My Brilliant Career has cured my period drama-hating past by being the best TV show I've seen on Netflix this year — but don't expect it to be a Bridgerton bonkbuster
by https://www.techradar.com/uk/author/jasmine-valentine · TechRadarTechRadar Verdict
As someone who devoutly hates period dramas, I cannot express highly enough how impressed I am with My Brilliant Career. Its self-assured, relentless, and empowered sense of storytelling brings us the best of the Australian New Wave era, fit for 2026.
Pros
- +A classic feminist tale with a 2026 twist
- +Feisty, curious and unrelenting in all the right ways
- +An exceptional cast
- +Satisfying and fully fleshed-out subplots
- +An astonishing landscape
- +Never takes itself too seriously but doesn't patronise Aboriginal history
Cons
- -If you're expecting a Bridgerton level of sex, you won't get it
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In the mid 2000s, I was fascinated with the reality TV show Aussie Ladette to Lady. It branded a "new breed" of Australian woman as loud, vulgar, and unfit for any self-respecting society, thrusting them into weeks-long sophistication training that, of course, never lasted. In a nutshell, this is also the premise for the new Netflix series My Brilliant Career.
In hindsight, the former TV show was nothing but an excuse to vilify a new kind of 'modern woman' for the sake of viewing figures, purposefully engineering mistakes to be captured on camera through the magic of reality TV production. If these producers were around in the early 1900s, Sybylla (Philippa Northeast) would be ripe for the picking.
My Brilliant Career introduces us to the voracious, outspoken, and self-assured eldest daughter from Possum Gully (what an incredible name) as she's forced to move into her Grandma's (Anna Chancellor) house to be conditioned for her entry to high society. Convinced that she doesn't want a husband but instead wants to live life to the fullest — and become a published writer in the process — Sybylla is a woman before her time. For us in 2026, that also means she's timeless.
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How? Her refusal to back down, concede to a patriarchal society that is built for her to fail, and an impeccable ability to see the godforsaken truth from a mile away. Sybylla is the type of woman most of us aspire to be now, let alone over 100 years ago.
So framing her plight in early 20th-century Australia only makes her triumphs all the more delicious. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that the six-episode binge doesn't even feel like a typical period drama.
As a renowned hater of the genre, watching My Brilliant Career is the most unexpected pleasure I've had so far this year — and I'll happily vouch for it being the strongest and most authentic show that Netflix has released across 2026 to date. And what if I said that I even prefer it to Bridgerton?
My Brilliant Career is the joyous binge I need in my life right now
My Brilliant Career | Official Trailer | Netflix - YouTube
If you know a thing or two about Australian New Wave Cinema, you might recognize this story already. Based on the novel of the same name by Miles Franklin (who, if you haven't guessed, is a woman using her middle name as a pseudonym), My Brilliant Career was first adapted for film in 1979.
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