I was deep in a Regency romance binge a few years ago when I pitched a highly self-interested piece to my editor: an investigation into why. “The work of the romance novel is not to tell the story of the past. “Netflix is TV that you binge or chill or fall asleep to, TV for relaxing,” he wrote. They should not make one feel: ‘I want to go to there.’ Instead, the effect is more like: ‘I can never go back there again.’”, on “The Queen’s Gambit,” is not really the Netflix way. “You had that figure of the ‘tragic mulatto,’ who’s the mixed-race woman whose narrative requires her to have a bad end,” Matthew pointed out. What ensued was both somewhat exhilarating — getting to see my Regency escapism come to life — and unnerving. Bridgerton has become Netflix’s biggest ever original series, it has been announced. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. a way to center Black women’s happiness and care, both in contemporary settings and in historical ones. We have no idea but we will ­definitely look into the ­matter ourselves. The piece I pitched never materialized, but the object of my longing did. “That’s not what this is!” The historical romance has finally gone mainstream — and that means a whole new audience is learning how to read a genre so long relegated to the margins. “The sex is a payoff! The production budget is a quantity budget. Shonda Rhimes is that rare exception — a woman with creative control over a TV empire, and a fan of the Quinn series. Bridgerton's Regé-Jean Page has joined the cast. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. To this day, the people deciding which films and shows to finance are almost entirely men. Whereas romance novels are relatively cheap to publish, printed in the most inexpensive format (mass-market paperbacks) and typically garnering small advances for authors who churn out multiple volumes per year, the vision they conjure is decadent, over-the-top. Wealth, lust, and betrayal set against the backdrop of Regency-era England, seen through the eyes of the powerful Bridgerton family. And that’s fine, that’s not what they’re trying to do,” Bady said. Fashion isn't the only thing Netflix's massive hit Bridgerton is inspiring, Regency era decor is seeing a major trend thanks to the show. was a creature apart from the Jane Austen adaptations and sedate period pieces I already enjoyed, or sexy but bloody cable costume dramas. Then there’s the money question. Why has this omission persisted for so long? WHILE most period dramas hire their vintage outfits, Bridgerton had an army of 238 people beavering away for five months to hand-sew 7,500 costumes. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Comments are subject to our community guidelines, which can be viewed, We give you the run down on all the secrets behind Netflix's steamy drama Bridgerton, The eight-part series is based on a collection of romance novels by American Julia Quinn, After three minutes of the first episode, the first romp up against a tree while a nearby footman looks away explodes, The woman behind Bridgerton's costumes is New York designer Ellen Mirojnick, Dame Julie Andrews, The Sound Of Music icon, narrates the drama and plays gossipy Lady Whistledown, Ben Miller, Bessie Carter, Polly Walker and Harriet Cains star as the Featheringtons, Stunning Phoebe Dynevor secures the lead role of Daphne Bridgerton, A scene of Daphne and her lover Simon, played by Rege-Jean Page, created fury as one viewer said 'Bridgerton has an on-screen rape scene of a black man', Fans and critics are praising the steamy show, with one reviewer raving 'Bridgerton is witty, daring, refreshing', New Netflix series Bridgerton leaves fans shocked with racy sex scene in first 15 minutes, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Although production on the second season isn't set to begin until this spring, the British news source pretended this was a ploy to shock viewers. Phoebe, 25, is the daughter of Sally Dynevor, 57, who has played Sally Metcalfe (nee Webster) in the ITV soap since 1986. She’s beautiful and playful and making the best of a situation.”, With careful writing in future seasons, she said, “I think there’s a lot that could happen with these characters of color that doesn’t reduce them to being characters of color while still acknowledging that there’s a historical trajectory that brings them there.”