Overview
If you live in one of the 82 million households that gave Bridgerton a stream during its first month on Netflix — making it the platform's most-watched new series ever — then you're probably also a fan of its reigning monarch. Sure, the soapy series spends most of its time with the eponymous family, with its first season following Daphne Bridgerton's (Phoebe Dynevor, Younger) quest to find a husband, and her dalliances with the Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page, Sylvie's Love). But whenever Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel, Lady Macbeth) enters a scene, she steals it so convincingly and savagely that everything else around her withers in comparison.
Clearly, Netflix noticed this, too. And, fresh from renewing Bridgerton for its third and fourth seasons before the second even streams, the service has announced a Queen Charlotte-centric spinoff. Get ready to spend more time with the character, but in her younger guise, with the currently untitled new show set to be a prequel.
At this immensely early stage, few other details have been revealed — although Charlotte will be joined by a few other familiar faces. Younger versions of Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell, Deep State) and Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh, The Witcher) will also feature in the new series, if you've ever wanted to know more about their backstories.
Just who'll be playing Charlotte, Violet and Lady Danbury also hasn't been announced, and neither has exactly when the show about them will hit your streaming queue. It has been revealed that the new series will be penned by Bridgerton executive producer (and Grey's Anatomy and Scandal creator) Shonda Rhimes, though. She's calling the Charlotte-focused show part of "the Bridgerton-verse" — so yes, you can probably expect more spinoffs to follow.
For now, you can revisit the original Bridgerton trailer below:
The first season of Bridgerton is available to stream now via Netflix. The show's Queen Charlotte-focused spinoff doesn't yet have a release date — and neither does Bridgerton's second, third and fourth seasons — but we'll update you when details come to hand.
Top image: Liam Daniel/Netflix.