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THE DUKE OF HASTINGS wants to talk about female masturbation. And by the Duke of Hastings, I mean Simon Bassett (Regé-Jean Page), the occasionally rakish – although, quite frankly, he wishes – hero of Bridgerton , Netflix’s scandalous new period drama set in Regency-era London. And he wants to talk about it with Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), the forthright heroine of this barely laced series, on a quest to find a husband and secure the social standing of her family.

Based on a gaggle of early 00s romance novels, the whole thing trundles along merrily like a barouche containing a single man in possession of a good fortune who, as we all know, be in want of a wife. But where period dramas of old leaned towards to the conservative values of decades past, has a modern sheen, courtesy of both its diverse cast – Page is black, as are several co-stars including Golda Rosheuvel, who plays Queen Charlotte – and a refreshing approach to sex. might as well be called , given its devotion to availing its heroines of an adequate bedroom education, an area in which the actual 19th century completely failed its female population. “When you are alone, you can touch yourself … anywhere that gives you