The BBC sets Pride And Prejudice spin-off about the other Bennet sister

Fans of the BBC’s Pride And Prejudice are so devoted that they were immortalized in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. If you resonated with Depression Barbie’s P&P obsession, this news is for you: To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the beloved miniseries, the network has commissioned a new spin-off of Jane Austen’s novel called The Other Bennet Sister. Based on the book of the same name by Janice Hadlow, the series follows the adventures of Mary Bennet, the somewhat uptight and moralizing middle sister of the Bennet family. 

According to a synopsis (via the BBC), “Unlike her sisters, Mary isn’t your typical period drama heroine. She is awkward, anxious, preachy, full of facts, a terrible singer… overlooked by her mother and seemingly destined to an empty dance card for the rest of her life… until Mary takes matters into her own hands.”

Sarah Quintrell (The Power) is penning the 10-part series, which promises to take Mary from Meryton “to the glitz of Regency London and the pastoral charm of the Lake District” to find her own “epic love story.” In the original novel, Mary (younger than Jane and Elizabeth, older than Kitty and Lydia) is one of two unmarried Bennet sisters by the end of the book, with Jane and Elizabeth finding happy endings and Lydia finding herself shackled to George Wickham. In the book’s adaptations, Mary has been played by Lucy Briers (in the BBC miniseries) and Talulah Riley (in the 2005 film). The BBC previously aired another continuation of the story, the murder mystery Death Comes To Pemberley, in 2013. 

“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 in a statement (via the BBC). “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.”