‘Bridgerton’ Show vs. Books: How Does Netflix’s New Drama Differ From Author Julia Quinn’s Series?

Credit: LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX

‘Bridgerton’ Show vs. Books: How Does Netflix’s New Drama Differ From Author Julia Quinn’s Series?

Cut from the same cloth! With any book-to-screen adaptation, it’s normal for changes and tweaks to be made to the story line — and Bridgerton is no exception. The new period drama, which premiered on Netflix in December 2020, is based on author Julia Quinn’s book series of the same name. Both versions follow Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), as she struggles to find a husband after making her debut on London’s social scene. To boost her chances, she cooks up a scheme with Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page) to pretend to be a couple in order to attract other potential suitors. The plan was intended to be mutually beneficial, as the Duke of Hastings wanted to dismiss concerns about him not getting married. Bridgerton is the first project released under TV mogul Shonda Rhimes’ Netflix deal following her 2017 exit from ABC, where she produced acclaimed shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and How to Get Away With Murder. Quinn has said that she never anticipated that her books would be adapted for the screen. “Truly, I never thought this would happen to me. And I never thought it would happen to anyone because nobody was adapting romance novels, historical, or really even contemporary, for screen other than Hallmark movies,” she told Entertainment Weekly in December 2020. “If somebody was going to do a period piece, they wanted to do another adaptation of Jane Austen or one of the Brontë sisters.” The New York native continued, “Those are all wonderful, but the historical romance novels that are being written today are a little bit different. And there’s a huge market for them. I don’t think it’s at all surprising that the person who would realize that would be Shonda Rhimes.” An important aspect of Netflix’s Bridgerton is modernizing it by including a diverse cast, which creator Chris Van Dusen said was done intentionally to appeal to today’s viewers. “We knew we wanted to make the show reflect the world that we live in today,” he explained to Collider in December 2020. “And, even though it’s set in the 19th century, we still wanted modern audiences to relate to it, and see themselves on screen no matter who they were. And, that’s something having worked in Shondaland for so long, since Grey’s Anatomy really, it’s what we do.” The show’s popularity has allowed the stunning cast to become household names, especially Dynevor and Page. Scroll down to learn the biggest differences between the Bridgerton show and 10-book series! [podcast_block]

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New Characters for the Show

Character changes are common in book-to-series adaptation. In the case of Bridgerton, fans see the likes of Marina Thompson (Ruby Barker) and Lord Archibald Featherington (Ben Miller) getting more developed story arcs than they have in the novels. There was also the introduction of Simon’s friends Will (Martins Imhangbe) and Alice Mondrich (Emma Naomi), who were not featured in Quinn’s popular book series.

The series also introduced a love interest for Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) in season 2. Theo Sharpe (Calam Lynch) is a printer's assistant who wasn't a character in the original book series. Another newcomer is Jack Featherington (Rupert Young) whose ups and downs with Lady Featherington were depicted in the novels.  

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Daphne’s Introduction Into High Society

While Daphne is being introduced to London’s social scene for the first time in the Netflix drama, the debut Bridgerton novel — The Duke and I — sees her entering her second season where she tries to find a potential spouse.

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Character’s Actual Racial Identities

Rhimes’ popular show features a very diverse cast despite the events taking place in 19th century London. However, in the books, it is implied that Simon and his close family friend, Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh), are white instead of Black. The Duke of Hastings is even described as having “icy blue” eyes in Quinn’s series.

During season 2 of the hit Netflix series, the writing team swapped out Kate Sheffield and Edwina Sheffield for Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) and Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran). The duo, who were joined by Shelley Conn in the role of their mother, have previously opened up about the value of South Asian representation.

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Lady Featherington’s Relationship With Lord Featherington

While the Featherington matriarch (Polly Walker) is introduced in the book as a widow, the drama series choose to include Lord Featherington (Ben Miller). He is depicted as a gambling addict who then seemingly dies in the season 1 finale.

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The Controversial Bedroom Moment Between Simon and Daphne

In both the book and the series, Simon and Daphne argue over their differing stances on having children. While Daphne wants to start a family, Simon promised his father that he would not produce an heir for their family. Simon subsequently made sure to pull out when they were having sex, and Daphne later realized that he had done so to avoid getting her pregnant. In the Netflix adaptation, she chose to get on top while they got intimate and proceeded to continue despite Simons saying “wait” repeatedly to her. The moment has brought up discussions on whether this incident would qualify as sexual assault.

The book takes a much darker approach. When Simon was drunk and half asleep one night, Daphne decided to force her husband into intercourse and prevent him from pulling out. This occurred after the pair had a fight over Daphne discovering his contraception method to avoid conceiving, causing her to refuse to have sex with him again. He responded by threatening her with sexual assault and claiming that he “owns” her.

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When Lady Whistledown’s Identity Is Revealed

Unlike The CW’s Gossip Girl adaption, Netflix’s Bridgerton didn’t wait until the series finale to unmask the town tattler. Lady Whistledown was revealed to be Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) during the season 1 finale. While that aspect remains the same in both versions, the book series didn’t disclose this information until the fourth book, titled Romancing Mister Bridgerton.

In the season 2 finale, Eloise discovers that her best friend is behind the Lady Whistledown scandal sheet — another shake-up from the books.

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Kate and Anthony's Journey to Happily Ever After

The Viscount Who Loved Me depicted an enemies-to-lovers story between Anthony and his love interest Kate. While courting her sister Edwina, Anthony finds himself drawn to Kate and the pair end up getting married after being caught in a compromising position.

The second season of the series offered a slow burn where Anthony and Kate didn't get together until the finale. Anthony also had a longer engagement to Edwina that ended with them at the altar. It wasn't until the younger Sharma sister realized Kate and Anthony's feelings for one another that she broke off the union.

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Eloise's Love Story

According to the Bridgerton book series, Eloise is meant to find love with Phillip Crane (Chris Fulton) following the death of his wife Marina. Season 2 offered fans a glimpse at Phillip and Marina's ongoing marriage and strayed from the books by introducing Theo as a love interest for Eloise.

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Going Out of Order

Following season 2's debut on Netflix, Rhimes hinted that there may be changes coming to the series. "There's eight Bridgerton siblings so there are eight books. We are definitely planning on following each one of their romantic stories," she shared during an interview with Entertainment Tonight in March 2022. "We are not necessarily going in order. But we are going to be seeing each of the siblings and their story."

Two months later, Netflix confirmed that Colin and Penelope will lead season 3 even though they are the focus of the fourth novel. Benedict Bridgerton's (Luke Thompson) love story with Sophie Beckett was the main relationship in the third book, An Offer from a Gentleman.