The Other Elliot Sister: BBC One confirms new series about 'the overlooked eldest daughter from Jane Austen's Persuasion'
This follows the success of the highly acclaimed The Other Bennet Sister...
The Other Elliot Sister is currently in production, the BBC has confirmed, and it’s fabulous news for period drama fans.
Following the huge success of The Other Bennet Sister, the broadcaster has now commissioned The Other Elliot Sister. The new drama will follow the “overlooked” eldest sister of Austen’s Persuasion.
Bookworms might know Elizabeth Elliot as the eldest, vainest, and favourite daughter of Sir Walter Elliot. At 29 years old, she acted as the mistress of Kellynch Hall after her mother’s death.
Described as “class-conscious, snobbish, and largely devoid of self-reflection”, she mirrored her father’s obsession with social rank, status, and physical appearance…
Frankly, the fictional character is not quite as lovable as Ella Bruccoleri’s Mary Bennet…
What is it about?
The Other Elliot Sister will dig deeper into the life of fictional character Elizabeth Elliot. The Beeb tells us: “She can listen no longer in silence… Prepare to meet The Other Elliot Sister.”
The new drama tells the story of Elizabeth Elliot, the overlooked eldest daughter from Jane Austen’s Persuasion.
Fans of the book will know that Elizabeth moves to Bath with her father when financial ruin forces them to rent out Kellynch Hall.
She eagerly chases high-society connections – such as the dowager Viscountess Dalrymple – and mistakenly believes her cousin, Mr. William Elliot, is pursuing her romantically. However, he subsequently bypasses her when he shifts his attention to her sister, Anne.
Most readers would agree that her lack of a good match stems directly from her own rigid snobbery and pride…
The synopsis says: “Anne Elliot’s family moves to Bath to reduce their debt by renting their estate to an admiral and his wife. The Other Elliot Sister will build on the approach established by The Other Bennet Sister, placing Elizabeth Elliot, a character confined to the margins, at the heart of her own story.”
How many episodes is it?
Like The Other Bennet Sister, The Other Elliot Sister will be 10 episodes of half an hour each.
And it may well spawn a Christmas special too.
Inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, The Other Bennet Sister attracted 7.3 million UK viewers in its first four weeks. BBC One subsequently announced a Christmas special for 2026.
Who wrote The Other Elliot Sister?
Of course, everyone knows that Jane Austen wrote Persuasion. The book, her final one, was published in December 1817.
It was released posthumously, six months after Austen’s death in July 1817.
More than two hundred years later, London-born author and Jane Austen enthusiast Janice Hadlow wrote the forthcoming novel The Other Elliot Sister.
The series is being adapted by Sarah Quintrell, who also adapted The Other Bennet Sister.
When is the start date?
The series will start production in 2027.
If we’re lucky, we’ll get to watch the series that year too.
‘Elizabeth Elliot is an intriguing figure at the edges of Persuasion’
Jane Tranter, CEO of production company Bad Wolf, says: “Elizabeth Elliot is an intriguing figure at the edges of Persuasion – someone we know just enough about to wonder what might be going on beneath the surface…
“We’re delighted to be returning to the world of Jane Austen with the BBC and BritBox, and to bring another overlooked character to the centre of her own story.”
Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, adds: “We’re thrilled to be returning to Jane Austen’s world once more with The Other Elliot Sister. The audience instantly fell in love with Mary Bennet and we’re sure they will do the same with Elizabeth Elliot. It promises to be yet another captivating, heartfelt adaptation from Sarah Quintrell.”
Who’s in the cast?
It’s very early days for The Other Elliot Sister, and the BBC has not yet revealed who has been cast as Elizabeth Elliot.
In the 2022 Netflix adaptation of Persuasion, Yolanda Kettle starred as Elizabeth Elliot opposite Dakota Johnson’s Anne.
Jane Hardie also played the character in the 1960 BBC miniseries Persuasion, followed by Valerie Gearon in the 1971 ITV miniseries Persuasion.
Meanwhile, Phoebe Nicholls portrayed the haughty sister in the highly acclaimed 1995 BBC television film Persuasion, and Julia Davis brought the character to life in the 2007 ITV television movie.
Read more: The hidden Easter eggs in The Other Bennet Sister that left fans of the 1995 series Pride and Prejudice “squealing” with delight
