Series Review: The Other Bennet Sister (2026)

I recently binge-watched The Other Bennet Sister's limited (10, 30-minute-long episodes) series on BritBox. I must say, I loved and enjoyed watching this little Pride and Prejudice spin-off show as told in Mary Bennet's POV from the first episode to the last one. It was fun and entertaining to watch. 

Read my review of TOBS series below...

The Other Bennet Sister (2026)

Starring: Ella Bruccoleri, Richard E. Grant, Ruth Jones, Indira Varma, Varada Sethu, and more.
Screenplay: Sarah Quintrell (9 episodes), Maddie Dai (1 episode)

 Adapted from Janice Harlow’s same title novel and based on Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice novel

The Other Bennet Sister offers a fresh take on one of Jane Austen’s most unassuming characters: Mary Bennet. Forced to step out of her sisters' shadows, Mary embarks on a journey of self-discovery – finding love, and most importantly herself, along the way.

Watch the BritBox trailer for The Other Bennet Sister

Here are my thoughts on The Other Bennet Sister's random episodes I loved and enjoyed watching as well as the pros and cons of things I liked/loved and disliked (though just my constructive criticism, nothing against the cast and crew...who did a fantastic job, by the way, and just my personal opinions on certain things I didn't like or rather was not into from TOBS series...can't love everything, right?).

The Pros (things I like/love):

👒 Ella Bruccoleri - Though I must say, I've never seen nor heard of Miss Ella Bruccoleri before she was cast as Mary Bennet in this series, so I didn't know what to think or expect of her in this role. Still, I waited until after I've seen this series first, to form my thoughts and opinion of her. After seeing her in the series, in my opinion, I thought she was perfectly cast as Miss Mary Bennet and did an amazing job playing this role. I loved and enjoyed watching her as Mary aka the middle child and forgotten Bennet sister. She really nailed this character and that makes watching this series even more fun and enjoyable.

👒 Great casting on familiar faces from previous Pride and Prejudice screen adaptations for Mrs. Hill (Lucy Briers aka Mary Bennet in P&P 1995 miniseries) and Mrs. Gardiner (Indira Varma aka Caroline Bingley in Bride & Prejudice 2004 movie). They were both great in this series and were both a big part of Mary's journey in TOBS. Now, if only they had Talulah Riley (aka Mary Bennet of P&P 2005 movie) to make a surprise cameo appearance in one of the episodes to pander to P&P movie fans as they did with Lucy Briers (from the 1995 miniseries) and Indira Varma (from B&P  movie) to cater to P&P 1995 and B&P 2004 fans...they might as well do the same to P&P 2005 movie fans, right? But even without Talulah Riley, it was still nice to see familiar faces from previous P&P related adaptations in this series. 

👒 Good casting for Mr. Collins - Indeed and he's short too like the 2005 Mr. Collins, hahaha! 

👒 Love seeing the many random references to previous P&P screen adaptations (1995 and 2005). I especially loved and enjoyed spotting several references and nods to the 2005 P&P movie! See a separate post here: Pride & Prejudice (2005) x The Other Bennet Sister (2026)

👒 Mary and Lizzy Bennet scene conversations - While I loved and enjoyed watching the sisterly bonding scenes between Mary and Lizzy, I thought that Lizzy was a bit harsh and critical on Mary. I get that she cares for Mary, but she should just be a big sister and support her on whatever decisions she makes for herself. Having said that, I did love and enjoyed their sisterly moment at Pemberley when Mary was playing the pianoforte and Lizzy and her had a lovely conversation and their brief embracing each other moment. Love that little scene. Wish it was a bit longer. Of course, the butler (would've been nice if it was Darcy who did that since we barely see him in his own home in Pemberley. Though it was funny when he entered randomly reading a newspaper in another scene and made a quick exit as soon as he saw the Bennet women gathered in one room, lol) had interrupted their adorable moment, haha!

👒 Mary Bennet & Mr. Hayward - I like Mary & Tom's pairing in this series. I thought they had chemistry and were cute and adorable together. I definitely ship them and preferred Tom for Mary over Mr. Ryder.

👒 The 10 (30-minute) episodes were too short, but I love this set up as the episodes didn't drag, gets your full attention, and leaves you wanting to see more!

The Cons (things I dislike/hated/disappointed):

👒 Mrs. Bennet - I really hated Mrs. Bennet (the character not the actress) in this series. She was extremely mean to poor Miss Mary (at mostly every scene they were in together...I hit the fast forward button to skip their scenes). It's interesting that she was portrayed as an antagonist in this series. But, I think I tolerated her in the 1995 series (even though she was cringe, annoying, and overbearing) and she wasn't too bad in the 2005 movie (I actually liked Mrs. Bennet in the 2005 movie version because of the way Brenda Blethyn portrayed this character as relatable despite her being annoying sometimes. She just wanted to make sure that her daughters have a roof over their heads or that they marry wealthy and handsome gentlemen for their own benefits and a better future).

