Netflix's Spanish Period Drama 'The Lady's Companion' Looks Colorful & Charming

There are plenty of reasons to be annoyed with Netflix these days, from the streamer's seemingly endless price increases and questionable recommendation algorithm to its penchant for canceling series before they get a chance to grow an audience (cough Dead Boy Detectives cough) or because they're seen as too expensive to bankroll for more than a season or two and they're not named Stranger Things. But, credit where it's due: Netflix has absolutely put its money where its mouth is when it comes to supporting its international production arms and properties.

Some of the best shows on Netflix at the moment hail from countries outside the United States, and I'm not just talking about the international juggernaut that is Squid Game. From charming Italian legal drama The Law According to Lidia Poët to lush period German historical The Empress and its sumptuous Colombian adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, the streamer is consistently putting out bangers in what feels like every language. 

The trend is set to continue this spring with the arrival of the buzzy new series The Leopard, but the sprawling Italian epic is not the only international period drama in March. Spanish series The Lady's Companion is also set to premiere, and its first images promise a delightful romantic comedy of matchmaking, manners, and appropriately colorful costumes in late nineteenth-century Madrid. 

The series follows the story of Elena Bianda, one of the city's most successful ladies' chaperones who has successfully helped many young women find acceptable husbands. But her skills are put to the test when she is hired to care for the Mencia daughters, a trio of siblings who may be more than she bargained for. 

The eight-part drama stars Nadia de Santiago (Cable Girls) as Elena, alongside Álvaro Mel (La Fortuna), Isa Montalbán (HollyBlood), and Zoe Bonafonte (The Goldsmith's Secret). The ensemble cast also includes Iratxe Emparán, Tristán Ulloa, Carloto Cotta, Paula Usero, Candela Pradas, María Barranco, Itziar Manero, María Caballero, and Gracia Olayo. 

Here's the series synopsis. 

Madrid, 1880. Elena Bianda is the most sought-after lady’s companion in the city. Despite her youth, she has already helped more than 20 young women secure proper courtships and engagements. Her success lies in her strict moral guidance for families while remaining attuned to the concerns of the young women she mentors—a delicate balance she has mastered flawlessly. Seeing her protégées walk successfully down the aisle is her life's purpose. Everything changes, however, when she arrives at the Mencía household and finds herself responsible for three sisters.
 

The Lady's Companion is created by Gema R. Neira (Cable Girls) and María José Rustarazo (Velvet). Both women are also writers on the series, alongside Salvador S. Serrano, Sara Alquezar, and Ricardo Jornet. Carlos Sedes and Clauia Pinto split helming duties. 

This drama is produced by Bambú Producciones, with Neira serving as executive producer and Ramón Campos as producer. 

All eight episodes of The Lady's Companion will premiere globally on Netflix on March 28.