Bridgerton fans, prepare yourselves — because according to Polly Walker, things are about to look a little different on the Ton. Season 4 of Netflix’s hit Regency romance has officially wrapped filming, and while the spotlight will shift to Benedict Bridgerton’s (Luke Thompson) love story with Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha), longtime characters like Lady Portia Featherington (Walker) still have plenty of mischief left in them. In a new interview with Collider’s Therese Lacson promoting Bookish at the International Global Series Festival, Walker confirmed that this upcoming season isn’t just changing romantic leads — it’s shifting tone.
“I think this season will be — which we’ve just finished doing — I think it’s a very different tone. Sort of upstairs-downstairs, so you get to know some of the other, you know, the servants, the people who are standing at the door, witnessing it all. You get to hear their stories a bit more.”
While that layered, Downton Abbey-style perspective should add richness to the world of Bridgerton, don’t expect Lady Featherington to suddenly turn virtuous. It’s not becoming that sort of show, folks, we’ll still get our nonsense quota in, that you can all be greatly assured of: “My character, Lady Featherington, is still up to no good,” she said with a grin. Unfortunately, romance may still be eluding Portia. When Bookish co-creator Mark Gatiss jokingly asked if she had a boyfriend this season, Walker responded with a laugh:
“No! They’ve decided that I’m not worthy of a boyfriend. I desperately need a boyfriend, but they won’t give me one. They give everybody else boyfriends.”
Meanwhile, Season 4 brings the long-awaited adaptation of An Offer From a Gentleman, Julia Quinn’s Cinderella-inspired novel about Benedict and Sophie. Showrunner Jess Brownell promised fans a more faithful interpretation than past seasons during Netflix’s Seasons of Love event earlier this year. “It really lends itself to adaptation, just plot-wise,” Brownell said. “Character motivation, especially Benedict’s, is quite different from the book, in that Luke Thompson brings this wonderful sensitivity and self-awareness to the character. In Benedict’s story of trying to woo Sophie, I think the character is a bit more delicate and thoughtful, perhaps, in the way he goes about it.”
What Is ‘Bookish’ About?
Bookish stars Mark Gatiss as Gabriel Book, a gay bookseller whose shop is a treasure trove of clues waiting to be uncovered. He assists the police in solving a series of intriguing mysteries. His lavender marriage to Trottie (played by Walker) conceals his sexuality at a time when being gay was illegal in Britain.
Bookish will debut on PBS Mystery on July 16. Bridgerton streams on Netflix.
