Bridgerton fans will have a significant wait before the show’s fourth season arrives on Netflix, the Regency drama’s showrunner has confirmed.
Season three, which focuses on Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan)’s slow burn romance with her longtime friend Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), was divided into two parts, each comprising four episodes, with the second instalment landing on the streamer today (13 June).
But viewers who have already raced through part two in order to find out whether the pair get their happily ever after will have to bide their time for a couple of years until season four, showrunner Jess Brownell confirmed at the London premiere.
“We are working to try and put the seasons out more quickly, but they do take eight months to film and then they have to be edited, and then they have to be dubbed into every language,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
“And the writing takes a very long time as well, so we’re kind of on a two-year pace, we’re trying to speed up but somewhere in that range.”
The first season of the lavish romance series, which is based on the novels by Julia Quinn, debuted on Netflix in December 2020, and a second series followed in March 2022.
Brownell revealed that the Bridgerton writers’ room is now “towards the end” of the writing process, and the results have her feeling “really excited”.
“I feel like it’s some of my best work and my writers room’s best work,” she added. “We’ve just really gelled our collaboration, and we’re firing on all cylinders so I can’t wait for fans to see what we have.”
Netflix is yet to confirm which member of the Bridgerton family will be under the spotlight in the upcoming season, after series three deviated from the order of Quinn’s books in order to focus on Penelope and Colin’s love story.
Quinn’s third Bridgerton novel, An Offer from a Gentleman, concentrates on Benedict, the second eldest brother played on screen by Luke Thompson, while her fourth book, Romancing Mr Bridgerton, centres around Colin.
According to Brownell, eagle-eyed viewers might be able to spot some hints about the direction that the fourth instalment will take. “There are some clues at the end of season three about where we’re headed,” she told Town & Country. “So I have a feeling fans will probably work it out.”