Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish — reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party!

Last week, I reviewed Dolly Parton’s Live from London album. Tina shared thoughts on the creepy classic novel The Collector by John Fowles.

The Other Bennet Sister is a sequel to Pride and Prejudice so that we learn the fate of Mary, the quiet and prudish sister who remains unmarried at the end of the book. The 2026 TV series, currently streaming on BritBox in the US, is based on the 2020 novel of the same name.

I knew instantly that I wanted to see it because I recognized Ella Bruccoleri from her stint on Call the Midwife playing Sister Frances. Mary Bennet is a more comedic role, but there was always some self-deprecating humor in the character of Sister Frances, too.

British film and TV fans will recognize other actors in this series, too.

• • Richard E. Grant (Gosford Park)
  • Indira Varma (Torchwood, Luther)
  • Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education)

The first two episodes of The Other Bennet Sister show us the events of Pride and Prejudice from Mary’s point-of-view at Longbourn House. From there, we move into the future and broaden the settings to include London (played by some historic parts of Bristol), the Lake District (played by some scenic areas in Wales), and Pemberley (played by Badminton House).

Canaletto – Badminton House, collection of the Duke of Beaufort. Title: Badminton House, Gloucestershire. Date: 1749. Materials: oil on canvas..

The Other Bennet Sister has plenty to offer even to a viewer who is not a Jane Austen fan. My partner watched with me and he enjoyed the story with very little background knowledge. We paused the video a couple of times so that I could explain something funny that required experience with the characters and plot of Pride and Prejudice. Beyond a couple of small asides, there wasn’t any prior knowledge required to understand this story.

Check out the original trailer to see if you think you would like this one, too: