They’ve got glamorous clothes and swoon-worthy romances – but there’s more to period dramas than just escapism, as Prudence Wade explores. With its scandals, dramas and opulent outfits, the second season of Bridgerton lands on Netflix today.
There’s a lot to live up to – season one was watched by a record-breaking 82 million households in 28 days. But there’s also plenty look forward to in round two – we now know Nicola Coughlan’s character is the anonymous gossip writer, Lady Whistledown, and the main storyline is expected to be a romance between Anthony Bridgerton (played by Jonathan Bailey) and newcomer Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley).
It’s not hugely surprising the first season of Bridgerton was so popular – it streamed during lockdown, so we were all at home and desperate for entertainment – and it also comes as part of a trend: an obsession with period dramas. Nicola Coughlan plays Penelope Featherington in the show, and she completely understands why it’s been so popular. “The world has been a very stressful place for the last number of years, so it just feels like an escape, it feels like a simpler time,” says Coughlan, 35. “And then you’ve got relatable issues of the real world – it’s a show about love at the core of it, so I think there’s something really deeply comforting and nice about that.”
