After Bridgerton season 3, audiences are understandably eager to see what awaits in the story’s next installment – yet the best place to get more historical drama from a similar period and setting is actually a critically acclaimed 2016 BBC series. With its emphasis on social intrigue, romance, and complex relationships, Bridgerton is a compelling melodrama that brings early 19th-century society to life in an engaging and unconventional way. While features like Bridgerton‘s ingenious use of modern music and seductive tone are difficult to replicate, other aspects of what has made the show such a hit can be found elsewhere.
Even though Bridgerton first stole headlines for its steamy romances and soap opera-style subplots, it’s become clear that the show is much more nuanced than many initially gave it credit for. Rather than the salacious surface, the real key to its success is the believable and complicated character dynamics, with relationship arcs spanning several seasons and undergoing dramatic change – all within a period setting. Many shows have tried to repeat Bridgerton‘s formula. However, one series that offers the same level of in-depth character development in the same setting – and more besides – is the acclaimed BBC drama, War & Peace.
War & Peace Is The Perfect Show To Watch After Bridgerton
It’s An Adaptation Of Tolstoy’s Legendary Novel
Based on what is widely regarded as the greatest novel ever written, the BBC adaptation of War & Peace is the perfect Bridgerton accompaniment. Just like the Netflix show, the 2016 series is set in the early 19th century – albeit a few years before Bridgerton‘s story, and in a different country. Nevertheless, the stories have remarkable overlap, while their period setting means that they appeal to the same sensibilities.
As in the 1869 novel, War & Peace begins in Russia in 1805, with the early narrative focusing on intrigue, society gossip, and blossoming romance. As in Bridgerton, the story also revolves around several central families, whose stories and relationships dictate the drama – with key historical events viewed from their perspective. As the story begins, the aristocracy engages in precisely the sort of ritual socializing seen in Bridgerton – far more concerned with scandal than the looming threat of war. This blissful ignorance is soon punctured as the story develops and is indicative of the same privileged innocence that permeates Bridgerton.
Tonally, the show is undeniably distinct from Bridgerton. While Bridgerton deliberately challenges historical convention with its colorblind casting and modern music, War & Peace represents a more accurate recreation of Russian life during the Napoleonic wars. However, with its exploration of innocence lost through experience and tragedy, and an examination of how ambition, love, and duty can shape someone’s life – combined with its period setting – War & Peace is a natural Bridgerton accompaniment.
War & Peace Takes Bridgerton’s Themes And Expands Them
The Show Provides A More Complex Portrait
Despite having “War” in the title, the impact of War & Peace doesn’t come from its action set pieces – although these are also spectacular. Instead, just like Bridgerton, the drama comes from the compelling dynamics between its key characters, allowing the show to explore what it means to love and be loved, as well as how competing interests can get in the way of romance and happiness.
| Show | Release | Rotten Tomatoes Score |
|---|---|---|
| War & Peace | 2016 | 88% |
| Bridgerton | 2020– | 84% |
The two stories are full of emotional conflict – whether it’s Penelope Featherington’s inner angst over her Lady Whistledown persona, or the bumbling Pierre Bezhukov trying to navigate treacherous relatives out to steal his newly acquired fortune. In both cases, the drama stems from deception and complex character dynamics, framing Bridgerton and War & Peace firmly within the same context.
Unlike Bridgerton , which always seems to resolve itself to everyone’s satisfaction, War & Peace is a much more accurate reflection of the reality that, sometimes, happy endings aren’t always possible.
However, while Bridgerton‘s tone is deliberately more melodramatic, War & Peace includes real tragedy within a story that adopts a much more self-serious tone. There is genuine peril within the narrative. Unlike Bridgerton, which always seems to resolve itself to everyone’s satisfaction, War & Peace is a much more accurate reflection of the reality that, sometimes, happy endings aren’t always possible. It’s a powerful message that, considering the period setting, makes War & Peace seem like a dark mirror to Bridgerton‘s colorful frippery.
War & Peace Gives Bridgerton’s Story Important Context
Knowing The History Enhances The Drama
Despite being a historical series, Bridgerton doesn’t dwell on the complexities of real-world events that coincide with the story. Perhaps the closest that the franchise has come is in the Queen Charlotte prequel, in which the story takes a revisionist look at Charlotte and George’s marriage, as well as George’s real mental illness. While generally ignoring history works for Bridgerton‘s narrative, the consequence is that the audience isn’t given relevant background that might illuminate certain aspects of the action.
Just like the source novel, War & Peace is rooted in historicity. While the main players are fictional, multiple real figures from Russian history feature in the story. The show and novel are both fascinating insights into the Napoleonic Wars from a Russian perspective (also providing a useful counterweight to other productions set in the period, such as Ridley Scott’s Napoleon).
Although Bridgerton‘s world is highly fictionalized, it nonetheless helps to have an understanding of the real 19th century provided by a show like War & Peace. Not only does it help explain the political background and wider European context, but it also highlights how the Netflix series plays with history. By watching War & Peace, audiences can gain a greater appreciation for how European high society might actually have behaved, making Bridgerton‘s pastiche all the more effective.
War & Peace Fixes A Key Bridgerton Complaint
The Story Has Real Weight
At its best, Bridgerton handles emotional stories with sensitivity and realism that feels more or less true to life. However, over three seasons, a common criticism has been that, for all its style, the series can occasionally seem insubstantial. While the merits of this argument are up for debate, this is not an accusation that can be leveled at War & Peace.
As relatable characters are exposed to greater suffering and conflict, War & Peace only becomes more emotionally powerful.
Although the 2016 series falls short of the epoch-defining story set out by Leo Tolstoy, it is nonetheless a robust and weighty exposition of universal human themes like love and heartbreak. While the story starts out with the same innocent, lightweight tone as Bridgerton, it soon descends into something much darker as the prospect of war darkens the horizon. As relatable characters are exposed to greater suffering and conflict, War & Peace only becomes more emotionally powerful.
It’s true that both War & Peace and Bridgerton are aimed at different audiences and set out to do different things. However, their alternate approaches to the same subject matter, all told within a broadly similar historical context, create an undeniable connection between the projects. While viewers shouldn’t expect the same experience, there’s no doubt that one helps enhance the other.
