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If what you want out of film and television is a history lesson, then I would recommend that you go watch a documentary. But if you’re itching for a story that completely immerses you in long-antiquated customs and traditions from decades and even centuries ago, then you can do no wrong with a great period drama. These titles—which often take place anywhere from the 18th century to the early 20th century—allow audiences to escape into a world that preceded our own. Though they take place in different eras, they also prove that stories about love, death, and the human condition are timeless.
Period dramas need not be historically accurate in order to be downright entertaining. Just look at the success of hit shows like Netflix’s Bridgerton and Hulu’s The Great, both of which anchor their plot lines and characters with heavy-handed anachronisms. There are also plenty of shows that go to great lengths to capture the true essence of a time period, from classics like Downton Abbey to The Crown. Below, we rounded up the top 20 period dramas in film and TV of all time.
Emma (2020)
In her feature-film directorial debut, Autumn de Wilde offers a fresh and stylized take on Jane Austen’s 1815 novel, leaning into the story’s textual whimsy and humor that other Austen adaptations don’t frequently exploit. Anya Taylor-Joy plays our titular heroine—an intelligent but spoiled young woman—with a touch of cattiness that you might not see in previous iterations led by Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale. All the better. It makes Emma Woodhouse’s overall emotional arc, from smug know-it-all to an empathetic peer, that much more satisfying. Commendable performances from supporting cast members like Josh O’Connor, Callum Turner, and Bill Nighy also help color in Emma’s world with lovable quirks and eccentricities.
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The Favourite (2018)
In this satirical dark comedy directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, Olivia Colman delivers an Oscar-winning performance as Queen Anne, the monarch of England in the early 18th century. With her health in decline and her country at war with France, Anne entrusts her close friend, lover, and confidante, Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz), to govern in her stead. But the arrival of Sarah’s younger cousin, Abigail (Emma Stone), throws Sarah’s precarious status in court off balance. Against the backdrop of political scheming, the two ladies plot against each other in order to vie for the unpredictable queen’s favor.
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Jane Eyre (2011)
Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender lead this moody and romantic adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s most famous novel. After enduring a cruel and abusive childhood as an orphan, Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska) hopes to gain some independence by seeking employment as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, Jane develops a unique and complex relationship with Thornfield’s owner, the brooding Mr. Rochester (Michael Fassbender). While the two come to realize their feelings for each other are more than just friendly, a disturbing mystery keeps them from taking their relationship further.
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The Crown (2016—2023)
The British monarchy as we know it today would not have been possible without the long and historic reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Over the course of six seasons, three different actors (Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, and Imelda Staunton) step up to the plate to portray the monarch, who presided over the British throne from 1952 until her death in 2022. The Emmy-winning series also pulls back the curtain on secretive aspects of the institution known as the Firm, including fictitious interpretations of Prince Philip’s suspected infidelity and Princess Diana’s infamous marital struggles.
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Belle (2013)
Loosely based on the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle—a mixed-race British gentlewoman who was born into slavery in the West Indies—Belle is a moving film about the limits of love when faced against class, society, and racial prejudice. Dido (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is an intelligent and bright young heiress who is affectionately raised by her great uncle in London. Despite her social standing, Dido is nevertheless restrained from fully participating in society due to the color of her skin. She meets and befriends an apprentice lawyer named John Davinier, who is determined to lead the charge for the abolition of slavery in England.
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Pride and Prejudice (2005)
The 1995 BBC miniseries may technically be a more faithful adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, but the 2005 version has sustained a cult following over the course of two decades for a good reason. In his feature-film directorial debut, director Joe Wright infuses a sense of romantic realism in his take on Jane Austen’s classic love story. Keira Knightley stars as Elizabeth Bennet, a witty and independent young woman who takes an immediate disliking to Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), a seemingly haughty and judgmental gentleman. The cast is appropriately star-studded, with stellar performances from Rosamund Pike, Donald Sutherland, Jena Malone, and Tom Hollander.
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Spencer (2021)
Part period drama, part psychological thriller, director Pablo Larraín’s suspenseful and atmospheric film focuses on arguably the most famous woman of the 20th century. Taking place over the course of Christmas weekend at the royal Sandringham estate in 1991, Princess Diana struggles with her relationship to fame, food, royalty, and her estranged husband, Prince Charles. Kristen Stewart, who earned her first-ever Oscar nomination for her performance, managed to transform into the late Princess of Wales so much so that even Diana’s former bodyguard said she is the one actress “closest” to resembling the real-life royal.
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Phantom Thread (2017)
This Paul Thomas Anderson-helmed film follows Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis), a couture dressmaker in the 1950s who is coveted by movie stars, socialites, and royalty. Reynolds meets and falls in love with a young waitress named Alma (Vicky Krieps), who he eventually invites into his home to be his muse. While Reynolds is a fictional character, the movie draws inspiration from real-life fashion figures, from Cristóbal Balenciaga to Charles James. Fittingly, the film won the Oscar for Best Costume Design in 2018.
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The Queen’s Gambit (2020)
Based off of the 1983 Walter Tevis novel of the same name, The Queen’s Gambit follows Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), a young prodigy who upends the male-dominated world of chess during the ‘50s and ‘60s. While Beth prepares to make history by facing off against grandmasters in a renowned international tournament, her lifelong dependence on drugs and alcohol comes to a head. Upon its release in 2021, the show broke Netflix streaming records, with over 62 million households tuning into the series within its first 28 days on the platform. The series also swept that year’s awards circuit, nabbing 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and one Screen Actors Guild Award.
