BritBox’s The Other Bennet Sister covers the plot of Jane Austen‘s Pride and Prejudice to an extent in the first few episodes, and then a quick montage flashes through the marriages of all the Bennet girls until middle child Mary (Ella Bruccoleri) is the only unmarried sister. Their husbands, including the beloved Mr. Darcy (Victor Pilard) and Mr. Bingley (Aled Owen), are part of the show, but Mr. Darcy notably never speaks. The Other Bennet Sister creator tells TV Insider that they did have versions of the story early on where Darcy and his brothers-in-law had dialogue, and she explains why they cut it.

Based on Janice Hadlow’s acclaimed novel and created by Sarah Quintrell, The Other Bennet Sister series follows Mary Bennet, the oft-overlooked middle sister in Pride & Prejudice, as she navigates the societal pressures of Regency England, where marriage is both an aspiration and a necessity. The story is squarely about Mary’s journey of self-discovery, self-love, and romantic love. The season can be watched in full on BritBox, and it will return for a three-part Christmas special this holiday season.

Quintrell tells TV Insider why their Darcy is completely silent in the show.

“There were drafts where all the husbands were present and had bits to do,” she explains, “but it was really difficult making that decision about Darcy because obviously such a huge power of Pride and Prejudice and such a well-loved character.”

Ultimately, they felt that focusing on Darcy, Bingley, and the other husbands wasn’t aligned with Mary’s perspective. However, this choice to make Darcy silent both plays into the shy character and allows for some background humor that shows his personality as well.

“From our point of view, we were like, ‘No, this is Mary’s story,’” Quintrell explains. “‘How does Mary see Darcy? How does Mary see Mr. Bingley?’ It’s not important how Lizzie sees [him] when it’s how Mary sees them, so that really was what we were thinking about. It allowed me to have some fun with Darcy in that he walks into a room and walks out. He’s kind of silent and brooding early on, and then he’s like, ‘Oh God, the in-laws are here.’ It just made it really fun, and we were really lucky that Victor [Pilard], the actor who played Darcy, knew [Jennifer] Sheridan, our director, and very kindly agreed to come and play silent Darcy.”

There were a handful of actors who were happy to play a small role in this charming series, according to Quintrell.

“Seraphina Beh-Moore, who played [Miss Clarke] in the quiz scene against Mary, the riddle scene; Seraphina is a fantastic actor, but she loved the project, and she agreed to come and do that little bit for us. We were really lucky that people loved Mary’s story and wanted to be part of it. It’s lovely.”

The Other Bennet Sister, Season 1, Available Now, BritBox