BBC Commissions Adaptation of 'The Other Bennet Sister'
For at least two generations of Jane Austen lovers, 2025 is a banner anniversary year. It’s the 30th anniversary of the beloved 1995 BBC miniseries adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, the six-part ultra-faithful version of the series with Jennifer Elhe as Elizabeth Bennet and Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, beloved by everyone from my mother to Depression Barbie. (Legit, the first and only time I have ever seen myself represented in a hit blockbuster film.) For those who came of age post-2000, it’s also the 20th anniversary of the 2005 big-budget film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, the one with Keira Knightly as Elizabeth Bennet and The Official Inferior Darcy Matthew Mcfadyen. Unsurprisingly, the BBC is planning a celebration for its half of this double-anniversary, with a brand new ten-part miniseries adapting Janice Hadlow’s 2020 best-seller, The Other Bennet Sister.
Those who have not read the novel may well ask, “Which other Bennet sister?” as Elizabeth famously has four sisters (in order, eldest Jane, followed by Elizabeth, and then younger sisters Mary, Kitty, and Lydia), all of whom her mother is focused on marrying off. In the novels, Jane and Elizabeth are rivals as the two eldest, and Lydia and Kitty are often paired together as the two less mature ones. That leaves poor Mary as the middle child and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the heroine of this novel, following her experiences after her two elder sisters marry and move out.
The BBC is commissioning The Other Bennet Sister from Bad Wolf (Russell T. Davies’ company under the Sony umbrella), with screenwriter Sarah Quintrell (His Dark Materials) set to pen all episodes. “I’m thrilled to be telling the story of Mary - the other Bennet sister - exploring what it is to come of age when you’re the odd one out,” Quintrell said as part of the press release. “It’s a joy to be adapting Janice Hadlow’s brilliant take on such a beloved classic with the team at Bad Wolf and to have found our home at the BBC. I grew up (an awkward, anxious teen, getting everything wrong...) watching the BBC’s wonderful Austen adaptations. It’s the stuff every writer dreams of, and I can’t wait to bring this beautiful story to screen - not least, for all the Marys out there.”
