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The BBC has announced that a spin-off to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice will be coming to screens in the near future.
The series will be called The Other Bennet Sister and will focus on Mary Bennet, the middle sister of Lizzy Bennet, who is often overlooked and perceived to be awkward.
Lucy Briers played the character in the 1995 TV adaptation starring Colin Firth, while Talulah Riley played Mary in the 2005 movie version, starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen as Mr Darcy, a role the Succession star believes he was miscast in.
According to the BBC, the 10-part series will see Mary finally get to experience her own love story as she leaves her family home in Meryton to travel to London and the Lake District.
The official synopsis for the series reads: “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.”
The show will be penned by The Power writer Sarah Quintrell, who will be working with Doctor Who producers Bad Wolf.
On the project, Quintrell said: “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. 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.“
She added: “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.”
Not casting has yet to be announced but in 2017, academics did reveal analysis of what they believed Mr Darcy should actually look like.
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Carried out by John Sutherland, Lord Northcliffe Professor Emeritus of Modern English Literature at University College London and Amanda Vickery, Professor of Early Modern History at Queen Mary University of London, the re-appraisal took into consideration the text, contemporary beauty standards, and Austen’s own personal life and who she may have drawn inspiration from.
Their key findings discovered that Darcy wouldn’t be the dark-haired, square-jawed brooder he’s often shown as in modern iterations; he would have worn the traditional powdered wig of the time, alongside possessing a pale complexion of white and pink skin.
