High society drama you can viscount on
IT WAS the sumptuous and raunchy hit of lockdown, a glossy Downton-esque period drama that captured our imaginations.
Now it’s back with eight more episodes of romance, sex, spats and scandals.
The brooding Duke, played by Rege-Jean Page (the reason most people watched), is sadly absent, but do not fear – there’s plenty more to feast your eyes on.
This season follows Lord Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey), the eldest Bridgerton sibling and Viscount, as he sets out to find a suitable wife.
He’s driven only by his duty to uphold the family name, but has impossible standards.
He says: “I do not need feeling. What I need is what I have, and that is a list: tolerable, dutiful, suitable enough hips for childbearing and at least half a brain.”
Wow, the ladies really will swoon when they hear that speech...
He then proceeds to work his way through the young ladies in a posh, bonnet and corset speed dating scenario. Of course, in a tale as old as time, there’s a mystery woman who catches his eye – and has no interest in him whatsoever.
Kate (Simone Ashley) and her younger sister Edwina (Charithra Chandran) Sharma have arrived from India.
Kate’s plan is to find a love match for Edwina, not herself.
It’s all about to get extremely complicated.
Meanwhile, Penelope (Nicola Coughlan), having been revealed to us as the anonymous local gossip Lady Whistledown (still voiced by Julie Andrews, thank God), must sneak around to continue her newsletters.
Also starring Adjoa Andoh, Harriet Cains, Shelley Conn, Polly Walker and Golda Rosheuvel, this is a second outing that won’t disappoint.