For a long time the international reputation of British television has rested, fairly or otherwise, on period drama.

 

The Brits have the sweeping vistas, the stately homes, the crunchy gravel drives, the accents and the costumes. They have a ready supply of performers schooled in Shakespearean verse; and shelves full of Austen, Dickens and Thackeray to adapt. It is a treat for the eyes and ears that Americans, in particular, just can’t resist — they liked watching Downton Abbey so much that they were happy to overlook its clunk- ing storylines for a decade.

What Americans have not attempted, however, is to make a British period drama of their own. Enter Bridgerton, in which a gaudy Yank with big pockets — Netflix — takes fusty old British period drama and gives it some swagger.

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