The First Look at The Other Bennet Sister Holiday Special Teases a Very Different Mary Bennet

BritBox has released a sneak peak at the upcoming Christmas special of The Other Bennet Sister, one of the streamer’s biggest hits to date. The first look photo, seen above, reveals Mary Bennet (Ella Bruccoleri), appearing much more dolled up than she ever has before while also looking very besotted with her one true love, Tom Hayward (Dónal Finn). The limited series, which wrapped its original 10-episode run this past summer, was such a success that BritBox announced in June it would return with a three-part holiday special despite the series having already covered the full arc of its source novel. Production wrapped in Wales earlier this month, and although a premiere date hasn’t been announced, it is safe to say it will air before the end of the year.

The central question driving the new episodes picks up directly where the finale left off. Mary ended the season having agreed to marry Mr. Hayward, and the special will explore what comes next. “With marriage comes a new identity and the question remains: who will Mary become as Mrs. Hayward?” reads the latest show notes.

Much of the original cast will be back. Returning alongside Bruccoleri and Finn are Ruth Jones as Mrs. Bennet, Tanya Reynolds as Caroline Bingley, Laurie Davidson as Mr. Ryder, Varada Sethu as Ann Baxter, Poppy Gilbert as Lizzie Darcy, Maddie Close as Jane Bingley, Grace Hogg-Robinson as Lydia Wickham, Molly Wright as Kitty Buncock, and Anna Fenton-Garvey as Charlotte Collins. Welsh actress Nerys Amber-Stocks is joining the cast as Mary’s new housemaid, Lucy.

There are a few noticeable absences on the casting sheet, including Richard Coyle and Indira Varma as Mary’s beloved uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, or Lucy Briers as the Longbourn housekeeper, Mrs. Hill. Screenwriter Sarah Quintrell, who wrote nine of the original ten episodes, wrote all three new episodes from storylines by the novel’s author, Janice Hadlow.

The Other Bennet Sister is based on Hadlow’s bestselling novel of the same name and centers on Mary Bennet, the earnest, often-overlooked middle sister from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, as she navigates the social pressures of Regency England. After her father’s death, Mary moves to London, where the qualities she had long been told were flaws turn out to be the very things that draw people to her.

Britbox

Dónal Finn as Mr. Hayward and Ella Bruccoleri as Mary Bennet in Episode 9 of the series.

The television adaptation became one of BritBox’s most successful launches ever, driving five times more new subscribers in its first 90 days than any previous title on the platform, with nearly half of all active subscribers watching the series. In the United Kingdom, where it aired on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, it drew 7.3 million viewers in its first 28 days, making it the biggest new drama launch across all platforms since May 2025. The holiday special will air exclusively in the U.S. and Canada on BritBox and in the U.K. on BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer at Town & Country. Before joining T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at @rk.passport.

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