Netflix orders Bridgerton spinoff about young Lady Violet

Netflix has ordered a Bridgerton spinoff about a young Lady Violet.

Netflix and Shondaland announced the project together, Variety reported on 8 October. It is a limited series, meaning a story designed to play out across one closed season.

The show does not yet have a title. It is being referred to for now as the “untitled Bridgerton project.” Shonda Rhimes and Nicholas Nardini will lead it as showrunners, meaning they run the series day to day, and they will also write and executive-produce.

Tom Verica will direct and executive-produce. Betsy Beers will also serve as executive producer. The four names sit at the top of the credits for the new prequel.

The series will chronicle young Violet’s early life and her romance with Viscount Edmund Bridgerton. That courtship is the marriage that starts the Bridgerton family at the centre of the main show. No casting for the young leads has been detailed in the announcement.

In the present timeline, Ruth Gemmell plays Lady Violet Bridgerton. A teenage Violet Ledger, using her maiden name, appeared in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, played by Connie Jenkins-Greig. The new series moves her from supporting player to central character.

The order lands while the main series keeps moving. Bridgerton Season 5 is currently in production in London. That season focuses on Francesca Bridgerton, played by Hannah Dodd, and Michaela Stirling, played by Masali Baduza.

Season 4 premiered at No. 1 on Netflix’s Global English TV list, the streamer’s weekly viewing rank. The franchise has done this before. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story ran for six episodes in 2023 and debuted at No. 1 in 91 countries.

Queen Charlotte was the first step in this direction. Netflix and Shondaland first announced a limited series centred on the rise and love life of a young Queen Charlotte in May 2021, according to Netflix. That project also told the stories of young Violet Bridgerton, Netflix later said. Created by Shonda Rhimes, it premiered on 4 May 2023.

For viewers, this means the timeline keeps widening. The main siblings carry the present, while Violet and Edmund fill in how it all began.