Release Date, Cast Changes, Story & Everything We Know

Summary

• Bridgerton season 3 will cover the fourth Bridgerton novel, Romancing Mister Bridgerton, and will feature some alterations to the original plot.
• The release date for Bridgerton season 3 is set for the summer of 2024, and it will be split into two parts.
• Phoebe Dynevor’s Daphne Bridgerton will not be returning for season 3, but most of the rest of the cast, including Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington, will be back.

Bridgerton season 3 was confirmed several years ago, and the release date is finally on the horizon for the Bridgerton sibling’s return to Netflix. Season 1 adapted Julia Quinn’s novel The Duke and I, telling the tale of Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Basset’s romance. Despite being such a success with audiences, that was put on the back burner in season 2 — which doesn’t feature Simon at all, although he is name-dropped occasionally — and adapts the second Bridgerton novel The Viscount Who Loved Me, focusing on Anthony Bridgerton and Kate Sharma’s enemies-to-lovers storyline.

Instead of adapting Benedict Bridgerton’s story, An Offer From A Gentleman, for Bridgerton season 3, the Netflix show is making a huge switch-up and changing the order. Bridgerton season 3 will cover the fourth Bridgerton novel, Romancing Mister Bridgerton, and even then is making several alterations (as it did for seasons 1 and 2). In conjunction with the expansion of the story in Queen Charlotte, Bridgerton season 3 is already shaping up to be the biggest yet.

The Latest Bridgerton Season 3 News

Netflix Announces A Release Date

After quite a bit of waiting, Bridgerton season 3 has finally set a release date, and other exciting updates have been revealed about the upcoming season. Netflix has announced that the latest jaunt to the Regency Era will be split into two parts and released in the summer of 2024. Part one will premiere on May 16th, 2024 and part two will follow on June 13th. It is unclear how the eight-episode season will be divided, but the most logical choice would be two four-episode parts.

Bridgerton Has Been Renewed For Season 3

Seasons 3 & 4 Are On The Way

Bridgerton season 3 is officially happening on Netflix, with the show’s renewal confirmed in 2021 (via Deadline). What’s more, the streamer confirmed a fourth season would also follow. Author Julia Quinn wrote eight Bridgerton books in total, one focusing on each sibling, and the hope is that each book will be adapted into a different season for TV. Netflix will likely continue with the show long into the future should interest remain high.

Bridgerton Season 3 Release Date

Season 3 Is Coming Summer 2024

Unlike previous seasons, Bridgerton season 3 will actually have two release dates as the upcoming season is split into two parts. Part one will premiere on May 16th, 2024, while the second half will debut on June 13th, 2024. This is likely a decision to keep interest high in the program, a clever strategic alternative to simply dropping all eight episodes at once.

Bridgerton Season 3 Cast

All The Returning Faces Of Bridgerton Season 3

Bridgerton season 3’s cast will include most of the Bridgerton family, and Nicola Coughlan will be back as Penelope Featherington, the focal character of the season. The Bridgerton season 3 cast is likely to feature many other returning faces, including:

Phoebe Dynevor’s Daphne Bridgerton will not return. Dynevor did keep the door open to return in later seasons, but she will not be around in Bridgerton season 3. Some of Bridgerton’s second-season cast additions, including Rupert Young as Jack Featherington and Calam Young as Theo Sharpe, are perhaps less likely to return since their stories are seemingly wrapped up.

There is one major casting change for Bridgerton season 3. Ruby Stokes is no longer playing younger sister Francesca Bridgerton. Stokes landed a starring role on Netflix’s Lockwood & Company, which conflicted with her recurring status in Bridgerton. Replacing her as Francesca is Hannah Dodd who recently appeared in Enola Holmes 2, also for Netflix, as Sarah Chapman. Black Sails actress Hannah New joins the series as Lady Tilley Arnold, a young widow. Daniel Francis, James Phoon, and Sam Phillips have also all joined the show for season 3.

Bridgerton Season 3 Story

Plot Details For Season 3

Many expected the Bridgerton Netflix series to follow the order of the books, as the Bridgerton novels also begin with Daphne and Anthony’s stories. There’s been a change to the lineup, however. Instead of focusing on Benedict for Bridgerton season 3, the Netflix show will focus on Colin and Penelope. Colin and Penelope’s story makes up the fourth book in the series, Romancing Mister Bridgerton — albeit with some differences in the plot for Bridgerton season 3.

Following the surprising events of Bridgerton season 2, Penelope decides that she needs to look for a husband that will allow her to get out of her mother’s house and still live her double life as Lady Whistledown, but she doesn’t have the same level of confidence that other debutantes do. Colin, who misses Penelope’s company when she starts to ignore him at social events, offers to help her land a husband. According to Netflix’s official summary, Colin’s plan to help Penelope gain confidence might “work a little too well.”

After discovering that Penelope is Lady Whistledown, Eloise wants nothing to do with her former best friend. That leaves her forging new relationships while still being present for the parties of the season. Nicola Coughlan, who plays Penelope Featherington, teased that season 3 will be “extremely spicy.“ (via Collider). Coughlan explained “I mean Lady Whistledown is right at the center having to deal with all her little secrets and it gets harder and harder for those to come out and then scandalous love affairs popping up all over the place. [It’s] the most scandalous one yet, I would say.“

How Queen Charlotte Sets Up Bridgerton Season 3

The Prequel Connects To Bridgerton Season 3

Spin-off Queen Charlotte throws in the seed of a substantial storyline for Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell). She plays an important role in Queen Charlotte, playing part of the triptych of “widows” (including Charlotte herself who awaits King George’s death), each representing different types of grief. She loved her husband dearly, and still mourns him, but begins to realize that she may be ready to enjoy herself once more — to “allow her garden to bloom” again, as the show delightfully puts it.

While it feels unlikely that Violet will remarry in Bridgerton season 3, there is the possibility of courtship and perhaps some liberated sexual activity to throw further scandal under the belly of the ton. And the unexpected source of that scandal, Violet, would make for a wonderfully entertaining new dynamic.

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  Bridgerton

  Release Date:

  2020-12-25

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  Seasons:

  3

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  Creator(s):

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  Creator:

  Chris Van Dusen

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