. We’ll miss Simon’s … There are gorgeous set pieces and lavishly appointed historic locations, but the costumes are a mixed bag, and, despite its apparently limitless wisteria budget, the production doesn’t have the distinctive and cohesive visual style of say, The Crown , The Favourite , or the most recent adaptation of Austen’s Emma . It features an ethnically diverse cast, including a black Queen Charlotte, sexually charged dances and explicit bedroom scenes. Production for the star-studded Netflix action movie is reportedly set to start in Los Angeles in two weeks time and the movie is said to hav a $200million budget. On Twitter, many viewers feel it is sexual assault and should have been omitted from the TV series or at least addressed afterwards. Billy Bob Thornton, Alfre Woodard and Bridgerton Created by Chris Van Dusen. As Jane Hu wrote in, of Netflix’s other recent soothing period hit, “The Queen’s Gambit,” “the visually ornate period piece approaches something like a nostalgic fetishization of whiteness in decline. IT has been hailed as ­Downton Abbey meets Gossip Girl. The source material kept sex … “The economics and politics of that world that Bridgerton makes, it just makes no sense. Bursting though a romance novel may be with carefully researched, period-accurate details about Vauxhall entertainments, Almack’s vouchers or ribboned chemises, these novels really aren’t about the Regency era, or at least not primarily. But ultimately, she said in a phone interview, “Nobody’s reading Julia Quinn because they’re looking for disquisitions on historical precedent.”. NETFLIX fans have called out Bridgerton for using the exact same set as The Crown 'to save on budget'. According to Deadline, Rupert Young has been added to the line-up and luckily for him, getting into unusual … RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk, Stacey Solomon transforms £1.2m home into Easter wonderland to surprise sons, Coronation Street's Melanie Hill deletes 'toxic' social media, Katie Price's son Junior, 15, says he wants a neck tattoo and two pierced ears, A Place In The Sun's Jasmine Harman reveals she fell in love with her cameraman, ©News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. “The idea that historical romance would be able to unpack and solve these big issues of colonialism and race and gender and sexual politics and identity from a massive lens is unrealistic when the books are really doing a very specific kind of work around the domestic role of women and other marginalized people in our current society,” MacLean said. With Phoebe Dynevor, Regé-Jean Page, Nicola Coughlan, Jonathan Bailey. One reviewer raved: “Bridgerton is witty, daring, refreshing and may just have reinvigorated the costume drama.”. Historical romances live in these tensions — the escapism of another time battling against the more enlightened social attitudes of the modern era; sheer fantasy coexisting with a critique of gender roles, or even the slave trade and colonialism. FORGET the bonnets and coy blushing of other period dramas – Bridgerton does not shy away from loosening the corsets for some full-on sex scenes. Bursting at the seams with ideas for colours and shapes, Clarice takes more and more dangerous risks. Considering how much of a hit Bridgerton was with audiences, there's no surprise it's coming back and with a very famous Merlin actor a happy addition to the cast of series two. Ben Miller, 54, once half of comedy duo Armstrong & Miller plays Lord Featherington. The visual equivalent of a $7.99 mass-market volume calls for a prestige TV budget. But sometimes I wanted more, wanted to see the gossamer petticoats and lingering glances and gently unfastened bodices. At its centre are the quests of girls in the Bridgerton family, to marry.But with Grey’s Anatomy co-creator Shonda Rhimes as an executive producer, this is far from just another Pride & Prejudice. They’re happy at the end!” MacLean said, quoting a male friend of hers who discovered romance ― and the purpose of all those erotic scenes — through “Bridgerton.”. It’s very unprudish about the fact that romance involves physical attraction and that involves physical encounter. She has two nasty older sisters Philippa and Prudence, played by Harriet Cains and Bessie Carter, both 27. By building a love story between the primary couple, one that is guaranteed to end “happily ever after” or “happy for now,” a romance novel not only provides escapism and the heart-pounding rush of vicarious passion, but a space in which to explore how romantic relationships can and should be, and how women can find fulfillment and happiness. In the book, this is portrayed as a spur-of-the-moment decision by Daphne and her husband is drunk, but in the show it is more calculating and Simon is clearer-headed. They told Daphne’s sexual evolution and it was really important to get them right.”. Forced sex and then, boom, we just move on the next day. In her review of the show, Patricia Matthew, an associate professor of English at Montclair State University, placed it in a long artistic tradition of Black women depicted in Regency settings. Hank Stuever. In the interest of keeping things fresh, a whole host of new actors are joining the already much-loved cast. “The appeal of the time period for readers is very much about being able to distance readers from certain kinds of social issues and then reframe them as a reflection of society now,” MacLean explained. “‘Bridgerton,’ on the other hand, takes place in 19th century London, which has often been whitewashed on screens.” ... having Black people in a big budget production period show—or film—about England before the 1900s feels like a foreign concept for white directors and writers,” wrote Carolyn Hinds from The Observer. Many of the critiques, understandably, seemed rooted in unfamiliarity with the genre’s conventions, or in the expectation that “Bridgerton,” which is based on a series of books by Julia Quinn, would resemble a “Pride and Prejudice” remake. View our online Press Pack. It is to hold a mirror to the present.”