This is something of a trope in period dramas. After all, who could forget the marriage-obsessed Mrs Bennet of Pride & Prejudice? But in Bridgerton, this is not the middle-aged woman’s lot. This season, Violet has been given the glimmer of a romantic arc of her own – and (sorry to the Polin fans) it’s already promising to be far more intriguing and nuanced than many of the more youthful romances in the show.

If the show’s third season teaches us anything, dearest gentle reader, it is this: while the passion and uncertainty of young love may be thrilling, both the joys and pains of lived experience can offer something far more profound. With the second part of Bridgerton’s third season, the show has finally found its heartbeat in its older female characters, thrumming away in the background and bringing unexpected weight and meaning to the frothy romances bubbling away on the show’s surface.

“Bridgerton’s third season is finally letting middle-aged women shine”