Untitled prequel will centre on Violet Bridgerton

Netflix has ordered a second spin-off series of its hit franchise Bridgerton.

The Shondaland-produced prequel will focus on the romance between Violet and Edmund Bridgerton, whose eight children are the subject of the main series.

Shondaland chief executive and Bridgerton exec producer Shonda Rhimes and Inventing Anna scribe Nicholas Nardini will serve as showrunners, executive producers and co-writers on the drama, which is a limited series.

Rhimes also created Bridgerton’s first spin-off Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, which is set largely before the events of the main show.

Parent series director Tom Verica and Betsy Beers will also exec produce.

No release date or casting details have been announced for the as-yet-untitled project.

Violet, who will be the central character of the new prequel, is played by Ruth Gemmell in Bridgerton, while her late husband Edmund, seen only in flashbacks, is portrayed by Rupert Evans.

Filming for series five of Bridgerton is currently underway, and series six was greenlit in May last year.

Bridgerton, which first launched on Netflix in 2020, is based on a series of novels by Julia Quinn and has consistently been among the highest-rated shows on the platform.

Series four, which landed earlier this year, premiered at number one on the Global English TV list and reached the Top 10 in 92 countries. It reached 3.5m viewers in the UK after seven days, according to Barb data provided by overnights.tv.