around for decades and is set in Julia Quinn’s best-selling romance novels.
The first season is based on the author’s 2000 novel The Duke and I, and the second season, which premiered March 25, continues on The Viscount Who Loved Me, which premiered in the same year bookshelves came.
Series creator Chris Van Dusen stayed more or less true to Quinn’s romance between enemies and lovers while crafting his eight new episodes, but not everything from the pages made it to the big screen.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Bridgerton Season 2.