. One viewer writes: “Bridgerton has an on-screen rape scene of a black man. Do be careful when recommending it to people and if you plan on watching it.” Another, Sabah Malik, writes: “I am really, really sickened at how they completely brushed past a pretty shocking rape scene. But since Bridgerton filmed on location, it's likely that most of the budget went to creating literally thousands of costume pieces. Most other budgets are stated in the form of dollars instead of quantity. Netflix is turning their hands to period drama with Bridgerton, a big-budget series that follows the fortunes of an aristocratic family living in London during the early 1800s. Hold the smelling salts, there is even, whisper it, self-pleasuring. Instead, a successful romance constructs a world that directs you to focus on a story of love and possibility, and it lets that be sufficient. It has reportedly achieved record ratings and is already set for a ­second series. Not “I want to go to there.”, But this, as Bady wrote in an essay on “The Queen’s Gambit,” is not really the Netflix way. Saturday evening, the Netflix … But sometimes I wanted more, wanted to see the gossamer petticoats and lingering glances and gently unfastened bodices. “There’s a sumptuous world that has to be depicted, and it seems like that’s a very expensive endeavor,” Matthew said. The production budget calculates the number of units of products that must be manufactured, and is derived from a combination of the sales forecast and the planned amount of finished goods inventory to have on hand (usually as safety stock to cover for unexpected increases in demand). Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page will not be returning as Simon for Bridgerton Season 2. But it's neither: It’s Regency romance, and it's spectacular. The show has a sizable budget… Ohh!”, Another, called Bella Rosa, posted the same picture and asked simply: “Why is he so cute?”. (“Bridgerton” reportedly had an eye-popping budget.) The show, she wrote, offered “just enough realism to give a Black viewer permission to suspend disbelief” and enjoy the sumptuous sights and passionate sighs. Based on the bestselling historical romance novels of U.S. author Julia Quinn , the lavish show boasts a star-studded cast of British stars, with Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor playing the romantic leads. BRIDGERTON is an eight-part series which reportedly cost £5million an ­episode to make and is based on a collection of romance novels by American Julia Quinn. “Romance as a genre is really interested in consent, in diversity representation, in political issues,” she said. “Bridgerton” was met with valid and vital critiques, especially over its treatment of consent, but also ones that made me wince: that it was formulaic, predictable, vapid, historically inaccurate, best suited for teens. And amid all the sex and swooning and utterly frivolous fashion, there are stories about the relationships we want to have, the work that goes into making them, and the social context that shapes them. Sometimes that can be a bumpy ride. Bridgerton's production rivals that of the most prestigious dramas to date - and likely has a budget to match. She pointed to the scene in which Daphne Bridgerton punches a loutish suitor who attempts to compromise her, as a moment that would not have appeared in a Regency romance even a few decades ago. “I can’t imagine that it isn’t a huge amount [due to] patriarchy, in the sense that for the same reason it gets disdained on the page, it gets disdained on the screen,” said MacLean. “If you go in watching ‘Bridgerton’ and say, ‘I think I’m watching Jane Austen,’ you’re going to be disappointed. "I guess they saved on the budget by sharing sets!" The Gray Man is set to be the most expensive film ever made by Netflix, with a Critics and viewers, at their wits’ ends trying to make sense of this sexy, gossipy, frothy Regency costume drama, also tried to characterize it in terms of beloved on-screen classics: “Pride and Prejudice,” “Downton Abbey,” and, yes, “Gossip Girl.” These comparisons convey some bafflement, an uncertainty about how to categorize a show that isn’t really a realist historical drama, nor an edgy satire, nor a campy soap. It determines the number of units of a … Sign up for membership to become a founding member and help shape HuffPost's next chapter. “If you go in watching ‘Bridgerton’ and say, ‘I think I’m watching Jane Austen,’ you’re going to be disappointed. Netflix makes historical shows that salve our anxieties with a past where, as he puts it, “nothing bad happens.” In a very real way, this is what the Regency romance genre is, part of its particular appeal: They’re gorgeous, escapist stories that end happily ever after. BRIDGERTON is an eight-part series which reportedly cost £5million an ­episode to make and is based on a collection of romance novels by American Julia Quinn.