The story
Regency London, reimagined: the eight Bridgerton siblings, children of a well-connected noble family, enter the cut-throat marriage market of the social season, where every ball, flirtation and misstep may end up in Lady Whistledown's scandal sheet, voiced by Julie Andrews. Each season puts a different sibling's love story at its centre, in a society where people of colour hold titles and rank alongside the old aristocracy.
Why it matters
The first scripted series Shondaland made for Netflix, Bridgerton arrived on Christmas Day 2020 and became the service's biggest original series launch to that point, until Squid Game overtook it. It has since grown into a franchise, with the spin-off Queen Charlotte and renewals reaching a sixth season.
Notable facts
- Netflix reported that 82 million households watched at least two minutes of the first season by late January 2021. (source)
- Season two's 193 million viewing hours in its opening weekend was the biggest opening for an English-language Netflix series at the time. (source)
- The series has won five Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. (source)
- Kris Bowers's score earned a Grammy nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. (source)