Bridgerton - Season 2

World Traveler · ‎02-02-2015

'Bridgerton' Season 2: Netflix release date, cast, plot, trailer and everything you need to know, by Sean Marland 4/8/2021 written for What to Watch.

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Bridgerton Season 2 is officially on the way, and we couldn't be more excited about returning to a world of sweeping gowns, spectacular balls and scurrilous court gossip.

The internet is already awash with rumors about when cameras will start rolling on the second helping of this hit costume drama, with Netflix already casting its new lead heroine, Kate Sheffield (now renamed as Kate Sharma).

The first season saw Daphne Bridgerton and the rakish Duke of Hastings tie the knot after a bumpy ride to the altar and attention will now turn to Julia Quinn's second Bridgerton novel — which follows Daphne’s older brother, the roguish Lord Anthony Bridgerton (played by Jonathan Bailey).

Here's everything we know about the return of one of Netflix's biggest shows.

Bridgerton Season 2 release date

In January 2021, the story’s narrator and famed gossip sheet writer, Lady Whistledown said: “The ton are abuzz with the latest gossip and so it is my honour to impart to you: Bridgerton shall officially return for a second season. I do hope you have stored a bottle of ratafia for this most delightful occasion.”

She also confirmed that shooting would begin in "the spring of 2021."

This Christmas could be a little too soon for a return to Regency London, but the second series seems sure to arrive at some point in 2022, Covid permitting.

Whether filming has begun or not, it seems preparations are already underway, with Nicola Coughlan tweeting about fittings and Penelope’s impressive new wig.

Bridgerton Season 2 plot

“This author has been reliably informed that Lord Anthony Bridgerton intends to dominate the social season," says Lady Whistledown. "I will have my pen ready to report on any and all of his romantic activities.

“However, gentle reader, before you set the comments section alight with requests for more sordid details, know that I am disinclined to report on the particulars at this time. Patience, after all, is a virtue.”

The second book in Julia Quinn's bestselling series of novels is titled The Viscount Who Loved Me and focuses on Anthony Bridgerton and a new heroine called Kate Sheffield (renamed Kate Sharma in the TV show).

The second season is also expected to pick up where the last one left off with regards to a collection of tantalising sub-plots.

Will we find out more about the new heir to the Featherington estate? Will Penelope Featherington make her feelings to Colin Bridgerton known? Will Eloise Bridgerton finally agree to enter the marriage mart?

Who is Bridgerton Season 2 heroine Kate Sharma?

Simone Ashley, star of Sex Education and The Sister, will play Kate Sharma in the second series. The character is almost 21 in the novel, and only just making her debut on the marriage market, alongside her younger half-sister Edwina, as her family — who come from out of town — can only afford to do the season once.

After the death of her mother when Kate was only three years old, Kate’s father remarried and his new wife, Mary Sheffield, showered the two girls with love. However, disaster struck when Kate and Edwina's father then died, leaving Mary without much money and desperate to find her stepdaughters suitable husbands.

In her novels, author Julia Quinn writes that Kate "wasn’t the sort who would capture the attention of the ton. She wasn’t pretty enough to overcome her lack of dowry, and she’d never learned to simper and mince and walk delicately and do all those things other girls seemed to know how to do in the cradle.”

Bridgerton Season 2 cast

Most of our favorites from the first series will be returning will be returning for the new series, yet while season one star Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), will feature, her on-screen husband Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page) will not be returning.

The news was broken at the start of April in an update from Lady Whistledown herself.

Page also confirmed the news when he revealed conversations he'd had with the show's producers ahead of the first series.

“It’s a one-season arc. It’s going to have a beginning, middle, end — give us a year,” he explains. “I thought 'That’s interesting,' because then it felt like a limited series. I get to come in, I get to contribute my bit and then the Bridgerton family rolls on.”

More casting news came in the form of Charithra Chandran, who will portray Kate Sharma's younger sister, Edwina, a "kind-natured and endlessly endearing,” young woman who's seeking a true love match.

Shelley Conn (from Deep State and Liar) will play their stepmother, Lady Mary Sharma, who returns to high society after causing a scandal with her own marriage. “Now newly returned to London with her daughters, she’s forced to endure the scrutiny of the ton yet again.”

Meanwhile, Calam Lynch (from Black Beauty) joins the show as printer’s assistant Theo Sharpe and Rupert Young (from Dear Evan Hansen) plays Jack, "the newest member of the ton with a connection to one of its most notable families."

Jonathan Bailey (Anthony Bridgerton) will be the star of the second season, alongside Simone Ashley (Kate Sharma).

Julie Andrews, who voices Lady Whistledown, as well as Golda Rosheuvel (Queen Charlotte), Nicola Coughlan (Penelope Featherington), and the rest of the core cast including Claudia Jessie, Adjoa Andoh, Ruth Gemmell and Polly Walker, are also expected to return.

What is the second Bridgerton novel about?

The blurb for Julia Quinn's novel reads: “Anthony Bridgerton hasn’t just decided to marry — he’s even chosen a wife! The only obstacle is his intended’s older sister, Kate Sheffield — the most meddlesome woman ever to grace a London ballroom. The spirited schemer is driving Anthony mad with her determination to stop the betrothal, but when he closes his eyes at night, Kate is the woman haunting his increasingly erotic dreams.

“Contrary to popular belief, Kate is quite sure that reformed rakes do not make the best husbands — and Anthony Bridgerton is the most wicked rogue of them all. Kate is determined to protect her sister — but she fears her own heart is vulnerable. And when Anthony’s lips touch hers, she’s suddenly afraid she might not be able to resist the reprehensible rake herself.”