‘Bridgerton’ is one of the biggest Netflix hits of the moment, that’s a fact. As of December 27, 2023, both season 1 (113.3 million views in the first 91 days) and season 2 (93.8 million views) can be found in the top 10 most-watched Netflix series of all time. As a result, Season 3 will likely be on many subscribers’ watchlists – and therefore be some of the most anticipated Netflix content of next year. However, fans of Julia Quinn’s popular novel in particular can expect some changes:
The first part of the third season ‘Bridgerton’ can be seen exclusively on Netflix from May 16, 2024, with part 2 following on June 13, 2024 – and this will differ considerably from the original. Because while in the third part “How do you seduce a gentleman?”* Benedict Bridgerton, played by Luke Thompson in the series, takes center stage, the adaptation will now break new ground – focusing entirely on the love story of Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington aka Lady Whistledown (Nicola Coughlan). But why exactly?
Showrunner explains: Hence the deviations from the books
So we get to see in advance what will happen in the fourth part of the books, “Penelope’s Spicy Secret”*, happens while Benedict Bridgerton’s story is initially sidelined. And there are certainly reasons for that, as showrunner Jess Brownell recently said in an interview revealed.
After all, the past two seasons have been about “really getting to know Pen and Colin.” Penelope’s infatuation and Colin’s (non-)dealing with it created a very special dynamic, ‘which you can only play out for so long until something simply has to change.’ For this reason, they have now realized the ‘right time’ to first stick to their love story.
Furthermore, this would create the opportunity to keep crowd favorite Benedict in the series a little longer. “As for Benedict, he’s such a fun character and a fan favorite that we’re really looking forward to playing with him some more and letting him have some more fun before he finally settles down.”
This reshuffling goes hand-in-hand with Jess Brownell taking over as showrunner, who only took over the reins in season 3, replacing Chris Van Dusen. However, Van Dusen is still on board the series, but from now on as a producer alongside Shonda Rhimes (“Grey’s Anatomy”), among others.
Season 3 will consist of two four-episode parts. However, fans should not hope for a continuation of the spin-off ‘Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story’, which was released in 2023. However, that does not mean that there could no longer be spin-offs in which some well-known characters could also appear: