Bridgerton season three has landed on Netflix and it’s finally the time for Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton’s characters to step into the lead roles, but the reviews are mixed

Critics have been left divided over the third season of Netflix hit Bridgerton.

Fans have been eagerly awaiting the third instalment of the hit period drama, but critics have failed to agree on some of the key aspects of the new love story centred on Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton’s characters. Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton are at the heart of the new season as viewers watch their long-simmering romance turn into something steamy.

The Guardian’s Rachel Aroesti praised the new episodes as “unbearably sexy”. She said: “As we dive into season three, the show’s delights are still blindingly obvious, its flaws possible to overlook. Just like the besotted couples it follows, Bridgerton’s honeymoon phase is far from over.”

TIME’s Judy Berman echoed Rachel and wrote: “In Season 3, viewers get to know Penelope better than we’ve ever known any of the show’s characters—and Bridgerton has never been as good as it is with its real heroine in the spotlight.”

However, The Evening Standard’s Vicky Jessop, who gave the series two stars, accused the series of using a “formula” that “is wearing decidedly thin”. She added: “The plot beats are predictable (the old gambit of entering a room just as somebody says the wrong thing is getting old fast), the romance feels copy and paste and they all live happily ever after.”

The Telegraph echoed the latter and also gave the new series two stars, claiming Nicola and Luke have “almost zero chemistry” – despite their friendship in real-life.

The Independent’s Nick Hilton argued that the Netflix period drama is “losing its bite” and joined other critics in giving it a disappointing two star rating. However, he praised Nicola saying: “Coughlan is a superb screen presence and has long been one of Bridgerton’s strengths.”

Meanwhile, actress Nicola recently revealed she was adamant about stripping off for sex scenes in Bridgerton, in response to trolls who slammed her weight online. Speaking to Stylist, she explained she worked with intimacy coordinator Lizzy Talbot, adding: “You go, ‘Ok, what do I want to show? What don’t I want to show? What’s scripted, and what do I want to add?’”

She continued: “I specifically asked for certain lines and moments to be included. There’s one scene where I’m very naked on camera, and that was my idea, my choice. It just felt like the biggest ‘f**k you’ to all the conversation surrounding my body; it was amazingly empowering. I felt beautiful in the moment, and I thought: ‘When I’m 80, I want to look back on this and remember how f***ing hot I looked!’”