The Series: Queen Charlotte - A Bridgerton Story
Streaming Service: Netflix
Time Investment: Around 7 hour (6 Episodes of just over an hour)
Stars: 4
Bridgerton is my guilty pleasure. We all need one, and Shonda Rhimes, who is responsible for Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice, among other series, of course I was going to watch this.
So - what's it like?
If you're a Bridgerton fan, you'll love it. The costumes are there. Some of the sex is there - but it's not as racy as that first season. The witty comebacks - also present. The music is also there - modern pop songs by Beyonce, Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys set to classical music, just as was done in the other series.
It's all there.
And what's it about?
Well, this looks at Queen Charlotte's early married life. For those in the Bridgerton know, Queen Charlotte (played in Bridgerton time by Golda Rosheuvel, and in the early days by India Amarteifio) is the wife of Mad King George. She was a German princess hand picked for the role. At seventeen, she's shunted across to England to marry into "The Firm", where she encounters all sorts of problems. These are compounded by the King's mother, Augusta (Michelle Fairley) who is trying to keep her son's condition a secret.
In the background Agatha, Lady Danbury (Played in Bridgerton time by Adjoa Andoh, and in the olden days by Helen Coathup) is a young woman married to a horny old bloke. She's miserable, not that her husband cares. He has his heirs - she's done her job.
And there's a young Violet Ledger (Ruth Gemmell, and her younger self is played by Connie Jenkins-Greig) soon to be Bridgerton, about to come out to society.
The themes encountered here run along the marriage and happiness and status and race.
Yes, race. This is where the real history gets a bit murky.
Is this historically accurate?
Hells no. But that's okay. They've put a disclaimer right at the front of the first episode.
So, is this a bit of a revisionist history?
Absolutely. That they bring in the black cast members and say that in marrying Charlotte, black folk are now equals - this is a good thing. It also shows the early struggles these families are prone to, and how tenuous their position appears to be.
It also looks at George III's madness. As those up on their history know George III was prone to bouts of madness. Whether he was bi polar, or this was an effect of his porphyria, poor George didn't have a good time of things, but Charlotte managed to find a way to help him through.
On the other side of this, in the updated Bridgerton times, we see Charlotte struggling with her eleven children, who've all managed to remain childless (okay, legitimately childless) and unmarried. And she wants somebody to continue the line - as all good queens do.
Oh, then there's the help. The footmen, who are having a relationship - which would have taken them to the gallows at the time. They're lovely. As is the Pomeranian, which appears to be the butt of a number of jokes.
Is it worth watching?
Absolutely. It won't be for everybody. It won't be for history purists. But if you like a good yarn, something racy in a prescribed world where things are a bit freer, then go for it. It's escapism at its best.
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