The 10 best British period dramas to watch
There’s something about bingewatching a British period drama that feels more sophisticated than watching 20 episodes of House Hunters.
Whether you like stories set in the recent past or all the way back in 43 AD, we rounded up 10 series currently airing or streaming.
If you love lush costuming and Hayley Atwell: Howards End
Starz new drama, based on the E.M. Forster novel, is a rewarding watch with some of the best period costumes on TV. The series examines how class and wealth changed at the turn of the century in Britain, and follows three families: the idealistic and well-intentioned Schlegels, the rich Wilcoxes and the working-class Basts. Hayley Atwell is fabulous, anchoring the series as Margaret Schlegels.
Stream it on Starz.
If you like the colonial era:
Jamestown
This eight-part mini-series is a bit of a cheat since it features British characters venturing to the new world, but it comes from the creators of Downton
Abbey and is a lot of fun. The series focuses on a trio of women — Alice, Verity, and Jocelyn — who are among the first women to arrive at the colony in 1619, and are expected to marry the men who paid for their passage.
Stream it on the Masterpiece Channel on Amazon.
If you’re obsessing over the royal wedding: The Crown
Move over Harry and Meghan, Elizabeth and Phillip is the royal couple we want to see more of. Netflix’s drama about Queen Elizabeth II’s reign has a royal wedding in each of its first two seasons, plus all the family infighting you could wish for.
Stream Seasons 1-2 on Netflix.
If you love the royals, but from the 19th century: Victoria
Why stop at one British Queen when you can have two? The PBS series follows the early reign of Queen Victoria, and stars Doctor Who alum Jenna Coleman in the role, and it’s a beautiful (and sometimes ugly) ride through British history, with period costumes galore.
Stream it on PBS.org.
If you love babies: Call the Midwife
Set in East London in the 1950s, this weepy drama follows a rotating group of young midwives (which here refers to obstetric nurses rather than alternative practitioners) as they deliver babies, learn lessons and find love. The series alternates between happy and sad, sweetness and tragedy, but even in its darkest moments it manages to make you feel good.
Season 7 airs on PBS Sundays at 8 ET/PT (times may vary). Stream Seasons 1-6 on Netflix.
If you like crime in your British drama: Peaky Blinders
Starring Cillian Murphy (and later Adrien Brody), the dark Netflix series follows the Shelby crime family, led by Thomas (Murphy) as they gain power and influence in post-WWI England. The series has a bit of Boardwalk Empire’s flavor, showing the seedier underbelly of a period we often glamorize.
Stream Seasons 1-4 on Netflix.
If you want to go all the way back:
Britannia
Britain wasn’t always lords, ladies, tea and crumpets. Amazon’s Britannia goes way back to 43 AD as the Roman Imperial Army moves to take over the Celtic area of Britannia. The historical accuracy ends there as the land is ruled by a warrior woman and Druids who channel the forces of the underworld.
Stream Season 1 on Amazon.
If you love a good battle sequence: The Last Kingdom
Like Britannia, this action drama goes pretty far back into British history to tell the story of the Anglo-Saxon wars in England in the ninth century. Based on the historical novel series The Saxon
Stories, it’s a smartly executed adventure that stages great battles and palace intrigue.
Stream Seasons 1-2 on Netflix.
If you miss Game of Thrones faces:
Gunpowder
Kit Harington (aka Jon Snow on
Thrones) leads this three-part miniseries that dramatizes the “Gunpowder Plot,” in which a group of provincial Catholics, led by Robert Catesby (Harington) attempted to assassinate King James I by blowing up the House of Lords (it’s remembered these days on Guy Fawkes Day). The series begins in the aftermath of the death of Elizabeth I, as the conflict between Catholics and Protestants begins heating up in the country.
Stream it on HBO Go/Now.
If you miss a very specific part of
Thrones: Harlots
This steamy series is definitely for mature audiences only, but if you miss the sexual intrigue of Thrones, it might just be for you. The series follows Margaret Wells (Samantha Morton), a madam in an eighteenth-century London brothel, and focuses on the tension between the brothels and new religious reformation ideas.
Stream Season 1 on Hulu.