Get ready for Christmas with The Other Bennet Sister

Yes, it’s the build-up to the festive season, and a reminder of this year’s big BBC success.

What can we expect from Christmas with The Other Bennet Sister

We’ve been tracking this for a while, and while there’s little new about the story, we do have an update on just how successful the show has been, thanks to the latest press release. It’s presented as an exercise in identity:

Ella Bruccoleri returns (Down Cemetery Road, Wicker) as Mary, as well as Dónal Finn (Young Sherlock, SAS Rogue Heroes) as her husband Tom Hayward. The tenth episode of the series saw Mary agreeing to wed Tom – but with marriage comes a new identity and the question remains: who will Mary become as Mrs Hayward?

As for other cast, also returning are Ruth Jones (Gavin & Stacey, Runaway) as Mrs Bennet, Tanya Reynolds (Ted Lasso, Sex Education) as Caroline Bingley, Laurie Davidson (A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, The Girlfriend) as Mr Ryder, Varada Sethu (Andor) as Ann Baxter, Poppy Gilbert (My Oxford Year, Chloe) as Lizzie Darcy, Maddie Close (Chasing Red) as Jane Bingley, Grace Hogg-Robinson (The Coroner, COBRA) as Lydia Wickham, Molly Wright (The A Word, APOSTASY) as Kitty Buncock, and Anna Fenton-Garvey (The Nevers) as Charlotte Collins. Nerys Amber Stocks (Out There, Mammoth) also joins the cast as Mary’s housemaid Lucy.

As to the writing, Sarah Quintrell (The Power, Ellen), who wrote nine of the 10 episodes of the series, has written all three additional episodes based on storylines by author Janice Hadlow. Asim Abbasi (Cake) has returned to direct.

And the audience figures continue to impress

The show has already moved past the novel, and clearly the popularity led to this three-part special. The press release linked above tells us the series was the biggest new drama across all platforms and streamers in the UK since March 2025, with 6.5 million watching in its first 28 days. It’s continued to grow, with episode one now up to 8.4 million viewers (7.3 million over 28-days). The Other Bennet Sister also generated 250 million views across the BBC’s accounts on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

Roll on Christmas!