Best period drama TV shows
Royal courts, Manhattan ad agencies, frontier towns and country houses. These are scripted dramas set in the past, with war series and fantasy kept out. Every pick has a TMDB rating of 7.0 or more from at least 150 votes, and new releases wait until their ratings settle. The order follows the Boxlist quality score, and we checked the list by hand to remove obvious misfits.
- 1
Chernobyl (2019)
TV8.5
The true story of one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history: the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl.
US HBO, Amazon Prime (buy), UK NowTV, Amazon Prime (buy)
- 2
The Crown (2016)
TV8.3
The gripping, decades-spanning inside story of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who shaped Britain's post-war destiny.
US Netflix, UK Netflix
- 3
Mad Men (2007)
TV8.2
Mad Men is set in the 1960s, initially at the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency on Madison Avenue in New York City, and later at the...
US AMC, Amazon Prime (buy), UK UKTV Play, Amazon Prime (buy)
- 4
The Queen's Gambit (2020)
TV8.6
In a Kentucky orphanage in the 1950s, a young girl discovers an astonishing talent for chess while struggling with addiction.
US Netflix, UK Netflix
- 5
1883 (2021)
TV8.4
Follow the Dutton family as they embark on a journey west through the Great Plains toward the last bastion of untamed America.
US Paramount+, Amazon Prime (buy), UK Amazon Prime (buy), iTunes (buy)
- 6
1923 (2022)
TV8.1
Follow a new generation of the Dutton family during the early twentieth century when pandemics, historic drought, the end of Prohibition and the...
US Paramount+, Amazon Prime (buy), UK Amazon Prime (buy), iTunes (buy)
- 7
Downton Abbey (2010)
TV8.1
A chronicle of the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era, with great events in history having an...
US Amazon Prime, BritBox, UK Amazon Prime, Netflix
- 8
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017)
TV8.1
It’s 1958 Manhattan and Miriam “Midge” Maisel has everything she’s ever wanted - the perfect husband, kids, and Upper West Side apartment.
US Amazon Prime, UK Amazon Prime
- 9
Lessons in Chemistry (2023)
TV8.2
In the 1950s, Elizabeth Zott's dream of being a scientist is challenged by a society that says women belong in the domestic sphere.
US Apple TV+, UK Apple TV+
- 10
The Great (2020)
TV8.2
A genre-bending, anti-historical ride through 18th century Russia following the rise of Catherine the Nothing to Catherine the Great and her...
US Hulu, Amazon Prime (buy), UK Amazon Prime (buy), iTunes (buy)
- 11
The Tudors (2007)
TV7.8
The Tudors is a history-based drama series following the young, vibrant King Henry VIII, a competitive and lustful monarch who navigates the...
US Amazon Prime, Google Play (buy), UK Channel 4, Amazon Prime (buy)
- 12
Murdoch Mysteries (2008)
TV7.6
A Victorian-era Toronto detective uses then-cutting edge forensic techniques to solve crimes, with the assistance of a female coroner who is also...
US Acorn TV, Hulu, UK NowTV, Amazon Prime (buy)
- 13
Bridgerton (2020)
TV8.2
Wealth, lust, and betrayal set in the backdrop of Regency era England, seen through the eyes of the powerful Bridgerton family.
US Netflix, UK Netflix
- 14
Anne with an E (2017)
TV8.8
A coming-of-age story about an outsider who, against all odds and numerous challenges, fights for love and acceptance and for her place in the world.
US Netflix, Amazon Prime (buy), UK Netflix, Amazon Prime (buy)
- 15
When They See Us (2019)
TV8.2
Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park.
US Netflix, UK Netflix
- 16
RIPLEY (2024)
TV8.0
A grifter in 1960s New York is hired to convince a wealthy man's son to return home from Italy and begins a life of deceit, fraud and murder.
- 17
The Spanish Princess (2019)
TV7.6
The beautiful Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon, navigates the royal lineage of England with an eye on the throne.
US Amazon Prime, STARZ, UK Amazon Prime (buy), Google Play (buy)
- 18
Victoria (2016)
TV7.1
The story of Queen Victoria, who came to the throne at a time of great economic turbulence and resurgent republicanism – and died 64 years later...
US PBS, Amazon Prime (buy), UK ITV, Amazon Prime (buy)
- 19
Hollywood (2020)
TV7.6
A group of aspiring actors and filmmakers in post-World War II Hollywood try to make it big, no matter the cost.
- 20
TV7.5
This limited series chronicles the incredible true story of Madam C.J.
Ratings are TMDB audience scores out of 10. Where to watch shows up to two services each for the UK and US.
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