REVIEW: ‘The Other Bennet Sister’ Is A Worthy Jane Austen Spinoff

Stop right there, 2005’s Pride and Prejudice: there’s a new instant classic in the Jane Austen canon, and it wasn’t even written by Jane Austen canon. BritBox and BBC’s The Other Bennet Sister, based on Janice Hadlow’s 2020 novel of the same name, reimagines one of Pride and Prejudice‘s most overlooked characters and gives her a story worthy of Austen’s legacy.

Led by the fantastic Ella Bruccoleri as the titular heroine, The Other Bennet Sister opens with the events of Pride and Prejudice. The familiar beats are there as Elizabeth (Poppy Gilbert) and Mr. Darcy (Victor Pilard) fall in love, but they’re on the sidelines this time, as Elizabeth’s awkward, studious sister Mary takes center stage. As the third of the five Bennet daughters, plain Mary is overshadowed by her charismatic, beautiful sisters.

Across ten well-paced half-hour episodes, Mary’s journey masterfully imagines a vivid world.

While Mrs. Bennet (Ruth Jones) frantically chases down suitable husbands for her other children, she has no hope for Mary’s prospects of securing a husband. Mary, insistent on making something of herself, goes in search of her own self-made destiny.

Before long, the events of Pride and Prejudice conclude, and Mary’s journey of self-discovery truly begins. With her sisters married off and her fortune changing after a death in the family, Mary resolves to find her own way. She has to become more than just, well, the other Bennet sister.

Across ten well-paced half-hour episodes, Mary’s journey takes her across England, meeting familiar Austen characters, like Tanya Reynolds’ haughty Caroline Bingley and Ryan Sampson’s grandiose Mr. Collins. Just as Mary becomes content in her perpetual singleness, she gets caught in a love triangle between quiet kindred spirit Tom (Dónal Finn) and adventurous Ryder (Laurie Davidson), who pose different possibilities for Mary’s future.

Bruccoleri, Finn, and Davidson are the standouts in The Other Bennet Sister’s exceptional love triangle.

The Other Bennet Sister masterfully imagines a vivid world for one of literature’s most overlooked younger sisters without departing too much from its source material. Mary’s most notable moment in Pride and Prejudice, a brief incident involving an embarrassing piano performance at a ball, becomes a key moment of anguish in Mary’s journey.

Sîan Jenkins’ costume design tells the story as much as screenwriter Sarah Quintrell’s words do. Mary, out of step in fashionable London, feels most like herself in a red dress that looks more like a curtain than a gown. It’s a fantastic, small detail that stands out as an unspoken but appreciated moment of visual storytelling. Mary’s major moment of fashionable confidence is discordant with the rest of society, reflecting her own sense of displacement.

Bruccoleri, Finn, and Davidson are the standouts as The Other Bennet Sister’s exceptional love triangle. Such a dynamic lives and dies by its casting, and each brings depth and drama to their respective roles. Mary and Tom are introspective characters given gentle moments to demonstrate their chemistry despite Tom’s engagement to Mary’s friend Miss Baxter (Varada Sethu), while Davidson’s Ryder is an impulsive foil to Tom’s quietness.

The Other Bennet Sister is an instant period drama classic.

Jane Austen fans are known for their incessant devotion, and The Other Bennet Sister rewards longtime fans of Austen adaptations. Eagle-eyed fans will recognize the Bennet family’s servant Hill as Lucy Briers, perhaps best known for playing Mary herself in the BBC’s beloved Pride and Prejudice from 1995. Indira Varma, as Mary’s caring aunt, made her mark as the Caroline Bingley figure in the Bollywood-inspired Bride and Prejudice, while Reynolds is no stranger to Austen’s memorable supporting characters, having appeared in 2020’s Emma.

The casting is delicious for longtime Austen fans, but even a total novice to her work will find plenty to love about The Other Bennet Sister. A stirring meditation on loneliness and self-discovery, Mary is a quietly engaging heroine who tugs at the heartstrings.

Initially developed as a limited series, The Other Bennet Sister was a hit in its native England, prompting the BBC to commission a three-part Christmas special. With its heart, humor, and unconventional but relatable heroine, The Other Bennet Sister is an instant period drama classic.

The Other Bennet Sister is now streaming on BritBox.