"The third and most highly anticipated season of Bridgerton is officially available to stream. We can finally watch the epic and long-awaited love story of Penelope and Colin unfold before our eyes. While we are excited for a new season, we’re not enthusiastic about the dreadful news that we’ll be without new Bridgerton content for who knows how long.
If it feels like you’ve done enough waiting for glamorous balls, steamy scenes, and epic love stories, you’re not alone. That’s why we wanted to help ease the pain while we deal with our withdrawals and wait for the next season. The best way to do that, of course, is with other period pieces and royal tales in all forms. We’ve gathered a list of the best TV shows, movies, and books that give all of the Bridgerton vibes. Hopefully, these TV shows and books like Bridgerton will provide a necessary distraction while we all yearn for more.
TV Shows
Queen Charlotte
Where to stream: Netflix
Watching the spin-off of the series if you haven’t already is a must. The heartwarming tale of the early years of one of the most iconic characters in the Bridgerton series—Queen Charlotte—and her marriage to the King George of England. The show tackles tough topics like mental health in the same beautifully cinematic atmosphere we know and love (plus, of course, has some steamy moments), so you’re going to want to watch this one again and again.
Downton Abbey
Where to stream: Peacock (series) (movie)
Post-Bridgerton blues is the perfect time to board the Downton Abbey train. Set in the post-Edwardian era, viewers follow the lives of the Crawley family and their servants. The series begins after two heirs of the country estate perish aboard the Titanic, and the future of Downton Abbey is in jeopardy. With six seasons and two feature films (plus rumors of a third and final Downton Abbey movie starting production this year), there’s plenty to binge.
Sanditon
Where to stream: Prime
Based on an unfinished novel by the one and only Jane Austen, this series may be even steamier than Bridgerton. When Charlotte moves to the village of Sanditon, her goal is to find herself. Along the way, she finds out much more about love and self-expression. There are currently three seasons for your viewing pleasure.
The Crown
Where to stream: Netflix
Much more modern but just as captivating! Based on the real events of Queen Elizabeth coming into her power, The Crown explores the personal and political events that shaped her reign.
Outlander
Where to stream: Netflix
Another series based on books (all the best ones are) is an epic and spicy fantasy tale. All the glitz and glamour we know and love from Bridgerton with a mix of fantasy meet in harmony in this tale of a girl who must choose between her two loves in wildly unprecedented circumstances.
Movies
Pride & Prejudice
Where to stream: Prime
Jane Austen could be considered the OG Julia Quinn, and it doesn’t get much better than the 2005 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice with Kiera Knightley. Whether it’s been years since you’ve given it a watch or you’ll be viewing it for the first time, you won’t want to pass up a Mr. Darcy hand flex.
Emma (2020)
Where to stream: Prime
Speaking of Jane Austen, watch the adaptation of her classic comedy Emma starring Anya Taylor-Joy. Just as stunning cinematically as Bridgerton, plus the compelling tale of a matchmaking young woman in Georgian- and Regency-era England.
The Other Boleyn Girl
Where to stream: Netflix
For something on the darker side of things, turn on this 2008 show-stopping flick based on the spicy historical fiction novel by Philippa Gregory. When two sisters compete for the affection of King Henry VIII, things become not only scandalous, but dangerous. Starring two greats, Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson, this one will have you hooked from the opening line.
Marie Antoinette
Where to stream: Prime
Desserts, jewelry, stunning sets, and Kirsten Dunst like we’ve never seen her before? Say no more. While not always the most historically accurate, this 2006 film beautifully and dramatically tells the story of the Queen of France prior to the French Revolution.
Books
This list would be incomplete without including where it all began. If you haven’t experiences the Bridgerton stories on paper yet, now’s the time. See your favorite characters in a new light, and get a sneak peek into what’s ahead.
All the greats wrapped in one adorable package. Set out to read all of Jane Austen’s works to (likely) take up most of your time waiting for Part 2 of Bridgerton Season 3.
In regency times, literary women were called bluestockings, and it’s such a pleasure when historical romance authors play with the outdated norms of the time and give us the surfeit of manners without sacrificing strong-willed characters. Very Elizabeth Bennet, no? Here, we follow Annabelle Archer, a suffragette and student at Oxford, in her quest to recruit men of influence to her cause. There’s lots of palpable chemistry in this one; your heart will positively race.
Rebel is set in the aftermath of the Civil War and we follow Val as she works to help the newly emancipated community in New Orleans. Jenkins takes you on an emotional journey, leaning into the difficulties and horror of the era while giving you an undeniable romance to root for. Drake is everything and more in this book, and the steam he ignites with Val is Bridgerton-spoon-scene-worthy.
Tessa Dare offers murder, mystery, and a friends-to-lovers trope à la Penelope and Colin in three books to devour. Julian is the bastard son of a nobleman who is soon introduced to his friend Leo’s sister Lily. When Leo is murdered, Julian hunts for justice and for a husband for Lily—who he secretly loves.
It’s rare that an author can take the regency genre and give us something entirely new and endlessly exciting, but Sherry Thomas always delivers on the promise. Here, we follow the reunion of Catherine, the illegitimate daughter of an English adventurer and a Chinese courtesan, and the enigmatic Captain Atwood. The settings are lush and the characters are flawed but impossible not to root for. It’s a get-lost-in-it-for-hours kind of read with just the right amount of steam.
The Duke of Ashbury saw some things in the war and gained scars he doesn’t care to discuss. The last thing he wants to do is get married, but he needs an heir. When he finds the first available woman, he sets some ground rules for her, including never needing to share a bed again after an heir is conceived. Little does he know, she has some rules of her own.
The leading man in this novel is so compelling, you will be caught from the first moment he steps out of the shadows. Half of this novel takes place in India and half in regency London, and the balance of settings is perfect and very atypical of the genre. Lots of angst here but tempered by true necessity for it—each of our main leads faces shuddering horrors and much of the romance is found in them finding their way back to each other.