Netflix period drama Bridgerton set to be watched by 63 million households

Huge numbers are switching on to the inclusively cast Shondaland show
Golda Rusheuvel plays Queen Charlotte in Bridgerton
Netflix

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Christmas isn’t Christmas without a bodice-loosening period drama - nearly universally, anyway, according to figures released by Netflix. Its racy new Regency London-set series Bridgerton is set to be watched by 63 million households in its first four weeks, the streaming giant has revealed. 

The hit show, starring British actors Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page, has been one of the most talked about on TV since it launched on the service on Christmas Day. Based on American author Julia Quinn’s novels, it follows the highs and lows of the eight Bridgerton siblings as they attempt to find love and purpose in their lives. 

It has been hailed as a game-changer for period drama due to Shondaland’s policy of inclusive casting. Several leading characters - and numerous minor roles - are played by actors of colour, including brooding hero the Duke of Hastings (Page), Lady Danbury, played by Adjoa Andoh, and Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel), who is thought by some to be the first British royal to have African ancestry.

Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor play the show’s central couple
LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX

In a tweet, the company also said that Robert Rodriguez's superhero film We Can Be Heroes, also released on Christmas Day, will be watched by 44 million households in its first month.

The film is about a group of children who have to save the planet after aliens abduct the globe’s superheroes - who are also their parents.

The success of Bridgerton and We Can Be Heroes made it Netflix's biggest ever viewing week between Christmas and new year, the company added.

In November, the streaming giant confirmed 62 million households “chose to watch” The Queen’s Gambit, a show about a talented chess player starring Anna Taylor-Joy, making it Netflix’s biggest limited series ever.

Netflix measures a view as any piece of content being watched for at least two minutes, which it considers long enough to indicate the choice was intentional.

Claudia Jessie and Nicola Coghlan get on the Christmas candies
LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX

Zimbabwe-born Page, 30, said that Bridgerton - which has been described as Gossip Girl meets Downton Abbey - is like "Downton Abbey's wayward sibling", but "considerably more scandalous".

He told the BBC: "I think the idea we had with Bridgerton was very much in the early conversations, to do something fresh and exciting and entirely more fun, fast, funny and glamorous than has been done before in the period genre.

"It's kind of meant to be something a bit kind of colourful and fluffy for Christmas, hopefully like a big, warm Regency hug to help you get through a festive period that's been a little bit different for everyone this year."

Bridgerton is available on Netflix

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