Steamy period drama Bridgerton proved to be one of Netflix’s biggest ever original TV hits when it dropped over the Christmas season. Even two months later, the drama – from exec producer Shonda Rhimes – continues to trend on the platform across the globe and it’s no surprise that the streaming giant is already working on a second run. Not much has been revealed about it just yet, but here’s everything we know about Bridgerton season 2 so far.
As per the last outing being based on author Julia Queen’s first entry in her best-selling book series, The Duke and I, the second season will be inspired by The Viscount Who Loved Me, the second novel. All eight books follow a different one of the eight Bridgerton siblings as they find love and with Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) having got her happy ending with the Duke (Regé-Jean Page), now it’s eldest son Anthony’s (Jonathan Bailey) turn.
The show’s next female lead has already been found, too. Sex Education star Simone Ashley was recently cast as Kate Sharma, a reimagined version of Kate Sheffield from the books, as the creators continue to increase the diversity of the characters. Her official description reads: “Newly arrived in London, Kate is a smart, headstrong young woman who suffers no fools — Anthony Bridgerton very much included.”
Going by the dangling plot threads of season 1, we can also likely expect Penelope Featherington’s (Nicola Coughlan) shocking secret – that she’s Lady Whistledown – to be discovered by her best friend Eloise (Claudia Jessie). Speaking of, Elois is due to make her society debut in the next run, something the young feminist is dreading. Meanwhile, Colin has gone off to travel the world, but will he and Pen get together when he returns? As for Daphne and Simon, Page and Dynevor are expected to be back, but we don’t yet know how prominent their roles will be.
Finally, Bridgerton season 2 is due to start shooting in the UK in the spring. No word on when we could see it, but having it ready for this Christmas seems a bit soon, so we can probably expect the new episodes to drop on Netflix sometime in 2022.