Bridgerton is back for another outrageous breech of the peace
Hold on to your breeches, gentle reader – Bridgerton is back for its third series and it’s as sumptuous, saucy and as beautifully shot as ever.
But three series in, we’re no longer shocked by the raunchy goings-on in the four poster beds – and indeed the carriages – of the well-heeled residents of the Bridgerton universe.
It’s teetering on the brink. The show is in danger of becoming a cult hit; everyone knows what it’s about and while fans will eagerly lap up the action, it’s a bit of a busted flush in other respects.
There’s only so many boudoir scenes and bare bums a viewer can take before it all becomes run of the mill.
Heaving bosoms and ripping bodices? Meh. Easy-on-the eye dukes striding manfully around in tight breeches and riding boots? Standard (although if they weren’t there, we’d definitely miss them).
We no longer bat an eyelid at a multicultural cast; we don’t even gaze in wonder at Queen Charlotte’s frankly outrageous wigs.
So just what will the creators do to keep our attention – other than perhaps a diamondencrusted pineapple presented to the Queen in episode one?
Turns out the answer is a fairly simple one: Some absolutely top-notch acting.
Take a bow Nicola Coughlan as our leading lady for season three Penelope Featherington.
Penelope is 19 and is worried about her position in the marriage mart, having been in society for three years already.
It’s no huge surprise she has so far failed to snag a husband; she carries a torch the size of the South Stack lighthouse for Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), brother of her former bestie Eloise.
As Penelope stayed at home to pine, Colin has been off on this travels, and it’s been a revelation. Gone is the weedy, awkward Rick Astley lookalike and is his place is a beefed up version who’s not afraid to turn on the charm for the ladies.
So much so that it’s a wonder none of them threw up into his top hat; some of his lines are fairly awful but it doesn’t seem to matter to these doe-eyed fanwaving fanatics.
Yet there’s a subtle shift in the dynamic between the two. Penelope’s self-esteem is so low she doesn’t think she can compete with the glamorous ladies of Paris, let alone some of the hatchet-faced debutantes in Mayfair.
So she does what any girl would do – gets herself a new wardrobe and asks Colin to give her charm lessons with the aim of snagging herself a fella. If it can’t be the man himself, surely there must be someone out there she doesn’t want to throttle with his own cravat.
The show takes aim at the cattle market – sorry, marriage market – that means poor Pen feels like a spinster at just 19 after three years of being ‘out’. Society itself also comes in for a kicking, specifically the lack of opportunities for women.
Penelope confides in Colin that she wants a husband so she is free to be herself; she is dependent on a man for security and worries that if she voices her opinions and acts as she pleases, she will not be seen as wife material.
At this point, Colin is blissfully unaware that his chum’s alter ego is in fact Lady Whistledown, columnist and gossip monger extraordinaire, or that the real reason she and his sister fell out is because Eloise discovered her secret.
As Colin’s feelings towards Penelope begin to manifest into something less platonic, thanks to a wicked combo of jealousy, a midnight snog and a fruity dream, you can’t help but wonder when the secret will out.
There’s also some insight into society as a whole. It doesn’t do for a gentleman to be gainfully employed, as former boxer and club owner Will Mondrich (Martins Imhangbe) soon learns. Despite being elevated to the upper class after a distant relative dies and leaves her estate to his son, it’s not the done thing for him to continue doing the job he loves.
Being invited to go hunting with the landed gentry, it seems, is the ultimate accolade – one which is nicely balanced by the introduction of Lord Debling.
Shockingly, he is a vegetarian – which gives the chinless wonders something to mock him for – and would rather see the stags’ heads still attached to their bodies and living their best lives on his estate. Which is not
There’s only so many boudoir scenes and bare bums a viewer can take before it all becomes a bit run of the mill
insignificant, so turning his nose up at meat way before Quorn was invented clearly hasn’t done him any harm.
In short, if you love Bridgerton then you’ll love Series 3. But if you weren’t that into it in the first place, this latest offering probably isn’t going to convert you to its charms.