Back to today’s briefing

Story perspectives

2026 BBC-BritBox Christmas Special Draws 7.3M Viewers, Boosts Subscribers

6/24/2026

47 6 Full Breakdown

Summary

**BBC, BritBox Launch Christmas**

BBC and BritBox announced a three-part Christmas special for 2026, streaming on BBC iPlayer/BBC One in the UK and BritBox in North America.
The production will have Sarah Quintrell writing all episodes and Asim Abbasi directing the Wales shoot.
Ella Bruccoleri returns as Mary Bennet, joined by Dónal Finn and other familiar cast.
The series logged 7.3 million viewers in 28 days, 250 million media views and a five-fold rise in BritBox subscribers.

Summary

Quintrell Emphasizes Self-Love

Showrunner Sarah Quintrell says the series centers on Mary’s self-love, treating romance as secondary.
Quintrell, whose love language is sarcasm, struggled with romance writing and added three proposal scenes.
The adaptation adds Ann Baxter (Varada Sethu), a character absent from Janice Hadlow’s novel, to complicate Mary’s love plot.
Quintrell omitted a wedding ceremony, noting the finale shows Mary choosing her own “wallpaper” and giving advice.

1 of 2

**BBC, BritBox Launch Christmas**

BBC and BritBox announced a three-part Christmas special for 2026, streaming on BBC iPlayer/BBC One in the UK and BritBox in North America.
The production will have Sarah Quintrell writing all episodes and Asim Abbasi directing the Wales shoot.
Ella Bruccoleri returns as Mary Bennet, joined by Dónal Finn and other familiar cast.
The series logged 7.3 million viewers in 28 days, 250 million media views and a five-fold rise in BritBox subscribers.

1 / 2