‘Bridgerton’ Showrunner Jess Brownell Explains Why We Didn’t Get Penelope and Lady Danbury’s Friendship in Season 3

Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1 has been delighting hardcore fans of the book series by bringing some of the most beloved moments in Julia Quinn’s Romancing Mister Bridgerton to life. We’ve gotten Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) reading Colin’s (Luke Newton) journals and then tending to his injured hand, “somewhere between my heart and and my mouth,” the carriage ride, and, of course, “For God’s sake, Penelope Featherington, are you going to marry me or not?” But there’s one key relationship that buoys Penelope’s emotional journey in that book that has not been explored by the Netflix show: Pen’s friendship with Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh).

In the books, it is Lady Danbury who first notices there is more to Penelope than meets the eye and encourages the wallflower to blossom in society, rather than hold back. It’s a moving mentorship that we’ve oddly not gotten so much of an inkling of in Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1. Instead, it is Colin whose friendship unlocks Penelope’s confidence and Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) and her debutante daughter Francesca (Hannah Dodd) occupying Lady Danbury’s attentions.

So what gives? Why didn’t Netflix’s Bridgerton want to show us the sharp-tongued matron of the ton bond with the acid-quilled author of Lady Whistledown’s columns?

“There were a few different reasons,” Bridgerton Season 3 showrunner Jess Brownell said when Decider asked her about this choice last week. “I mean, first of all, I do love the Penelope and Lady Danbury connection in the book.”

Brownell said their concerns about the storyline had to do with what we’ve seen Lady Danbury do in the past and how she’s been acting in service to the lead characters. They wanted more for Lady D.

“We felt like we’ve watched two seasons of Lady Danbury being heavily involved in molding or shaping the main couple and we wanted to give her a storyline that was more about her,” Brownell said. “And not just about her being an accessory on the sidelines to someone else’s story. We wanted to put her more front and center.”

Yes, she helps Francesca, but there are hints that Lady Danbury’s real arc is going to be tied to secrets from her past and storylines teased in the Bridgerton spin-off, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, last year.

Lady Danbury is perturbed when her brother, Marcus Anderson (Daniel Francis), arrives in town. Her scorn only grows when it seems Marcus has taken a shine to her new bestie Violet — whom we now know is the daughter of the great love of Lady Danbury’s life. Hence, why she meddles so much in the lives of the Bridgerton siblings; they are her last living connection to her true love, Lord Ledger (Keir Charles).

“We also wanted to pick up the threads that were established in Queen Charlotte, which deepened her and Violet’s backstory. So it felt nice to connect Violet and Danbury by bringing in the Marcus Anderson character, who both follows up on the plot about Violet wanting to ‘tend to her garden,'” Brownell said referring to the subplot where the long-widowed Violet was finally feeling DTF, “while also continuing to delve more deeply into Lady Danbury’s backstory.”

Of course, who knows? Maybe Lady Danbury and Penelope will kindle a friendly connection in Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2! But for now it looks like Lady D is more focused on her brother and Violet.

Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2 premieres on Netflix on June 13.