Prequel better than 'Bridgerton'

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (English/Netflix)

Creator: Shonda Rhimes

Cast: India Amarteifio, Corey Mylchreest, and Adjoa Andoh

Rating: 3.5/5

Dearest gentle reader, having tasted blood with the success of ‘Bridgerton’, it is but natural that prequels and spin-offs are planned and executed in double-quick time. And thus has arrived the backstory of Queen Charlotte, the deliciously droll acting head of the ton in the original ‘Bridgerton’. King George III rules in absentia, and now we get to know why. Wear your gown, press those tailcoats, and keep your smelling salts ready, for this six-episode splendour is way more sensitive and heart-breaking than the original.

The storyline smoothly shifts between two timelines. One is the ‘present’ Bridgerton period where the old exasperated queen of the stupendous wigs fame is trying to drill some sense into her wayward children, none of whom have been able to produce an heir yet. The other is a few decades earlier where a spunky 17-year-old Charlotte (India Amarteifio) is miffed that she has been promised by her brother to King George III whom she has never met. She changes her mind after a proper meet-cute where she is trying to jump over a wall to avoid marrying him and he tells her he is simply ‘George’ — not a troll or a beast or even a king. (It helps that the actor Corey Mylchreest looks like a cross between Tom Cruise and Ryan Reynolds).

As ‘just George’ slowly descends into insanity, the queen is left to manage both her puzzling but charming husband and palace politics. Moving and distressing in equal measure, the series unflinchingly depicts the torture that was practised in the name of mental treatment in what is presumably the early-19th century. There is also an attempt to tackle real racial issues instead of the tokenism ‘Bridgerton’ is often accused of. Most commendable is the exploration of the emotional emptiness women of a certain age feel. Watch out for the backstories of the beloved Bridgerton characters Lady Agatha and Lady Violet. And oh, the phrase ‘gardens in bloom’ will never be the same for you ever again!