Tag: bingewatch

Why I absolutely loved, loved, LOVED Bridgerton

Jessica Redland Author3 Comments

I’ve been working flat out recently – evenings and weekends – working on the first round of edits for the third book in my Hedgehog Hollow series: Family Secrets at Hedgehog Hollow. With them emailed to my editor on Sunday evening and the second round due back within a week, it didn’t make sense to get into my next book – only to have to dip out of it soon after – so I decided to take this week off to catch up on a combination of housework and admin. And perhaps a rare bit of relaxation.

Last night, conscious I was quite late to the party as friends have been raving about it for a while, I decided to try the first episode of Netflix’s new eight-strong series: Bridgerton. Four episodes later, I had to force myself to stop watching and go to bed. Today I caught up on the remaining four. Wow! What a series!

I do love a period drama but I dragged my heels on watching this one and nearly didn’t bother last night because I was disappointed with a couple of period films I’d watched over Christmas and was reluctant to invest my time in Bridgerton in case it left me with the same feeling of disappointment. It absolutely didn’t.

The two films in question were Emma and Little Women. Both really good films and I am sure that many will have loved them but I’m afraid I personally preferred previous adaptations of both. I love the 1994 version of Little Women starring Winona Ryder and Emma was always going to have tough boots to fill for me as the 1996 version starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Toni Collette and Ewan McGregor is one of my all-time favourite films.

I confess I haven’t read either of the books so I have no idea which version of the film is the closest representation of Austen’s/Alcott’s classics but the 90s films definitely did it for me.

It’s always hard, isn’t it, when there’s a remake of a film you love? I can’t think of any occasions where I’ve preferred the version I’ve seen second time around. Miracle on 34th Street is my all-time favourite Christmas film but it’s the 1994 version I love. I’ve never seen the 1947 original as I know I will be constantly comparing it, even though I know most who saw that first will probably say it’s the best.

Anyway, back to Bridgerton. Set in 1813 Regency England, why did I love it so much?

The Costumes

Oh my goodness, how simply divine were the costumes? Tiaras? Jewellery? Apparently a whopping 7,500 pieces were made for the series with the lead female character having a whopping 104 costume changes. Eek! And the make-up and hairstyles were fabulous too. Stunning. I loved how the two main families – Bridgerton and Featheringtons – had a colour palette. And the final ball is a visual delight of different shades of blue.

The Music

Set across one debutante season, Bridgerton is packed full of balls so there’s lots of music courtesy of string quartets. As I listened, I thought, ‘I recognise this song!’ and I don’t mean familiarity with a classical piece. You see, the music is contemporary but played by a string quartet in the regency style. I specifically recognised ‘In My Blood’ by Shawn Mendes (the munchkin is a huge fan of his so I know that song well) and ‘Wildest Dreams’ by Taylor Swift (although I confess to only confirming that one after I Googled it as I didn’t quite get there and it was bugging me!) I loved this contemporary edge on a period piece.

The Settings

As with any period drama involving society, there are some sumptuous properties. Much of the series was filmed in London and Bath but there were various settings used around the country and I was particularly thrilled to spot that The Duke of Hastings’s fictional home was Castle Howard. Deep in the countryside off the A64 between Scarborough and York, I love Castle Howard. I visited it with my good friend and fellow author, Sharon Booth, in Christmas 2019 where the decorations were masquerade-themed. We’d have returned in 2020 if we could but hopefully will be able to return in 2021. I’ve put a few pics below although the sunny one was not from Christmas 2019!

Incidentally, Castle Howard makes an appearance in one of my books – New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms – under the guise of Denbury Castle where protagonist Sarah has a hot air balloon flight.

The Story

But my absolute favourite part was the story itself. It was fast-paced, gripping, full of intriguing characters. It was about love, family and friendships and all the challenges that come with that. It explored how relationships change as character circumstances change. It made me laugh out loud and it made me cry. In short, it was everything a good book should be and these are the elements I endeavour to include in all my stories as they are what excite me.

Ultimately, this was a beautiful love story about someone whose past has left them damaged and how they find their way through that. Again, a bit of a theme for my own writing.

I loved the idea that the narrator, voiced by Julie Andrews, is the person who pens the society gossip pages – Lady Whistledown – whose identity is a mystery but whose narrative certainly causes a few problems for everyone. This added a level of intrigue throughout the series which was fun. I made several wrong guesses in the first couple of episodes before guessing correctly. Not that guessing spoilt my enjoyment of the rest as I did change my mind a couple of times after that before the final reveal!

I adored all the comments about the place of women and could feel the frustration of the characters who wanted more from their lives than what society expected of them. I felt invested in them all and hoped they’d manage to achieve their dreams in the future.

And I love that this beautiful story has not been out of the Top 10 on Netflix since its release on Christmas Day proving that romance stories are alive and loved. As they should be!

I don’t want to say too much more as I don’t want to give any spoilers but I’m delighted to see the author of the books – Julia Quinn – riding high in the Amazon and Apple charts (screen shot from Apple as there were more of her books together at the time of writing).

I’d love to read the books and I can’t wait for season 2 of the series (had been planned but filming coudln’t go ahead due to the pandemic). Netflix haven’t confirmed a second season but, after the success of this one, surely there’s no question that they will.

