The Other Bennet Sister’s surprising Gavin and Stacey connection you missed
BBC period drama The Other Bennet Sister has been a hit with audiences, but even avid TV viewers may have overlooked one parallel.
Five things about The Other Bennet Sister’s Ella Bruccoleri
Gavin and Stacey fans haven’t noticed its suprising link to BBC period drama The Other Bennet Sister.
Beloved star Ruth Jones, best known for her iconic turn as Nessa in Gavin & Stacey, is winning over legions of Jane Austen fans with her performance as Mrs Bennet in the BBC’s The Other Bennet Sister.
The Other Bennet Sister has been universally praised by audiences after premiering on the BBC last month and dropping the rest of the show, including the all-important finale, on BBC iPlayer recently.
The 10-part series is adapted from Janice Hadlow’s 2020 novel of the same name and serves as a spin-off to Jane Austen’s classic romance Pride and Prejudice.
However, the period drama follows the most unlikely of heroines: the bookish, introverted yet brilliant Mary Bennet (played by Ella Bruccoleri).
Jones gives a nuanced and sympathetic portrayal of the Bennet matriarch, particularly evidenced in the period drama’s finale.
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Alison Steadman as Mrs Bennet in the BBC’s 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice(Image: BBC)
However, long before Jones took on the role, her Gavin & Stacey co-star Alison Steadman played Mrs Bennet in the BBC’s 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle as Mr Darcy and Lizzy Bennet respectively.
Many Pride and Prejudice purists have stated the 1995 adaptation of the novel is the ultimate onscreen version of the celebrated story.
Indeed this version is a cultural phenomenon, thanks in part of Mr Darcy emerging from a lake in a dripping wet shirt and the Bridget Jones franchise, which reinvented the story for a new generation with Firth playing Mark Darcy.
Steadman previously spoke back in 2018 about the continued love of the BBC miniseries: “It’s amazing. I literally meet people all the time who say, ‘Oh my god, Mrs Bennet!’ and they go on and on about it.
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Ruth Jones and Alison Steadman starred together in Gavin and Stacey(Image: BBC)
“I’m so proud of it. It took us six months to shoot the whole thing from start to finish. It was one of the best six months of my whole career.”
She praised the BBC for “giving the time to tell the story in detail”, saying that a film lost “a lot of detail” to fit into the runtime. Adding to Red Carpet News TV: “It was a great time.”
Jones and Steadman shared the screen in Gavin & Stacey’s three seasons and various Christmas specials over a span of 17 years.
Much like Pride & Prejudice, Gavin & Stacey has also become a pop culture phenomenon in Britain, with fans always desperate for more.
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Ruth Jones gives a nuanced portrayal of Mrs Bennet in The Other Bennet Sister(Image: BBC)
It’s unclear if Jones swapped notes with Steadman about taking on the role, given the two very different iterations of the character between Pride and Prejudice and The Other Bennet Sister.
However, Jones has addressed taking on the role: “Mrs Bennet is iconic and a huge challenge. I’d be stepping into very large shoes.
“I wanted to meet that challenge and portray her differently from how she’s traditionally been seen.
“In The Other Bennet Sister, we don’t see a woman of purely nervous disposition. I think of her like an estate agent with five properties to sell — four will be snapped up, but one can’t even get a viewing.”
Adding: “She’s a tough businesswoman. That really appealed to me.”
The Other Bennet Sister is streaming on BBC iPlayer now
source: mirror