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The Great (2020—2023)
This original Hulu series reimagines the life and legacy of Empress Catherine the Great of Russia—with more than a few creative liberties. With Elle Fanning starring as Catherine, the dark comedy depicts the royal’s ascent from a naive but optimistic noblewoman entering an arranged marriage to a cunning and ruthless leader who eventually overthrows her husband, Emperor Peter III (Nicholas Hoult). The Great should in no way be taken as an historically accurate account of Catherine’s reign (it makes that much clear in the opening title sequence), but it is still a delightful—albeit satirical—traipse into the time period. You can expect to see plenty of violence, gossip, and sexual innuendos. Huzzah.
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Downton Abbey (2010—2015)
In this upstairs-downstairs drama helmed by Julian Fellowes, the aristocratic Crawley family navigates the rapidly changing social landscape in England amid the outbreak of two World Wars, failed investments, family deaths, and technological advancements. In contrast, the family’s staff of servants who uphold their estate must also find their footing in this new world. Over the course of the show’s six season run, Downton Abbey won 15 Primetime Emmy Awards.
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The New Look (2024)
The name Dior needs no introduction, but this Apple TV+ series takes viewers to a critical time period before the house’s creation. Amid the Nazi occupation of Paris during World War II, Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) is a promising middle-aged designer peddling his sketches under the house of Lucien Lelong. When his younger sister, a resistance fighter named Catherine (Maisie Williams), is captured and imprisoned by Nazi forces, Christian must decide where he stands in the world of fashion. Meanwhile, Christian’s rival, Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche), is contending with the consequences of her own choices in the aftermath of the war’s devastation.
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Marie Antoinette (2006)
Director Sofia Coppola projects the last queen of France in all her girlish glory in this fizzy and highly-stylized biographical drama. With Kirsten Dunst cast as our titular royal and Jason Schwartzman as her husband, Louis XVI, the movie covers the near entirety of Marie’s brief life, from her time as a teenager leaving her home country of Austria to a queen fleeing her country in exile under the French revolution. While the sumptuous and dreamlike visuals often take centerstage in mainstream discussions about the film, Marie Antoinette is, at its core, a story about a young and ill-equipped woman subject to a labyrinth of politics that she was never truly allowed to participate in herself.
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Shōgun (2024)
Adapted from the 1975 novel by James Clavell, Shōgun takes viewers to feudal Japan at the turn of the 17th century, when the country was on the precipice of a civil war. John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) is an English navigator who gets shipwrecked off the coast of Japan. After samurai take him in as a prisoner, Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada)—a powerful warlord and one of the regents ruling Japan—realizes he can use the sailor for his own political and military gain.
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Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
In the 18th century, Marianne (Noémie Merlant) has been hired to paint a portrait of a countess’s daughter, a young woman named Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), in advance of her arranged marriage to a Milanese nobleman. Because Héloïse has previously refused to sit for portraits due to her reticence about marriage, Marianne is tasked with painting the portrait in secret, spending time with Héloïse in order to unknowingly capture her essence.
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Carol (2015)
Based off of Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel The Price of Salt, this Todd Haynes-directed film chronicles an illicit affair between a young aspiring photographer and an older almost-divorcée. Therese (Rooney Mara) first meets Carol (Cate Blanchett) when she is in the middle of a bitter separation from her estranged husband, who threatens to invoke the morality clause and expose Carol’s true sexuality in order to strip her of custody of their daughter. Despite the risks and social conventions of the time, Carol and Therese embark on a passionate and life-altering relationship.
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Little Women (2019)
While you can do no wrong with Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 adaptation of the classic Louisa May Alcott novel, Greta Gerwig’s 2019 iteration has also become a cult classic for Gen Z moviegoers. Told through parallel past and present-day timelines, Gerwig offers a tenderhearted take on the timeless coming-of-age tale of the March sisters: Jo (Saoirse Ronan), a strong-willed writer who is always scribbling stories; Meg (Emma Watson), the dutiful eldest sister who marries for love; Amy (Florence Pugh), an aspiring painter who intends to marry rich; and Beth (Eliza Scanlen), a shy but talented pianist who falls ill at a young age.
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Atonement (2007)
Director Joe Wright once again tapped period drama virtuoso Keira Knightley to star in this moving adaptation of Ian McEwan’s 2001 novel. The movie recounts a mistake that took place in 1935, with its reverberations still being felt decades after the fact. Cecilia (Knightley), the daughter of landed gentry, embarks on a passionate love affair with Robbie (James McAvoy), the son of her family’s housekeeper. When Cecilia’s younger sister frames Robbie for a crime he didn’t commit, their love story is cut short until, years later, they reunite during the outbreak of World War II.
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Bridgerton (2020—Present)
Leave it to Netflix to bring Regency romances to the mainstream. In this butterfly-inducing (albeit highly anachronistic) original series, the eight siblings of one of London’s most esteemed families navigate rumors, gossip, and scandals as they attempt to find and court their perfect match in the early 19th century. The show, which is based off of Julia Quinn’s romance novels, is currently in production for its fourth season.
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The Gilded Age (2022—Present)
Julian Fellowes, the acclaimed creator of Downton Abbey, took his period drama prowess across the pond for The Gilded Age. The HBO historical drama concerns itself with many of the same themes as Downton Abbey—pointedly, the divide between the old guard and the new guard—but, this time, transplants those ideas in the monied families living in 19th-century New York City. The cast includes more than a few familiar faces, from The White Lotus’s Carrie Coon to Sex and the City’s Cynthia Nixon.
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