The Lady’s Companion, period comedy from Spain

The Lady’s Companion (Manual para señoritas) is a little bit Bridgerton, a little bit Jane the Virgin, a little bit Fleabag, and a little bit plain old romcom. Set in Madrid in the 1880s in an upper class world where young ladies had companions who chaperoned their every interaction with the opposite sex, we follow one chaperone named Elena (Nadia de Santiago) whose job is finding suitable husbands for three sisters.

The Lady’s Companion is basically a telenovela – a big soapy story with surprises and twists. There’s a narrator who speaks godlike to Elena, there’s a lot of breaking the fourth wall as Elena speaks to the audience. There are cute animations thrown into the action and a clever animated sequence at the opening that changes in every episode. There are beautiful homes, beautiful costumes, horses and carriages, dances, hunts, séances and plenty of humor. Mixed in with all that authentic period drama were some startling American pop music choices introduced at key moments

The sisters’ father (Tristán Ulloa) needs a lot of help with his rebellious girls after his wife dies. The family’s long term friend Santiago (Álvaro Mel) is always around and attracts attention from more than one person in the household.

Elena wins the job of companion for three sisters. The oldest, Sara (Zoe Bonafonte), dreams of being a doctor. The middle girl, Cristina (Isa Montalbán), is already in love with a dude (Carloto Cotta) who loves her and leaves her with a growing problem on her hands. The youngest is Carlota (Iratxe Emparan), a little Goth girl who wants nothing more than a huge spider as a gift.

The plot is full of backstabbing, plots, secrets, sex (including lesbians) and efforts to arrange marriages with all the wrong people. Elena has a hidden past plus her own romance going – totally inappropriate, of course.

I found it all clever and fun and full of whimsical little touches that made it light in tone and style.

The Netflix series was directed by Carlos Sedes and Claudia Pinto. The final thing we see on the screen is “To Be Continued . . .” so I assume there is a second season of this comedy romp in the works. Make it quick, please, Netflix.