Middle children are renowned for feeling overlooked and isolated – so much so that psychologists coined the phrase ‘middle child syndrome’ dedicated to the phenomenon. The Other Bennet Sister is the outstanding BBC series based on Janice Hadlow’s novel of the same name, which tells the story of the long-forgotten Bennet sister, Mary, from Jane Austen’s classic Pride And Prejudice.
The series, which stars Ruth Jones and Richard E Grant, is, dare we say, the BBC’s best period drama. It aired earlier this year and reaching seismic success, with 7.3 million UK viewers – and now our prayers have been answered our prayers as the BBC has announced its return with a three-part Christmas special. Mary (Ella Bruccoleri) is back with a fresh story, and we’re dying to know what comes next for our newly engaged heroine.
Ahead of The Other Bennet Sister’s return to our screens, here’s everything you need to know before you watch it, including the plot, cast and release date.
What is The Other Bennet Sister about?
The Other Bennet Sister tells the story of the long-overlooked Bennet daughter, the middle sister from Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice: Mary (Ella Bruccoleri). Among the gang of sisters, Mary is the misfit, an introverted wallflower who has little in common with her sisters. We first arrive at Longbourn, the Bennet family home, to find Mr and Mrs Bennet (the amazing Richard E Grant and Ruth Jones) face mounting social pressure for their daughters to marry – it is Regency England, after all.
‘Mary’s not your typical period drama heroine. She lives in a world where, particularly for women, appearance is everything and she doesn’t understand that value system at all,’ Ella previously told the BBC. ‘Instead, she turns to literature that offers a different viewpoint.’
While her sisters, Jane (Maddie Close), Elizabeth (Poppy Gilbert), Lydia (Grace Hogg-Robinson) and Kitty (Molly Wright), pursue marriage and social triumph, Mary leaves Longbourn and sets off for London to live with her aunt and uncle, Mr and Mrs Gardiner. Here, she steps out of her sisters’ shadows and embarks on her own journey of self-discovery.
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But, of course, it wouldn’t be an Austen-style drama without romance, and a messy love triangle is at the fore of the series. Mary meets two eligible suitors – the free-spirited, handsome and rich William Ryder (Laurie Davidson), and Tom Hayward (Dónal Finn), a poetry-loving barrister.
It’s not an easy pathway to choose the right man – Mrs Bennet pressures Mary to choose the wealthier William, and a stormy climb in the Lake District goes very wrong. So who does she eventually choose? In the finale of the first series, Mary says yes to one of the men. But what does the future have in store for them?
What will happen in The Other Bennet Sister’s return?
Filming is currently underway in Wales for The Other Bennet Sister’s return and we’re eager to see how the happy couple are doing and how the rest of the Bennet family took the news.
Ella Bruccoleri is confirmed to return as Mary, alongside ‘a host of other familiar faces’, according to the press release. We’re hoping to see a magnificent wedding, and Ruth Jones again as the iconic Mrs Bennet.
‘These Christmas specials give us the chance to spend a little more time with characters audiences have taken to their hearts, and to explore what happens after the wedding bells fade and real life begins,’ executive producer Jane Tranter told BritBox.
Is there a trailer for The Other Bennet Sister?
Yes – you can watch the full trailer for the first series of The Other Bennet Sister below.
Who’s in the cast of The Other Bennet Sister?
The cast for the latest instalment of The Other Bennet Sister hasn’t yet been confirmed, but the cast for the original The Other Bennet Sister includes:
- Ella Bruccoleri (Call The Midwife) as Mary Bennet
- Ruth Jones (Run Away) as Mrs Bennet
- Richard E Grant (The Lesson) as Mr Bennet
- Maddie Close as Jane
- Poppy Gilbert (My Oxford Year) as Elizabeth
- Grace Hogg-Robinson (The Coroner) as Lydia
- Molly Wright (Apostasy) as Kitty Buncock
- Indira Varma (Coldwater) as Mrs Gardiner
- Richard Coyle (Coupling) as Mr Gardiner
- Dónal Finn (The Wheel Of Time) as Thomas Hayward
- Laurie Davidson (The Girlfriend) as William Ryder
- Lucy Briers (Pride And Prejudice) as Mrs Hill
How can I watch The Other Bennet Sister’s return?
The first series of The Other Bennet Sister is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer, and the three-part return is set to air on BBC over Christmas. With further information so far under wraps, we’ll keep you posted on the exact release date!
What other period dramas can I watch now?
For a period drama starring the brilliant Anna Maxwell Martin, we’d recommend The Bletchley Circle, which takes us back to postwar Britain in 1952. The series follows four former Second World War codebreakers who solve murders. You can watch The Bletchley Circle now on Channel 4. If you love something with more of a supernatural feel, we'd recommend ITV’s Victorian sci-fi drama, The Nevers. The series follows a group of London women known as “the Touched” who have supernatural abilities and live on the periphery of society, until an exploitative aristocrat, Hugo Swann (Norton), takes a shining to them. The Nevers is available to watch now on ITVX.
