Bridgerton Season 4 Arrives: Release Date, Cast Updates, and What Time It Drops in Australia

Bridgerton season 4 is officially here, bringing Benedict Bridgerton to the center of the romance and introducing Sophie Baek as the season’s key new face. The fourth season follows the series’ tradition of focusing on one sibling’s love story, while still keeping the wider ton’s rivalries, rules, and reputations in motion.

By Thursday, January 29, 2026, Eastern Time, the first half of the season is available to stream, with the remaining episodes scheduled to follow next month. Further specifics were not immediately available.

Bridgerton Season 4 release date and what time it comes out in Australia

The Bridgerton season 4 release date is split into two parts. Part 1 premieres Thursday, January 29, 2026, and Part 2 premieres Thursday, February 26, 2026, both in Eastern Time.

If you’re searching “what time is Bridgerton coming out” or “what time does Bridgerton come out,” the practical answer is that the platform drops episodes globally at the same moment, which means local clocks vary by region. For viewers asking “what time does Bridgerton come out Australia” or “what time is Bridgerton coming out in Australia,” that global release maps to an evening drop across Australian time zones.

Here is the commonly used conversion for Australia when the release lands at 3:00 a.m. ET:

• 7:00 p.m. in AEDT for New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory

• 6:00 p.m. in AEST for Queensland

• 6:30 p.m. in ACDT for South Australia

• 5:30 p.m. in ACST for the Northern Territory

• 5:00 p.m. in AWST for Western Australia

That timing is why “Netflix Australia Bridgerton season 4” searches often spike late afternoon into evening locally, even though the release is early morning in the United States.

Benedict Bridgerton and Sophie Baek take the lead

Season 4 pivots to Benedict Bridgerton, played by Luke Thompson, long positioned as the family’s artistic, restless second son. His story begins with a masquerade where he becomes captivated by a mysterious “Lady in Silver,” only to discover his feelings don’t fit neatly into the ton’s rules once identities and class expectations collide.

Yerin Ha joins the series as Sophie Baek, whose life is defined less by ballrooms than by work and survival. The season leans into a fairy-tale frame without pretending the stakes are weightless: the tension comes from how quickly romance can become a liability when status, employment, and reputation are part of the same social machine.

Some specifics have not been publicly clarified, including how much of the season’s later arc will be spent outside the usual high-society circuit versus inside it.

Bridgerton Season 4 cast: returning faces and new additions

For anyone searching “Bridgerton season 4 cast” or “Bridgerton cast,” the headline pairing is Thompson’s Benedict and Ha’s Sophie. A major new supporting presence is Katie Leung as Lady Araminta Gun, the formidable figure at the head of the household where Sophie works.

Season 4 also adds Araminta’s daughters to the mix: Michelle Mao plays Rosamund Li, and Isabella Wei plays Posy Li. Their presence sharpens the season’s marriage-mart pressure points, especially where ambition, appearances, and access to eligible suitors overlap.

Returning characters continue to anchor the ton’s ongoing politics and personal consequences, including the Bridgerton family’s matriarch Violet and familiar figures from the Queen’s court and the wider social set. Exactly how much screen time each returning character receives in Part 1 versus Part 2 can vary, and full episode-by-episode focus details have not been disclosed publicly.

What does “ward” mean in Bridgerton, and why it matters

If you’ve ever paused an episode to ask “what does ward mean in Bridgerton,” it’s a legal and social term with real weight in a Regency-style setting. A ward is a person placed under the protection and authority of a guardian, often because they are underage or legally unable to manage their own affairs. In practice, that guardian may influence where the ward lives, who they can see, how money is handled, and, crucially for a romance series, what choices are considered acceptable.

Mechanically, this matters because the ton treats personal autonomy as something negotiated through titles, money, and family control rather than purely individual desire. Guardianship can become a plot engine: it shapes access to inheritances, consent, and the power dynamics behind “respectable” matches.

The impact lands differently depending on who you are. Fans following the romance get higher stakes and more obstacles when a character’s future can be decided by someone else. Meanwhile, viewers watching in Australia and other regions feel the split-release structure most directly, because it changes binge habits, spoiler timing, and the week-to-week social conversation around key scenes.

The next clear milestone is the second half of Bridgerton season 4, which is scheduled to premiere on Thursday, February 26, 2026, Eastern Time, completing Benedict and Sophie’s season arc.