👒 The love triangle trope - I'm not very fond of the love triangle (Mr. Hayward x Mary Bennet x Mr. Ryder) part in this series. Not too mention, both men have curly hair. I forget who was who between these two curly gentlemen, hahaha...

But seriously, this love triangle thing is not necessary, even though it was used to create conflicts. Good thing it was minimal and not dragged out for far too long in this series.

Interesting and funny homage to the Darcy wet shirt 

in the lake scene in P&P 1995!

👒 Charlotte Lucas - I didn't like how Charlotte Lucas' character was portrayed in this version. She was unlikable and mean to Mary. To think she's Lizzy's best friend, but she shouldn't be looking down on Mary...I understand Caroline Bingley doing that, but not Charlotte.
👒 The casting of Jane and Elizabeth Bennet - Okay, the casting of Jane and Lizzy were not too bad, but it took me a bit to get used to it as I didn’t know who was playing who at first. I mean, the actress who portrayed the eldest Bennet sister, Jane (blonde) looked younger than the actress who played Elizabeth (ginger). Even the pelisse coat Lizzy wore (the light blue one) looks like a homage to Rosamund Pike's Jane Bennet wore in P&P 2005 movie. You'd think she was the one playing Jane (the one who's actually playing Jane should've wore that as a nod to a previous Jane before her and Lizzy should've wore one that's either a nod to Keira's Lizzie or Jennifer Ehle's Lizzy)...just saying...It's like they were playing these iconic characters, but they lack something. I don't really see/recognize the charm and personality or character traits of Jane and Lizzy as described in the novel nor the ones I've seen from the 2005 and 1995 (and even other loose screen adaptations of P&P) versions that would make me say, yeah...they are Jane and Lizzy Bennet!! But that's just me...and besides they were minor characters here in this spin-off adaptation in Mary's POV. I do still like them, the lovely actresses Maddie Close (Jane Bingley) and Poppy Gilbert (Elizabeth Darcy) the eldest Bennet sisters (who are now married to Bingley and Darcy in this version...reminds me of Death Comes to Pemberley's Jane and Lizzy, who were married in that version) in their own interpretations. 

👒 No sisterly bonding moments or scenes between Jane and Mary - I was a lil’ disappointed that there wasn’t a Jane and Mary sisterly bonding moment (like Lizzie and Mary did) or even just a little interaction between just the two of them in this series. I only saw a bit of them that I could remember when Jane inquired about Mr. Ryder to Mary, but that was quite brief with Lizzie joining in the conversation. 

👒 Mr. Darcy’s casting (and unfortunately, Mr. Bingley too, while we're at it) and cameo - Okay, I get that Mr. Darcy (and Mr. Bingley, who was only seen for a second or so in the second episode, if I remember correctly. I don't even remember what he looked like...) is not an important character and more of a cameo and background character in this series and probably not handsome enough to tempt me or anyone (other than Elizabeth, of course), especially Mary, as we’re seeing him (unattractive) through her POV. 

Still, it would’ve been awesome if a handsome looking actor (side note: okay, I googled the actor who's playing Darcy in TOBS and his name is Victor Pilard. He's actually good looking...that is, of course, when he is not in a Darcy costume and makeup...) as Darcy has been casted even if he had a brief, blink and you missed his brief and random appearances, lol.

Victor Pilard

Victor Pilard as Mr. Darcy in The Other Bennet Sister

See what I mean?! 😐 Joking aside, I just find this Darcy (see screen capture above ^ from TOBS) unattractive and forgettable, even with a cameo appearance. I’m sorry, I just thought he looks more like a Mr. Collins here than a Mr. Darcy. He should’ve at least had a strong presence and an unforgettable moment with Lizzy, especially at the Pemberley scenes (which was interesting that we didn't see one) even if he had a brief appearance and no dialogue. After all, he owns the place and he’s the master of Pemberley and married to Mary’s older sister, Lizzy. Instead, he was a background character in his own home. But then again, he's not an important character here nor Mr. Bingley, and their wives (Lizzy and Jane) have minor, supporting characters. So, that's just my thoughts and opinion on Darcy's cameo appearance in this series. 

Overall:

I thought The Other Bennet Sister was a great miniseries. It was well-made with a good storytelling, great casting (especially with the casting of Ella B as the main character Mary Bennet), and it had a nice intro with an equally nice score to listen to. Also, it was fast paced and a fun limited series to watch. Despite my list of pros and cons, I must say, there are many things to love and enjoy about this series. It's an easy watch. I even rewatched all 10 short episodes while writing this review. I highly recommend you check this out and add it to your must watchlist, if you haven’t already done so!