Call the Midwife star admits quitting the BBC series was “crazy”

Call the Midwife star Ella Bruccoleri finally breaks silence on why she left the BBC period drama in 2022. Bruccoleri’s character Sister Frances was written out of the show, seemingly, temporarily when she moved to Chichester to convalesce after sustaining injuries following a bike accident.

Speaking on her departure from her first big TV role, Bruccoleri told Radio Times: “It felt crazy quitting a great job but I’d started getting different offers, and I realised I love the variety of different things.”

Reflecting over her time on the series the actor said: “When I look back at my early episodes, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, that’s not good.’ I learnt screen acting on the job, and it was invaluable.”

BBC

Bruccoleri is now set to star as the lead in the upcoming BBC period drama The Other Bennet Sister which will debut on Sunday 15 March. Based on Janice Hadlow’s bestselling novel of the same name, the 10-part series will centre on Bruccoleri’s Mary Bennet – “the seemingly unremarkable and overlooked middle sister in Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice'” as per the synopsis.

It continues: “The series takes as its premise that — when it comes to the Bennet sisters — while we dream of being Lizzy, in reality most of us are more like Mary…

“The series follows Mary as she steps out of her sisters’ shadows in search of her own identity and purpose, finding herself in the middle of an epic love story along the way. Her journey will see her leave her family home in Meryton for the soirées of Regency London and the peaks and vales of the Lake District, all in search of independence, self-love, and reinvention.”

Bruccoleri, who also starred in season three of Netflix’s Bridgerton as Winifred Barragan, spoke on the comparisons between herself and Mary telling Radio Times: “I like to think I’m a bit more confident [than Mary], but then she is younger than me. I like her industriousness, which is similar to how I approach things, trying to be good at something through study rather than instinct.

“For Mary, it’s about practising piano every day, for me it’s making hundreds of notes about a character. That’s my comfort zone.”

BBC

Joining Bruccoleri’s Mary will be Richard E. Grant and Gavin & Stacey’s Ruth Jones as Mr and Mrs Bennet, while Indira Varma will play Mrs Gardiner alongside Richard Coyle’s Mr Gardiner. A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story’s Laurie Davidson and SAS Rogue Heroes’ Dónal Finn will also take on the role of potential suitors Mr Ryder and Mr Hayward, respectively.

The Other Bennet Sister debuts on BBC One and iPlayer on Sunday 15 March 2026.

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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since.  For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing.  She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.