Congratulations to Julia Quinn, Netflix, and absolutely everyone involved in this production. My faith in period dramas has been restored.

Have you seen it? If so, what did you think? Had you perhaps read the books first? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Big hugs
Jessica xx

The one where I talk about the one where…

Jessica Redland Author10 Comments

With blog titles that usually begin with the words ‘The one…’ you might have already guessed that I’m a fan of the phenomenally successful TV show Friends.

Ten seasons covering 236 episodes were originally aired between 1994 and 2004. Unless you’ve been hibernating in Outer Mongolia, I’m sure you know the premise: the lives and loves of six friends (Chandler, Joey, Monica, Phoebe, Rachel and Ross) who live in New York and frequent their nearby coffee shop, Central Perk. They’re in their mid-20s when the series starts.

I didn’t actually watch Friends from the start although I didn’t watch much TV full stop at the time, preferring to watch films if I had some free time. I think it was probably about season four or five when I was away with work and staying with an old university friend who lived in the area. He and his wife were huge fans and, after expressing shock that I wasn’t, I was jokingly advised that I needed to stay quiet for half an hour while the episode aired, even if I hated every moment. I didn’t hate it. I absolutely loved it and wondered why I’d never watched Friends before.

After that, I didn’t watch Friends on TV but, each time a season ended and the videos came out on a 2-for-1 deal, I’d treat myself. Yes, I did say videos! In later years, I traded the videos for DVDs. Expensive! Kind of negated the savings on the 2-for-1 deal! Although my younger brother (also a huge fan) can’t believe I have several different styles in my box set. To be fair, they’re not aesthetically pleasing all mixed up like that but, as I’d already bought the videos, it was about replacing them with the least expensive DVD set!

Why am I talking about Friends today? Because I recently finished (slowly) working my way through all ten seasons. I can’t remember when I started watching them but it wasn’t a lockdown thing. I think it might have been the very start of the year when I was working crazy hours and struggling to sleep. I couldn’t seem to switch off on an evening but my eyes were too tired to focus on a book so I wondered if watching a couple of episodes of something I’d seen before might be a relaxing wind-down pre-bedtime and hopefully help me sleep better. It did seem to do the trick. And, of course, I couldn’t not work my way through all 236 episodes.

When I watch TV shows and films these days, I can’t help watching them as a writer. After watching the second series of Ricky Gervais’s brilliant Afterlife earlier this year, I actually tweeted him to say how fantastic the writing was. Because it was! Both seasons had brilliantly observed characters, realistic, clever dialogue and absolutely represented life in a way that could have me belly laughing one minute and sobbing the next while marvelling at the genius of the writing.

I’d seen the occasional episode of Friends since I wrote my debut novel but watching all ten seasons as a published author meant I approached them in a different way. I concentrated more on the character arcs, how quirks were emphasised more as the seasons progressed, how themes developed in more depth in later seasons and how the writers would drop in the occasional curveball. I considered the dynamics across the whole group but also the relationships between the different individuals.

If you’re a fan and you’re asked to come up with pairings, you’d immediately think of the romantic pairings of Ross & Rachel and Chandler & Monica, the friendships between Rachel & Monica and Joey & Chandler, and the siblings rivalry between Ross & Monica. But I hadn’t appreciated quite how many scenes Rachel shared with Joey or Phoebe and how close Phoebe and Joey were. And I hadn’t appreciated how many sensitive moments Joey had and how much good advice he gave.

What I also found myself focusing on was secondary characters and the impact they had on the friendship dynamics, whether they were recurring characters or one-off guest appearances. I hadn’t noticed before how many episodes Gunther appears in before he actually speaks. I hadn’t appreciated quite how many times Janice reappears.

I have to give so much credit to the writers for the way they maintained storylines for six main characters throughout 10 seasons. When writing a series of novels, it can be challenging enough to keep one or two main characters ‘busy’. The thought of doing this for six gives me palpitations!

I also marvelled at the slick way in which guests appeared, particularly those who were from one of the character’s pasts. The fact that a friend or relative had never been mentioned before made no difference; they just seemed to smoothly fit in. A few of my absolute favourites are:

  • Brad Pitt (married to Jennifer Aniston at the time) appearing as Ross’s former schoolfriend who’d formed the ‘I hate Rachel Green’ club with him and still hating Rachel
  • Julia Roberts (who was dating Matthew Perry at the time of being booked for the cameo) wreaking her revenge on Chandler who’d humiliated her at school
  • Denise Richards appearing as Monica and Ross’s cousin, Cassie and everyone finding her irresistible, especially when she tosses her hair (and Barry White starts playing)

As for who my favourite friend is, I would have always proclaimed Chandler but, having watched the seasons back to back, it’s a close-run thing now between Chandler and Rachel. I love her character arc from being spoilt and selfish to being a really caring individual while still maintaining her personality quirks.

Watching a superbly-written series like this can’t fail to benefit my own writing and I think there are some great lessons to learn about the use of secondary and minor characters.

I was sad when I got to the end and I’m sure I’ll watch them all again in years to come. Life is so much better with Friends in it 🙂

Are you a Friends fan? Who’s your favourite ‘friend’? Which cameo did you enjoy the most? What’s your favourite episode? What did you think of the plotting / writing /dialogue /characterisation? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Big hugs

Jessica xx