When Does Dolly Alderton’s Pride and Prejudice Come Out? See Photos of the Series

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JUSTIN DOWNING
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Prepare to Ardently Love and Admire the New Pride and Prejudice Series on Dec. 3
Dolly Alderton gave a first look at 11 characters during the Jane Austen Festival.
By Brookie McIlvaine
Sept. 17, 2026

It was the perfect setting for Dolly Alderton to give a clandestine sneak peek at her new series, Pride and Prejudice: the Jane Austen Festival in Bath, England, which is the largest and longest-running celebration of the writer. Throngs of devotees, some in their best Regency-era dress, flocked to get an early glimpse of the new adaptation. Check out the legendary actors taking on Austen’s beloved characters below.

A smiling woman in period costume sits on a couch in a vintage, elegant living room with teal walls, antique furniture, framed art, and a flower vase in the background.

Olivia Colman as Mrs. Bennet

Older man with curly gray hair and glasses sits in an ornate, vintage room holding a book, surrounded by antique furnishings, with an armillary sphere and staircase in the background, evoking a historical or scholarly atmosphere.

Rufus Sewell as Mr. Bennet

In the first look at the full cast, we see Olivia Colman as Mrs. Bennet eagerly greeting a gentleman who’s calling upon her daughter. Mr. Bennet, played by Rufus Sewell, gazes skeptically from a book in his study. Their curly-headed brood is led by Freya Mavor as Jane and Emma Corrin as Elizabeth, or Lizzy, who share a joke from their favorite perch.

Playing Kitty and Lydia, Hollie Avery and Rhea Norwood promise mischief and fun as they run across Longbourn’s driveway. You can almost hear piano notes wafting through the drawing room as Mary, played by Hopey Parish, prepares her sheet music.

Two women in historical clothing sit outside on a rooftop, smiling at each other with greenery and blue sky in the background. Pillows and a cup are nearby, creating a relaxed, intimate setting.

Freya Mavor as Jane Bennet and Emma Corrin as Lizzy Bennet

Two women in period dresses run joyfully on a gravel path in front of a large brick house with ivy and flowers, surrounded by hedges and gardens under a partly cloudy sky.

Hollie Avery as Kitty Bennet and Rhea Norwood as Lydia Bennet

A young woman with curly red hair in a vintage dress sits at a piano in a softly lit, elegant room with candles and sheet music, holding a music sheet and looking contemplative.

Hopey Parish as Mary Bennet

Alderton also presented some of the Bennet sisters’ suitors. The fixed stares of Jack Lowden as Fitzwilliam Darcy and Daryl McCormack as Charles Bingley telegraph yearning like we’ve never seen before. Jamie Demetriou plays everyone’s favorite clergyman, Mr. Collins. Louis Partridge’s George Wickham has a Cheshire cat grin so winning that it’s no wonder more than one Bennet girl falls under his spell.

A man in historical clothing stands outdoors with a serious expression, wearing a vest over a white shirt, with hills and trees in the blurred background under a cloudy sky.

Jack Lowden as Mr. Darcy

A man dressed in historical formal attire smiles warmly in a softly lit, elegant interior, likely from a period drama setting.

Daryl McCormack as Mr. Bingley

A man in early 19th-century attire with sideburns smiles in a warmly lit, vintage room with floral wallpaper, framed paintings, and a window in the background.

Jamie Demetriou as Mr. Collins

At the Jane Austen Festival, Alderton shared the highly anticipated series’ release date: Dec. 3. The six episodes will hew closely to the 1813 novel — which has captivated readers for centuries with its ever-relevant social commentary, razor-sharp wit, and indelible love story — but also take some thoughtful creative turns.

During her presentation, Alderton pulled back the curtain on how she approached a few of the characters. “Every time I reread Pride and Prejudice in different stages of womanhood, I have different reads of the female characters, particularly Lizzy and Mrs. Bennet,” Alderton said. “The thing that I was most drawn to as a single 35-year-old woman was how much Lizzy feels like a woman who is thinking out loud, who is trying to work out what she feels about marriage and love — what it is that she wants, what she’s willing to negotiate on. She’s someone who is really torn between her head and her heart — she can be deeply pragmatic in some ways, and then is very romantic and passionate in others.”

Young man in red historical military uniform smiles in foreground, with other soldiers and townspeople gathered outside a brick building with arches in a period village setting, evoking a historical or Regency-era atmosphere.

Louis Partridge as George Wickham

Alderton also delved into how she conceptualized the characters physically with costume designer Charlotte Walter. “Nature is an enormous part of daily life for these women,” said Alderton. “There’s a lot of her lacing up her walking boots. We were very grounded in reality in terms of how we did costuming. For example, you will see that Lizzy doesn't have 3 million beautiful dresses. We are realistic about the fact that these women would have had five of these dresses that had interchangeable blouses underneath and three smart spencer jackets. Our head of costume, Charlotte, was very committed to original textiles. A lot of the spencers that you see are made from fabric from the 1700s and 1800s.”

This kind of period accuracy was surely appreciated by the festivalgoers. Fans gathered from near and far to celebrate Austen, who’s credited with writing the original blueprints for many of the world’s favorite love stories. In addition to Alderton’s event, the festival includes a tour of Hampshire, a Regency dance workshop, a nighttime ghost walk through the haunted streets of Bath, and much more — all paying tribute to Austen.

Poster key art featuring a man wearing a white shirt and black vest looking out over an estate in a field.

Poster key art featuring a woman wearing an orange dress looking out over an estate in a field.

At the age of 20, Austen sat down at her family home of Steventon Rectory in Hampshire, England, and began drafting a novel she titled First Impressions. It was 1796. Austen had been writing through her teen years, but the young author had yet to be published. First Impressions was no exception and was rejected by a publisher on first read. It would take 15 years before the novel reached readers’ hands, and when it did, no author was listed on the cover at the time, just a new name: Pride and Prejudice.

It was an unimaginable beginning for a novel that, centuries later, is still beloved, taught in schools across the world, and featured on “great books” lists by organizations like the BBC and PBS. And it remains an inspiration for writers across all forms.

Couldn’t make it to Bath to join in on the festivities? Celebrate Austen by watching Alderton’s homage to the scribe. Start by reading everything there is to know about the new Pride and Prejudice — including who else is in the cast.