BRIDGERTON's History That Never Was

 Article first published as TV Review: BRIDGERTON on Seat42F.

On Christmas day, Netflix dropped the eight-episode first season of BRIDGERTON, a gift to many viewers. Created by Grey’s Anatomy’s Shonda Rhimes, this period piece is soapy drama from the Regency era of English history beginning around 1813. Part Pride and Prejudice, part Gossip Girl, the costumes and performances (not to mention narration by Dame Julie Andrews as Lady Whistledown) make it seem classy, even as its modern pacing will help it appeal to more modern audiences.

The story of BRIDGERTON begins as the local young ladies are introduced for courting season, essentially a period of open dating and marriage proposals. The Bridgerton family is one of the most powerful in town, and daughter Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor, Dickensian) even catches the eye of Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel, Lady Macbeth), making her pairing most promising. That is until her older brother, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey, Broadchurch), now head of the household, sabotages her prospects, leaving her with a single, unattractive suitor. Luckily, Daphne’s mother, Lady Violet (Ruth Gemmell, Deep State), plots with her friend, Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh, Fractured), to pair Daphne with Simon, the Duke of Hastings (Rege-Jean Page, For the People), who is refusing the marry, and just happens to be Anthony’s best friend. Simon and Daphne see right through the matchmaking, but decide that a fake relationship would serve them both.

Nearby family, the Featheringtons, is headed by Baroness Portia (Polly Walker, Rome), who has three daughters she’d like to see married off. This includes young Penelope (Nicola Coughlan, Derry Girls), who isn’t even interested in boys yet, and wishes she could delay a year like her bestie, Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie, Dixi). The girls would rather look at books, and are terrified when Portia’s new charge, Marina Thompson (Ruby Barker, Wolfblood), is revealed to be pregnant, wondering how that could happen outside of marriage so they can avoid it themselves.

And all of this drama is captured by Lady Whistledown, who distributes gossip pamphlets that the upper crust devour, all the while wondering at her identity.

These details are merely scratching the surface of BRIDGERTON, which is very involved and has a lot of characters. However, it doesn’t get bogged down by this, keeping its focus on a few, and using the supporting players appropriately where needed. The pacing isn’t too fast, but it isn’t slow, either, an enjoyable romp that should expand beyond the appeal of most shows set in this era.

One glaring question I had going into BRIDGERTON is how the series would deal with race, seeing as how I couldn’t imagine Shonda putting forth an all-white cast, as one might expect for a program set in this era, other than seeing a minority as a maid or other ancillary role. The answer is, the show doesn’t deal with it. Certain families in the series, including the Queen and the Duke himself, are just Black and there’s no comment one way or the other. Ethnicity doesn’t seem to play into the attraction of one character to another, nor does it influence the social structure displayed. Basically, it’s a reimagining of history that allows performers or all colors to participate and ignores what actually was, to its credit. I hope more shows follow suit.

I loved Downtown Abbey, but am not a fan of P&P nor most other shows like this. Yet, I do love Shonda, and I found this cast of mostly-unknowns (to me) to be charming and compelling. At eight episodes, it’s an easy season to swallow, and I can easily see myself finishing it, even as I had no plans to before watching. I wouldn’t call it must-see, but it is good, and if you like some soapy historical stuff, BRIDGERTON has you covered.

BRIDGERTON is available now on Netflix.

"Time" For Better DOCTOR WHO

Article first published as TV Review: 'Doctor Who' - "Time Heist" on Blogcritics.

You may not have seen the latest Doctor Who episode, “Time Heist,” before it aired for the first time this weekend, but it sure feels like it’s a repeat! The plot is quite similar to other shows or films. The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and Clara (Jenna Coleman) answer a mysterious phone call to the TARDIS, then wake up in a room with two other individuals, clueless about how they got there and why they’ve gathered. Before they’ve begun to digest their situation, though, law enforcement is upon them and they have no choice but to complete a mission given to them: break into the most secure bank in the universe.

It isn’t completely unbelievable that The Doctor and Clara would go along with the scenario, but it’s also not the most sensible thing, either. They both love adventure, and are liable to jump headlong into the unknown. They hear their own voices saying that their memories have been wiped at their own, freely-made choice, with the worms that erased the past hours or days sitting right in front of them. Being pursued, perhaps the only way to move is keep going forward. Yet, I question how not-suspicious the duo are in their participation.

If one can set that aside, “Time Heist” is not a bad episode, at least not for the action fans. It’s certainly fast-paced and quite a lot happens. It features our heroes running through tunnels pursued by dangerous enemies. There are mysteries and strange looking creatures. Viewers are transported to an alien world that feels very different from earth. These are all good things to have in a Doctor Who episode.

I also like the guest stars in “Time Heist” who play different variations on the human being. Psi (Jonathan Bailey, Broadchurch, Leonardo) has computer hardware embedded in his skull, allowing him to access his brain like a machine. However, he misses what’s been erased and wishes he could recover it. Saibra (Pippa Bennett-Warner, The Smoke) has a genetic mutation that makes her look like whomever she touches, making it impossible for anyone to get too close to her, as people don’t tend to trust someone who is staring back at them with their own eyes. This Scarecrow and Tin Woodsman, along for the adventure to get their brain and heart back, respectively, are interesting characters in their own right, and open up all kinds of ripe possibilities for the future of mankind, which I hope Doctor Who explores further someday, rather than just dropping the passing references to them it usually does.

The Teller (Ross Mullan, Bear Behaving Badly) is less well developed, but is a pretty cool looking alien.

But the way “Time Heist” skates over all of these things feels too quick. It’s like the writers only care about getting to the end of the hour with adrenaline still rushing, rather than exploring the potential of the story. From The Doctor’s callous reaction to Saibra and Psi’s deaths, an echo of his behavior in other recent episodes, but still not mulled over enough, to the incomplete explanation of how The Doctor and the central antagonist (Keeley Hawes, The Bank Job, Ashes to Ashes) set the whole thing up, something about the hour just doesn’t feel quite right. It’s an incomplete portrait, sketched in, but never fully realized.

“Time Heist” is not the worst episode of Doctor Who Season Eight so far; that distinction belongs to “Robot of Sherwood.” But it is the second-worst in my opinion, and with two such mediocre, uneven entries this early into the season, the year is not shaping up to be among Doctor Who‘s best. Hopefully, future weeks will salvage this and give us more stories along the lines of last week’s brilliant “Listen,” rather than another one like this, which isn’t bad, but isn’t great either.

Doctor Who airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET on BBC America.