11 Shows to Watch Starring ‘The Other Bennet Sister’ Cast

One of the best parts of seeing The Other Bennet Sister reach hit status in America is seeing the cast’s popularity take off as a result. Ella Bruccoleri, who plays Mary, has been a PBS fixture for years; seeing her gain wider recognition with this role is a delight. The other legs of the central love triangle, Dónal Finn (Hayward) and Laurie Davidson (Ryder), are both actors who have been relegated mainly to sidekick and supporting roles. The Other Bennet Sister represents breakout moments for all three.

The truth is, most of the cast are what you might think of as journeymen BBC actors – the ones who show up in countless series as guest stars, or join a cast for a few seasons before moving on while the show continues. They’ve been turning in star-caliber performances on long-running series like Sex Education (Tanya Reynolds), playing the “Young” versions of actors much more famous than they are in series like Sherwood (Poppy Gilbert), or joining established shows that are canceled out from under them, like Doctor Who and Annika. (We see you, Varada Sethu.)

So if you’re missing The Other Bennet Sister and already re-watched Pride & Prejudice (the 1995 version or the 2005 movie, we’re not judging!), here are other period (or fantasy-period) shows starring the cast to check out.

Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials

Confession time: My favorite Christie novels are The Secret of Chimneys and The Seven Dials Mystery, featuring amateur sleuth Lady Bundle Brent. The Netflix adaptation of the latter stars Mia McKenna-Bruce (Persuasion) in the role with Martin Freeman (Sherlock) as her policeman friend Superintendent Battle. However, her most important friend – her BFF, Socks, who is her main sidekick – is played by Ella Bruccoleri in one of her many supporting roles before The Other Bennet Sister. She’s the platonic ideal of the girl sleuth’s bestie, and absolutely steals every scene she’s in.

Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials is streaming on Netflix.

Young Sherlock

Guy Ritchie’s new hit series, Young Sherlock, is technically a vehicle for the next generation of British male leads, starring Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (nephew to Ralph and Joseph) as the titular detective, and Max Irons (son of Jeremy) as Mycroft. However, the series really belongs to Dónal Finn, who plays Sherlock’s current sidekick/future nemesis, James Moriarty. The series is far better than it has any right to be, and Finn is a major reason why.

Young Sherlock Season 1 is streaming on Prime Video. Season 2 is already greenlit.

Rome

Future Dame Indira Varma’s list of acting credits could easily take up an entire post by themselves. She’s been in everything from Torchwood to Luther to Game of Thrones. But for this list, I’m going with a true throwback to the first role I ever saw her in, as Niobe Vorena in Rome. The series only lasted two seasons, but it was the forerunner to the big-budget historical dramas that would dominate prestige TV for the next decade and a half, and absolutely worth watching for that reason alone.

Both seasons of Rome are streaming on HBO Max.

Mary & George

Technically, Mary & George is about Mary Villiers (Julianne Moore), Countess of Buckingham, who used her devastatingly handsome son, George (Nicholas Galitzine), to seduce the closeted James I/James VI, King of England and Scotland (Tony Curran). But don’t sleep on Laurie Davidson as Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, James’ current squeeze when the series begins, and the man Mary must remove to install her son in His Majesty’s bedchamber.

Mary & George is streaming on Starz.

The Decameron

Netflix attempted to take on the 2020 pandemic with a foray into 14th-century Italy and the Black Death with The Decameron. Inspired by the contemporaneously published short-story collection of the same name by Giovanni Boccaccio, the period piece is about a group of young nobles and servants who descend into debauchery as society collapses. The global ensemble includes two Brits: Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Tanya Reynolds, both of whom play lady’s maids suddenly given the opportunity to change their circumstances. Havoc and shenanigans ensue.

The Decameron is streaming on Netflix.

The Collection

Richard Coyle is best known in America for his role as Father Blackwood in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, but for those who would like to see him take on a more serious role in a period piece, there’s The Collection. Loosely based on the rise of the House of Dior post-World War II, Coyle plays the closeted gay heart of the brand, fashion designer Paul Sabine. The highlight of the series – other than Coyle – is the debut of the “New Look” collection, which is the true star of the show.

The Collection is streaming on PBS Passport and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel.

Andor

Technically, Andor is set “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.” That’s not exactly the most historically accurate version of a period drama ever created. Still, we’re willing to let it slide, because Andor is legit the best Star Wars series ever made. That’s because it’s the only one that doesn’t center the Skywalker Space Opera Generic Hero’s Journey as its premise, and instead actually addresses the political overtones baked into the original 1977 film. Varada Sethu plays rebel Cinta Kaz, a true believer in the fight against fascism, whose steely ability to conduct undercover missions will never let you forget this good guy is a cold-blooded killer.

Both seasons of Andor are streaming on Disney+.

Gosford Park

Much like Varma, Richard E. Grant’s credits go on for miles, and include everything from Withnail & I to Marvel’s Loki. He’s also starred in numerous period-piece TV series for a half-season, as he did in Downton Abbey, playing Simon Bricker. But since that’s not really enough for a genuine recommendation, we’ll go with the role that got him that part, George the Footman in Julian Fellowes’ Gosford Park. The movie is a must-watch anyway for Downton fans (Maggie Smith plays a proto-Violet), and Grant is delightful in the role that would later evolve into Robert James-Collier’s Thomas Barrow.

Gosford Park is available as a streaming rental via YouTube.

Little Dorrit

Ruth Jones is best known for her contemporary-set comedies, especially the one that made her a household name alongside James Corden, Gavin and Stacey. But her period-piece work also includes one of the best series to come out of the BBC in the mid-aughts: the 2008 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Little Dorrit. The series’ all-star cast is a who’s who of BBC actors – Jones plays Flora Finching, Arthur Clennam’s former fiancée and one of the funniest parts of the series.

Little Dorrit is streaming on BritBox.

The Wheel of Time (Seasons 2 & 3)

Our final two recommendations are partial series, starting with the one that introduced Dónal Finn to TV audiences when he was cast as bad-boy Mat Cauthon in Season 2 of The Wheel of Time, after the original actor Barney Harris exited the role post-Season 1. Like Andor, The Wheel of Time is more fantasy than historical drama, but at least the clothes are more Medieval European than science-fiction uniforms. Finn not only made the ensemble better, but the show improved season on season after he came aboard, which only made Amazon Studios’ untimely cancellation of it that much crueler.

All three seasons of The Wheel of Time are streaming on Prime Video.

Call The Midwife (Seasons 8-12)

Last but certainly not least, the role that introduced Ella Bruccoleri to TV audiences, when she debuted as Sister Frances in Season 8 of Call the Midwife. One of the most innocent nuns to pass through Poplar, her Methodist family rejected her over her choice to become an Anglican nun, a trauma that’s left her without a shred of self-confidence. Over the four seasons she starred in the series, Frances’ blossoming into a confident young woman is one of Call the Midwife’s undersung subplots.

Call the Midwife is streaming on Netflix, with all 15 seasons. Season 16 is already greenlit, as are a prequel and a feature-length film.

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