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TL; DR: 

  • Rupert Young, who plays Lord Featherington on Bridgerton Season 2, is the brother of Sanditon writer Justin Young. 
  • The show’s have some things in common but are “tonally” different, Justin Young said in a recent interview. 
  • Both series are confirmed to return for a third season. 
Side-by-side photos of Charlotte and Alison from 'Sanditon' and Lady Danbury and Kate from 'Bridgerton'
[L-R] ‘Sanditon’; ‘Bridgerton’ | Joss Barratt © Red Planet; Liam Daniel/Netflix © 2022

Netflix’s Bridgerton and PBS’s Sanditon are both Regency romances with similar-sounding names. But those aren’t the only things these two shows have in common, Sanditon writer Justin Young recently revealed. 

The ‘Sanditon’-’Bridgerton’ connection, explained

Young recently spoke with Salon about the second season of the period drama, which followed Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) on her return visit to the seaside resort town of Sanditon. She’s grieving the loss of Sidney (Theo James), her first love, who has died in Antigua. At first, she’s determined to embrace a life of independence. But after she takes a job as a governess, she begins to fall for her reclusive employer, Mr. Colbourne (Ben Lloyd-Hughes), only for that romance to end in heartbreak as well. 

Sanditon Season 1 aired in early 2020, and PBS and BritBox’s decision to renew the show more than a year after it aired was a welcome surprise to fans – and to those involved in the production. But for Young, there was a bit of a catch.  

“Just after we got recommissioned for season 2, and I was really happy, my dear brother came round and he said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’ve just been cast in Season 2 of Bridgerton,’” he said.

Justin Young’s brother is Rupert Young, who plays the new Lord Featherington in Bridgerton’s second season.

“Imagine my mother right now; she’s got to choose,” Young went on. “Which one does she think is better? Which son has made a better show, is it Bridgerton or Sanditon?” 

Justin Young says the two shows are ‘tonally’ different 

Young didn’t reveal which show his mother preferred. But he did go on to say that despite some superficial similarities, each show had its own distinct identity. 

“I’m being facetious because they are different, and I really respect what they do on Bridgerton. The two shows are so different, in many respects, tonally and stylistically. In a funny way, a lot of the things we got criticized for with season 1 – that we were a bit irreverent, that we were too sexy – Bridgerton just came in and they did all those things 10 times over. But we’re judged on slightly different standards I think because we’ve got Jane Austen in our title and Andrew Davies is on board.”

Both ‘Bridgerton’ and ‘Sanditon’ are returning for season 3 

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One other thing that Bridgerton and Sanditon have in common? Both shows will be returning for a third (and in Bridgerton’s case, a fourth) season. 

Sanditon’s second season ended on a cliffhanger, with Charlotte revealing she was engaged to a farmer named Ralph (Cal Brigden) and her friend Georgiana (Crystal Clarke) reeling after learning that her mother was still alive. Fortunately, fans should get some resolution to both storylines in season 3, which will air sometime in 2023 on PBS. 

Bridgerton Season 2 ended with a happily-ever-after for Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) and Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey). Season 3 should focus on the romantic adventures of another Bridgerton sibling, but there’s no official word yet on who the central couple will be or a release date.

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