Bridgerton scored another win, with season three joining the show’s first two seasons on Netflix’s Top Most Popular TV charts of all time.
It seems Lady Whistledown has drawn attention from more than Bridgerton’s high society.
After all, season three of the series has dazzled its way onto Netflix’s Top 10 Most Popular TV (English) ever alongside seasons one and two after surpassing Baby Reindeer.
Since part one’s debut May 16, the Regency-era romance has remained in the top three for the streaming service’s Global Top 10 TV (English) list each week and has since been viewed over 91 million times.
This season’s leading lady Nicola Coughlan, who plays wallflower Penelope Featherington, celebrated the show’s achievement with a slew of photos from filming with her onscreen romance Luke Newton, who plays Colin Bridgerton, as well as moments with Hannah Dodd, Sam Phillips, Luke Thompson and more.
She captioned the July 4 Instagram post, “I’m so grateful, so please accept some miscellaneous behind the scenes joy as a thank you!”
Meanwhile, executive producer Shonda Rhimesalso reflected on the major win and the show’s promising future.
“Shondaland is so proud that audiences far and wide have connected with our storytelling and the Bridgerton world we have built,” Shonda told Deadline in an article published July 2. “We look forward to bringing more of this beloved universe to screens for years to come.”
But it’s not quite a surprise as Bridgerton’s long-awaited third installment captivated viewers with its steamy scenes, declarations of love and, of course, many scandals. In fact, Lady Whistledown’s identity came to the forefront when Penelope’s nemesis Cressida Cowper (Jessica Masden), announced she was the real author behind the gossip column. And Nicola couldn’t help but gush over the twist.
“I think her being Whistledown is so good onscreen, when she comes in in a red dress with the crazy sleeves,” Nicola told E! News. “She’s like an evil butterfly. I thought it was great.”
And while Cressida taking credit would give Penelope a way out from the impending drama, she battled between her love for writing and her love for Colin.
“It’s brilliant,” Nicola continued. “There’s already that conflict Penelope has where she can’t let it go. People said, ‘Why can’t she?’ It’s her driving force! She’s completely in love with this man. He is her everything, but she also has a career and she’s strong.”
Now, want to know how the show compares to the books? Keep reading for answers to your burning questions.
Where We Find Penelope Featherington
In Netflix’s version, Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) becomes our heroine, deciding that at only 19 years old it’s time to give herself a full makeover in an effort to shed her wallflower ways and find a husband. To that end, she nixes the yellows and oranges she’s worn for most of seasons one and two, instead opting for more flattering dresses and colors—oftentimes wearing the famed Bridgerton blue. Pen also gets help from Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), whom she has had a crush on for years, on how to improve her flirting techniques.
The circumstances are very different for book Penelope, who is already 28 years old in Romancing Mister Bridgerton, since the story is set in 1824, 10 years after Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) married Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley). Book Penelope is considered an old maid and her fashion transformation stems more from her mother finally leaving her alone after she doesn’t get married. While book Pen is also stressed about being stuck with her mother for the rest of her life, it does not prompt her to find a husband.
Another major difference? No one—not even the reader!—knows that she’s town gossip Lady Whistledown at the beginning of the book, a secret that only comes to light until about halfway through the fourth book; Netflix viewers, meanwhile, were treated to that bombshell in season one.
Where We Find Colin Bridgerton
Colin is our dashing young suitor in season three, and as has been the case for his character throughout the show, book Colin’s trajectory is different from show Colin.
In the book, he is 33 years old and has been traveling extensively for years—as opposed to just a few months in the show—rarely leaving him at home. He also finds himself struggling to find his purpose, which he’s slightly less concerned about on the show.
Much like on Netflix though, he finds his attraction to Penelope slowly growing throughout the book and spends much of his time marveling at just how kind, funny and stunning Pen is—all qualities he’s shocked that he and the rest of the ton never noticed before.
The Moment Colin Falls for Penelope
In both the book and the show, emotions really come to a head for Colin and Penelope when she accidentally on purpose reads his travel diaries. Book Pen was visiting the Bridgertons because she’s still best friends with Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie), while show Pen was at their house in episode two for private flirting lessons with Colin.
In both versions, Colin cuts his hand, although in the book it’s on a letter opener and in the show it’s because of a broken candle holder. Regardless, it’s as she is wrapping his hand that Colin really notices Penelope.
How Colin and Penelope Share Their First Kiss
For Polin, in the book and show, their first kiss comes when Penelope directly asks him to lock lips, telling him she’ll live her life having never been kissed if he doesn’t do it.
On our TV screens, the moment occurs at the end of episode two, just after it’s been revealed to all of the ton that Penelope asked for Colin’s help in finding a suitor.
In the book, the kiss occurs in the Featherington drawing room when Colin visits Penelope to express his distress over the fact that he thinks his sister Eloise is Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews).
How the Carriage Scene Really Went Down Yes, in both the novels and the screen adaptation, Colin and Penelope’s second kiss happens in a carriage just before he FINALLY proposes.
Netflix decided to make the kiss and proposal happen in the Featherington carriage at the end of episode four, just after Colin has ruined Penelope’s chances with Lord Debling (Sam Phillips).
He doesn’t yet know that she’s Lady Whistledown, basically the Regency era DeuxMoi. In fact, episode one ends with Colin expressing his hatred for Lady Whistledown after she wrote some not-so-nice things about his “new” personality following his travels, telling sister Eloise that he will ruin whoever Whistledown really is.
In the book, Polin’s carriage kiss and engagement occurs in Colin’s coach after he’s followed Penelope into town and learned her shocking secret: that she is, in fact, Lady Whistledown, meaning he goes into their marriage fully aware of her double life.
