REVIEW: Bridgerton is Gossip Girl in corsets – but much better

Gossip Girl, but make it the 19th century.

What do you get if you cross a Derry Girl with Mary Poppins and a couple of Waterloo Road students? A Netflix romance series steeped in scandal, sex, and serious costumes, of course. Bridgerton is finally here. The series that everyone's bound to be talking about this festive season is landing on Netflix this week. And with queen of drama Shonda Rhymes (Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder) behind it, it was always destined to be a hit. Based on the popular historical romance novels by Julia Quinn, the series tells the story of the Bridgertons, the Featheringtons, and everyone in between as they fall in love, create some scandal, and engage in gossip in high society nineteenth century England. Before the cast was even announced, the series was likened to Gossip Girl - the secrecy, the scandal, the drama, the overwhelmingly gorgeous cast. But that's where the similarities stop. Bridgerton could be your standard Whoisshe? drama, relying on cheap reveals and meandering plots, but thankfully, this series has actually got a lot more going on. Bridgerton is, as one would expect, extremely nineteenth century. It's got the costumes, it's got the dialogue, it's got the potential necessity to switch the subtitles on if you're not English. It's got the intense control of high society; the painful corsets, the sexual obliviousness of its women, the fact that even kissing a man out of wedlock is apparently enough to ruin a family. But Bridgerton has also got criticism of all of those things. It's accurate in its portrayal of the pressures of high society but it's also keenly aware of the hurt, pressures and confusion that those living in such a culture were subjected too - particularly its women. Each of Bridgerton's female characters are, in some way, trapped. As the series progresses, so do they; their character development in eight episodes far more than that of most period dramas out there. Main character Daphne, an innocent debutant who (like the rest of the female characters) doesn't know how children are made, is soon to be wed-off to a stranger. Her sister Eloise wants to go to university. Eloise's best friend Penelope is an outsider, a woman who knows she will never fit in with the rest of the debutant world, but is forced to sit on the sidelines and watch, almost always dressed in yellow. The series is light and fun, sure, but it's still got its moments of melancholy; a frankness about the lives of upper class women during this time which is too often glazed over or forgotten entirely. Forced marriages, pregnancy out of wedlock, and an inability to avail of higher education, the women of Bridgerton are stuck, but they're also strong. The entire series revolves around their very real and sometimes trivial dramas, but does so in a way to make it fun, entertaining, and probably entirely realistic of how scandal spread across high society in the nineteenth century. Featuring a cast of up-and-comings that you'll do well to recognise from other well known dramas including Broadchurch (Johnathan Bailey), Waterloo Road (Phoebe Dynevor, Regé-Jean Page), and Derry Girls (Nicola Coughlan), the series relies on expert storytelling and a stellar cast to tell it.  The performances are as good as you'd expect them to be on a Shondaland production, with Julia Andrews' voice over providing a much needed air of sophistication over what is largely quite a young cast. The standout performance, however, comes from Claudia Jessie who doesn't just play the undoubtedly best character (Eloise), but consistently hits the sweet spot between comedy and muted tragedy so perfectly. The coronavirus pandemic may have taken much of the joy out of 2020, and as the year comes to a close we can only hope for a 2021 that's filled with more fun. Bridgerton may just be the end-of-year respite we need from a 12 months like no other. It's a fun and easy end-of-year watch, but it's also satisfying. With strong supporting storylines, a very fulfilling reveal, and a finale that will leave you wanting more, the series really has come at a perfect time. Live up to the hype it does, in parts. And although Bridgerton is a very enjoyable watch, it does take a while to get there. But give it the time it needs, and you won't be disappointed. Bridgerton is streaming on Netflix from December 25.