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Bridgerton season 3 production is underway ahead of the show’s return to Netflix. Nicola Coughlan, who takes on the lead role in the new season, confirmed this on social media with a first look at the episode one script. She’s also been dropping some hints about her costume fittings for the new series.
Season 3 will be hoping to follow in season 2’s footsteps and break streaming records for Netflix. But it will be taking on a different story when it returns. As has been the case with seasons 1 and 2, the third season will focus on another of the Bridgerton siblings as this time around it will be Colin (played by Luke Newton) in the spotlight.
For everything you need to know about what that means for the story, as well as all of the latest filming updates, read on. We’ve rounded up everything the cast and crew have been teasing about Bridgerton season 3, including our best guess at when it may be released.
Bridgerton season 3 release date
Netflix has not yet announced a Bridgerton season 3 release date. However, cameras are reportedly set to start rolling on season 3 at some point in summer 2022. Pre-production has also began with costume fittings and script read-throughs beginning. Penelope star Coughlan posted some first looks at these on her Instagram page (opens in new tab), as well as a snap of her and co-star Thompson.
To get an idea about the episodes might make it to Netflix, let’s consider previous seasons’ schedules. Bridgerton’s first season started filming July 2019, wrapped in late February 2020, and released in December 2020. The second season started production March 2021, and only finished filming in November 2021 due to COVID-induced delays to filming. That season was released in March 2022. Essentially, both seasons took nearish a year from filming to release, which could put the Bridgerton season 3 release date in Summer 2023.
Bridgerton season 3 plot
Bridgerton is based on Julia Quinn’s series of eight books, following each of the eight siblings as they find love. Though the sensible guess would be that the Bridgerton season 3 plot will tell the story of the third book in the series, new showrunner Jess Brownell confirmed in an interview with Variety (opens in new tab) that season 3 is skipping ahead to book 4 and focusing on Colin and Penelope’s love story.
Bridgerton season 2 set up the romantic relationship between Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), which forms the premise of the fourth book in the romance book series. Their storyline ended in a pretty difficult position in season 2 after Penelope overheard Colin mocking the idea of a romance with her to his friends.
“I really feel like it’s Colin and Penelope’s time. Because we’ve been watching both of these actors on our screens since Season 1, we’ve already invested in them a little bit. We know who they are as people,” Brownell explained. “Instead of treading water on that dynamic, we wanted to push it into their season. It really felt like the perfect moment to tee it up.”
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She added: “I think Shonda Rhimes has said publicly before that she wants to have eight seasons. We hope to get to tell every sibling’s love story and they will always be in each season.”
After the end of season 2, we’ll also be expecting to find out what is next for Lady Whistledown. At the end of the second outing, Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) finds out her best friend Penelope is actually behind the gossip newsletters. In a heartbreaking scene, she confronts her about this as the pair have a huge argument. What will happen next? Coughlan told Entertainment Tonight: “They have to [reconcile]. They have to, because it would break my heart [if they didn’t]. Also, I think, in deep life-long friendships, there are moments like that when you do fight and you’ve just got to learn to grow a little bit. But I think Penelope has got some apologizing to do. I think she has some apologizing to do.”
Bridgerton season 3 cast
The first bit of casting news has been confirmed for Bridgerton season 3. It’s been announced Francesca Bridgerton has been recast as original star Ruby Stokes had to leave the show. This came after being cast as the lead in Netflix series Lockwood & Co. She’s been replaced by Anatomy of a Scandal and Eternals star Hannah Dodd.
So far, no new cast exits have been confirmed. After Regé-Jean Page left his role as the Duke in the aftermath of season one, many were wondering if this set a new precedent for characters leaving after their main series. Luckily, it seems Bridgerton season 3 will be bucking the curve, with both Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and the bane of his existence Kate Bridgerton (Simone Ashley) tipped to return.
Speaking to Deadline (opens in new tab), Ashley said: “We’re going to be back!” She continued: “Kate and Anthony are just getting started. In season two, there was a lot of push and pull between Kate and Anthony, there were complications with the family, and then they find each other towards the end. I think everything is just starting.”
Bailey has also shared his hopes about what the new season could mean for his character. Speaking to The Wrap (opens in new tab), he said: “I just can’t wait for them to have a baby. Baby Edmund, I think, is the first that’s to come if it’s according to the books, but maybe they’ll have octuplets. Maybe they’ll flip it on its head.”
New showrunner Jess Brownell told Variety (opens in new tab) that Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) will be playing a big part in the new season. She also confirmed that we will “definitely be seeing Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor),” though she neglected to say how much.
There is one confirmed exit: showrunner Chris Van Dusen is stepping down as the show’s main boss. He’ll still be involved as a producer, with Brownell taking over. She’s been a writer and producer on Bridgerton so far, and was also involved in Shondaland Netflix show Inventing Anna.
Per Deadline (opens in new tab), Bridgerton season 3 is currently casting it’s remaining roles ahead of a summer production start. Duke of Hastings star Page also confirmed he was definitely not reprising his role on the show in an update on Instagram. Alongside a snap of him and Bailey, he wrote (opens in new tab): “The boys are back in town. (No, I’m not going back to the show btw – the papers made that one up.)”
While we wait for more information on Bridgerton season 3, why not check out our list of best Netflix shows to watch right.
