Playing the adorably bespectacled hero Tom Hayward, Dónal Finn was the original Orpheus in the West End production of Hadestown, in which LondonTheatre.co.uk’s reviewer noted his “gentle charm and a shiver-inducing falsetto”. He currently plays controversial teacher Mr Smith in John Proctor is the Villain at the Royal Court, which, in a five-star review, LondonTheatre.co.uk’s critic called “clever casting”. He is also playing the villainous Moriarty on Amazon Prime’s Young Sherlock – such versatility!

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While Elizabeth “Lizzy” Bennet isn’t the heroine on this occasion (and Mr Darcy is a silent role), Poppy Gilbert nevertheless makes a strong impression. While Lizzy can only play and sing a little, LondonTheatre.co.uk’s reviewer noted Gilbert demonstrates a “strong belt” as well as “magnetic presence” in the unconventional musical FLYBY, currently playing at the Southwark Playhouse.

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Best known for playing in Lily in Netflix’s Sex Education, Tanya Reynolds has prior experience in Jane Austen adaptations as she was Mrs Elton in the 2020 adaptation of Emma. She now brings haughtiness and a touch of vulnerability to Mary’s nemesis Caroline Bingley. Reynolds has appeared at the Royal Court and the Orange Tree Theatre, and she was Olivier-nominated for A Mirror in 2023. She now plays acerbic midwife Mariella in Ava Pickett’s award-winning play 1536 in the West End.

You’ll get two Caroline Bingleys for the price of one with 1536, as Reynolds’s castmate Siena Kelly plays the same role in Netflix’s upcoming Pride and Prejudice – plus, Liv Hill, the third member of the trio, was in the BBC’s biographical Miss Austen as the younger version of Cassandra and Jane’s obnoxious sister-in-law Mary Lloyd Austen.

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Stepping into the role of Mr Bennet for the series’ first two episodes, Grant was Algernon to Maggie Smith’s Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest in 1993 and he returned to the West End in Otherwise Engaged in 2006. He has also played Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady in Sydney and Chicago. He makes a long-awaited West End return this autumn in a revival of Noël Coward's Hay Fever, opposite Christine Baranski.

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Mrs Bennet’s sensible brother Mr Gardiner is played by Richard Coyle, whose stage credits include the original productions of Peter Gill’s The York Realist and David Auburn’s Proof, and James Graham’s Ink. In 2022, he starred as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird in the West End, and he portrayed King Henry IV in Player Kings, with Ian McKellen as Falstaff. He reprises his role as Atticus Finch this summer in the West End.

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Oh, Mary! Ella Bruccoleri has charmed the nation as the series’ unlikely heroine. Previously best known for her role as Sister Frances on Call the Midwife, Bruccoleri has appeared in three shows at the Soho Theatre, most recently in The Virgins by Miriam Battye earlier this year. In a 4-star review, LondonTheatre.co.uk’s reviewer called the show a “well-crafted warning cry”.

Forever beloved for playing Nessa in Gavin & Stacey, Ruth Jones now takes the role of the pushy, appearances-obsessed Mrs Bennet, who’s the bane of Mary’s existence. Prior to her comedy success, Jones appeared at the National Theatre in Under Milk Wood and The Coast of Utopia Part 3 Salvage. She returned to the stage in 2024 as Mother Superior in Sister Act, in which the script was embellished with several Nessa-isms.

In 2004, Indira Varma played Kiran Uppal, the Caroline Bingley equivalent, in Gurinder Chadha’s Bollywood Bride and Prejudice. She now plays Mrs Gardiner, the aunt who takes Mary under her wing. Varma has appeared on stage on multiple occasions in the West End and at the National Theatre, the Donmar Warehouse and the Almeida. She won an Olivier Award in 2020 for Present Laughter and most recently played Lady Macbeth opposite Ralph Fiennes. LondonTheatre.co.uk's reviewer called her “magnificent… with a sharp tongue and natural authority on stage”.

Playing Mary’s Romantic-minded suitor, Laurie Davidson made his West End debut in The Ferryman in 2018 and showed off some fancy footwork as Mr. Mistoffelees in the film version of Cats. In 2022, he took the title role in Jack Absolute Flies Again at the National Theatre.

The show gives us a more vulnerable than usual portrayal of pompous vicar Mr Collins. Ryan Sampson’s theatre credits include three shows at the National Theatre, as well as the musicals Floyd Collins (Southwark Playhouse) and From Here to Eternity (West End). His most recent stage appearance was the title role in Britten in Brooklyn at Wilton’s Music Hall in 2016.

Aaron Gill made a memorable appearance as John Sparrow, the local optometrist who takes a shine to Mary at the Meryton assembly. Gill’s theatre credits include the Yard Theatre’s acclaimed The Flea, the RSC’s The Empress, and most recently, Indian Ink at Hampstead Theatre.

In a lovely and touching piece of circular casting, Lucy Briers, who played Mary in the BBC’s definitive version of Pride and Prejudice, takes the role of the Bennets’ housekeeper Hill, the only person at Longbourn to offer Mary any warm attention. An excellent character actress, Briers’s extensive theatre credits include Catherine of Aragon/Jane Parker in Wolf Hall, Parthy Ann Hawkes in Show Boat, and Virginia/Elizabeth I in Orlando.