If the final drop of Bridgerton season four has left you yearning for more (and wondering what is going to happen to Lady Whistledown), fear not. The Netflix mega-hit’s showrunner, Jess Brownell, has confirmed there is big season five news coming ‘very soon’.
Keeping in line with every season so far, the fifth instalment will see another Bridgerton sibling fall in love. Now that Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) has found his happy ending with Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha), who will be next? And how closely will the season resemble Julia Quinn’s books? Some pretty big hints have been dropped already…
When will Bridgerton season five be on Netflix?
While seasons five and six have been confirmed, there is no release date just yet. We will update you as soon as the news is announced.
However, Brownell admitted that filming will begin ‘soon’. Speaking to Decider she said, ‘We want to give fans a moment to really celebrate Yerin and Luke and everything they’ve put into this season, but we are starting production very soon on season 5.’
Each season of Bridgerton takes eight months to film and then they have. to be edited and dubbed into every language, so it’s not a speedy process. ‘The writing takes a very long time as well, so we’re kind of on a two-year pace. We’re trying to speed up but somewhere in that range,’ Bronwell said.
Which cast members will star in season five?
The full line-up has not yet been announced, however fans can expect to see the return of the ensemble cast including Claudia Jessie (Eloise), Hannah Dodd (Francesca), Florence Hunt (Hyacinth) and Will Tilston (Gregory). All of whom are yet to be given a central storyline.
Depending on the plot, fan favourites like Rush Gemmell (Violet), Daniel Francis, Julie Andrews (Lady Whistledown’s narration), Adjoa Andoh (Lady Danbury), Golda Rosheuvel (Queen Charlotte) are likely to return too.
Which Bridgerton sibling will season five be about?
Netflix and Brownell have been keeping this news under wraps, but Brownell did drop a pretty huge clue. At the season four premiere in Paris, she wore two pocket squares embroidered with ‘E’ and ‘F’ and told Deadline, ‘Both characters with the initials on my pocket squares will get seasons five and six. In what order? I can’t say.’
Unless she’s deliberately throwing us off the scent, that means seasons five and six will focus on Eloise and Francesca.
Of course, Francesca married John Stirling, the Earl of Kilmartin, in season three. However, she’s always had a spark with John’s cousin Michaela, a storyline which differs to Julia Quinn’s original book where John’s cousin is a man called Michael. This was a deliberate gender shift and one that hasn’t been explored fully yet… If Francesca leads season five, the plot will draw from When He Was Wicked.
However, in Quinn’s novels Eloise has an unexpected romance with Sir Phillip Crane, who briefly featured in season one as Marina’s widowed husband. Eloise’s character arc has followed a different route to the book so far, making her fertile ground for an upcoming season. If she picked, season five will loosely follow the plot of To Sir Phillip, With Love.
Fans also noticed that at Benedict and Sophie’s wedding at the end of season four, Eloise said, ‘I do love a wedding’ when Kate asked who will marry next. Penelope also asks Francesca if she’ll marry again after John’s death and she said, ‘I have had my great love. One time is enough.’
Either way, we won’t have too long to wait. ‘You’ll learn really soon, I would say,’ Brownell revealed. ‘We tend to make an announcement close to the start of production about who the new leads are. So you should expect that this season as well.’
Has Nicola Coughlan left Bridgerton?
After four seasons of playing the ton’s resident rumour mill, Lady Whistledown, Nicola Coughlan‘s character Penelope revealed she no longer wants to write her newsletter. ‘Now that I am known publicly, I’m avoided like the plague by anyone with any real gossip,’ Penelope said. ‘Because for everyone in the ton, Whistledown functions just as this palace does for you. It keeps them trapped, watched, scrutinised.’
As of yet, there has been no announcement that Coughlan won’t be part of the show moving forward. However, it would not be surprising if we saw less of Penelope and Colin moving forward.
What has Julia Quinn said about Bridgerton season five?
In an interview with Us Weekly, Quinn hinted that she’d love to see Eloise’s story fleshed out on screen. ‘I don’t necessarily know how they’re gonna spin it or write it or what they’re going to keep and change. I love [Eloise’s] story. [Sir Phillip] has two kids who she has got to wrangle, which is awesome. The fact that Eloise is going to have an instant family is awesome. His twins are pretty ruthless to her so I hope they keep stuff like that in.’
She also expressed an interest in seeing the two younger Bridgerton siblings, Hyacinth and Gregory, have their turn in the spotlight. ‘It’s funny because they were like 12 and 13 when they started,’ she said. ‘If you asked me that back then [whether the same actors would play the roles as adults] I’d be like, “I don’t know.” But when I saw them again at the premiere, they were both drinking wine. They’re both 18 now, and Will was there with his girlfriend.’
Quinn added, ‘By the time we get to Hyacinth and Gregory, the actors are going to be well into their 20s. So I think it’ll probably be okay. Will it be weird that we knew them when they were 12? We see child stars grow up all the time.’
How can I watch season four of Bridgerton?
Seasons one to four, including season four part two, are available to stream now on Netflix.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA UK.
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