\u201cMostly she does more of the same this year,\u201d says Gemmell, \u201ctrying to force her children into marriage. She\u2019s rather irritated with Benedict at the beginning because he\u2019s not really playing ball. But she also spends a lot more time with Marcus Anderson (Daniel Francis).\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSpending a lot more time\u201d is Gemmell\u2019s euphemism for what becomes quite the steamy romance with Anderson.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a little bit scared when I read the scripts, if I\u2019m honest. Just because I\u2019m pushing 60 and the idea of having the same kind of storyline as the children was not massively appealing. But it was a laugh. Daniel\u2019s lovely and it was a bit of a chance to do something different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Violet\u2019s relationship with Marcus is indeed something different. In fact, his character doesn\u2019t actually feature in Julia Quinn\u2019s novels and was invented entirely for the series. Quinn has stated she couldn\u2019t imagine anyone good enough for Violet and never wrote about her remarrying.<\/p>\n
![\"Ruth](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BRIDGERTON404Unit02318R-6c6e797.jpg\" "\\"BRIDGERTON_404_Unit_02318R\\"")
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Ruth Gemmell as Lady Violet Bridgerton and Daniel Francis as Lord Anderson in Bridgerton.\u00a0Liam Daniel\/Netflix<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt quite strongly that I wasn\u2019t massively open to the idea [of Violet finding a new partner],\u201d Gemmell says. \u201cOnly because we have steered away from the books quite a lot and I don\u2019t want to do the books or their fans a disservice. But then when you have a book, it changes dramatically when you put it onto screen. So you have to go with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which she gamely does. Violet and Marcus have, if not a torrid affair, then a simmering one, and it\u2019s undoubtedly unusual for television to depict older people in such an intimate sexual relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not dead!\u201d says Gemmell. \u201cAs a society, we get wrapped up in the first throes of love and that is represented with youth and all of that. But I think there\u2019s a lot of mileage to come from somebody with experience, whether that\u2019s heartbreak, grief or life in general. Our viewer demographic is around my age anyway. So, it\u2019s nice to be representative.\u201d<\/p>\n
This new storyline meant that, for the first time in four series, Gemmell worked with an intimacy coordinator.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time I realised that there was going to be a bit of a foray into this area was at a costume fitting and that freaked me out. But they were very respectful about what I was and wasn\u2019t prepared to do. You have a conversation with the intimacy adviser, it\u2019s a closed set and you have a crew that you know well, so you feel safe. Also, it was very restrained compared to some of the younger lot. Which was a bloody relief for everyone, probably.\u201d<\/p>\n
The latest issue of Radio Times will be released on Tuesday 20 January \u2013 subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bridgerton seasons 1-3 are available to watch on Netflix<\/a> now. Season 4 will arrive on Thursday 29th January 2026. Sign up for Netflix from \u00a35.99 a month<\/a>. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass<\/a> and Virgin Media Stream<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can buy the Bridgerton book series on Amazon<\/a>.<\/p>\n Add Bridgerton to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app<\/a> \u2013 download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.<\/p>\n Check out more of our Drama<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a> to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine. In its own impeccable way, Bridgerton has always pushed TV…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-376952","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"1-SE-05-2-Cover\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-SE-05-2-Cover-a425cf8.jpg\" "\\"1-SE-05-2-Cover\\"")
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