The fifth season of – centred on the ravishing romance between Hannah Dodd’s Francesca and Masali Baduza’s Michaela, the vivacious cousin of her dearly departed husband, John Stirling – is currently in production and due to land on screens next year. But, dear reader, it’s a delight to report that it isn’t the only candy-coloured romp in this glorious extended televisual universe to be in development. No, Netflix has now revealed that, like Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story before it, another spin-off prequel will soon be hurtling on to the platform: a new limited series focused on none other than Lady Violet Bridgerton.
Per the streaming giant, the still-untitled new release “will chronicle the early life of a young Lady Violet and tell the story of her romance with Viscount Edmund Bridgerton”. Spearheading the origin story of the future Bridgerton matriarch, played in the main series by Ruth Gemmell, will be Shonda Rhimes herself, alongside fellow showrunner, writer and executive producer Nicholas Nardini, who also worked on . Joining them are two veterans: director Tom Verica, who will helm this new romance, too, and executive producer Betsy Beers.
While featured Connie Jenkins-Greig as a teenage Violet Ledger, as she befriended Arsema Thomas’s young Agatha Danbury, this chapter of the tale will presumably pick up a little later, as our heroine falls for the man with whom she’d go on to have eight children and a wonderfully happy marriage, before his untimely death. According to , the forthcoming series will be based on Violet in Bloom, a short novella by author Julia Quinn, which follows Violet and Edmund’s love story, from their initial spark to their wedding, honeymoon and early family life together.
Connie Jenkins-Greig as a young Violet Ledger in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.
So, who will step into Jenkins-Greig’s shoes to play Violet this time around? It’s too early to say, though it’s easy to imagine a throng of young A-listers queueing up for the part. And, best of all, there may be even more projects on the way. Back in January, Tom Verica confirmed that more spin-offs – yes , plural – were being discussed. “, we thoroughly enjoyed that experience,” he told a red-carpet reporter from . “It was more of a smaller look at a particular love story that spanned over those episodes, and I think we kind of caught something that people really responded to. So we are in talks [about] some other projects and hopefully something will be coming out at some point. I’ll say this, there have been characters that you have met before, ones that you were invested in, but again, we’re talking about different possibilities and, the great thing about having a cast this size is, there’s a lot of stories to dive into, but the particular ones we’re talking about, it’s going to be really, really enjoyable.”
So, could we get more of the wild adventures of a young Lady Danbury? A standalone on the unhinged escapades of Polly Walker’s Lady Featherington? A, dare I say it, -style reframing of everyone’s favourite anti-hero, Jessica Madsen’s Cressida Cowper? I’m keeping my fingers crossed.