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BritBox is bringing a new perspective to one of literature’s most beloved families withThe Other Bennet Sister. Adapted by Sarah Quintrell fromJanice Hadlow's 2020 novel of the same name, the series centers on Mary Bennet, the middle and most overlooked of the five sisters in Jane Austen’sPride and Prejudice.
Where the original novel keeps Mary firmly in the background, this adaptation follows her on a coming-of-age journey through Regency England as she works to define herself outside the shadow of her family and discover what happiness looks like on her own terms. “Mary’s journey is about trying to find some form of self-acceptance,” Quintrell says in the production notes. “It’s not about a makeover. It’s about a kid with no self-confidence, who has grown up in this family where there’s a particular hierarchy, and she’s got to work out who she is and what she’s going to do with her life.”
The cast is led by Ella Bruccoleri as Mary Bennet. “If a character like Mary is capable of learning to love herself, it’s possible for anyone to find that,” Bruccoleri says in the show notes. “She starts in a place of such self-hatred, and it’s not her fault. It’s everyone feeding her with this extreme rhetoric. Through her own actions, courage, and bravery, she ends up in a place where she has a lot of love for herself. It’s a really joyous story.”
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Portraying her sisters Maddie Close as Jane, Poppy Gilbert as Elizabeth, Grace Hogg-Robinson as Lydia, and Molly Wright as Kitty. Venerable British actors Richard E. Grant and Ruth Jones step in as their less-than-affectionate parents in this version, contrasted by the lovable Gardiners, portrayed by Indira Varma and Richard Coyle. While this is a journey of self-discovery for Mary, there is, without question, a romance plot involving a bit of a love triangle. She’ll find herself wooed by Dónal Finn as Tom Hayward and Laurie Davidson as William Ryder.
The 10-part series debuts in the United States and Canada on Wednesday, May 6, and the first three episodes are now streaming, with subsequent episodes released weekly.
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Episodes 1-3, “Chapters 1-3”: Wednesday, May 6, 2026
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Episode 4, “Chapter 4”: Wednesday, May 13, 2026
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Episode 5, “Chapter 5”: Wednesday, May 20, 2026
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Episode 6, “Chapter 6”: Wednesday, May 27, 2026
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Episode 7, “Chapter 7”: Wednesday, June 3, 2026
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Episode 8, “Chapter 8”: Wednesday, June 10, 2026
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Episode 9, “Chapter 9”: Wednesday, June 17, 2026
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Episode 10, “Chapter 10”: Wednesday, June 24, 2026
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