What is The Buccaneers based on and is it a true story?

Apple TV's The Buccaneers is proving to be a hit TV series - but is the regency era show based on a true story?

In case you somehow missed it, when Bridgerton aired on Netflix in late 2020, the world pretty much exploded - it quickly became the #1 show on Netflix, proving that regency era romances have a strong hold on our society today. That's why Apple TV's new series - The Buccaneers - is heading in the same trajectory right now. 

The Buccaneers, which just aired on Apple TV on 8 November, has already garnered a lot of attention, with people comparing the new regency era show to the likes of Bridgerton, The Gilded Age and The Great. The show released four episodes to start, which follow the lives of five "low in funds but high in class" young debutantes from America who travel to London to find an aristocrat to marry. Many of the themes compare to that of other shows that take place in this era, including talks of balls, debutantes, "seasons" for young women to present themselves to be available for marriage - and of course, lots of sky-high hairstyles, beautiful gowns, and candlesticks galore. 

Fans of the show are wondering, however - what is The Buccaneers based on, and is it a true story? We reveal what we know below.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

What is The Buccaneers based on?

The Buccaneers, like Bridgerton, is based on a novel - although the novel The Buccaneers is based on was unfinished until slightly over 30 years ago. The story follows Virginia “Jinny” St. George (Imogen Waterhouse), Annabel “Nan” St. George (Kristine Froseth), Elizabeth “Lizzy” Elmsworth (Aubri Ibrag), Mabel Elmsworth (Josie Totah), and Conchita Closson (Alisha Boe) - who all just so happen to be characters in Edith Wharton’s unfinished novel of the same title. 

Edith was said to be about 60% through writing the book when she unfortunately died of a stroke in 1937, leaving the exact intended ending of the novel unknown. The novel would be finished by Marion Mainwaring in 1993, nearly 60 years after Edith's passing, based on notes left behind from Edith that gave light as to how the story would end. Ultimately, the novel, once fully published in the '90s, was met with mixed reviews. 

Nevertheless, Apple TV's new series, which will span eight episodes, follows these five American young ladies who set off to London to find love with a duke or lord - or, at least, that's what their mothers want of them.

Is Apple TV's The Buccaneers based on a true story?

In short, no, The Buccaneers is not based on true events - although, akin to shows like All the Light We Cannot See on Netflix, it is loosely based on real historical events and time periods. Although, we don't suspect there were so many pink-dyed poodles in the late 1800s as there are in this new series.