Favourite period drama
by erydice-281-975477 | created - 02 Feb 2012 | updated - 01 Aug 2015 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. North & South (2004)
TV-PG | 235 min | Drama, Romance
North and South is a four-part adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's love story of Margaret Hale, a middle-class southerner who is forced to move to the northern town of Milton.
Stars: Daniela Denby-Ashe, Richard Armitage, Tim Pigott-Smith, Sinéad Cusack
Votes: 34,949
2. Pride and Prejudice (1995)
TV-PG | 55 min | Drama, Romance
While the arrival of wealthy gentlemen sends her marriage-minded mother into a frenzy, willful and opinionated Elizabeth Bennet matches wits with haughty Mr. Darcy.
Stars: Colin Firth, Jennifer Ehle, Susannah Harker, Julia Sawalha
Votes: 92,262
3. Sense and Sensibility (1995)
PG | 136 min | Drama, Romance
Rich Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his second wife and her three daughters poor by the rules of inheritance. The two eldest daughters are the title opposites.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, James Fleet, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 125,682 | Gross: $43.18M
4. Sense & Sensibility (2008)
TV-14 | 58 min | Drama, Romance
The sisters Eleanor and Marianne Dashwood try to find love and security in the 1800's. These two sisters coudn't be more different. Where Eleanor is calm and always acts proper Marianne is passionate and usally forgets herself.
Stars: Dominic Cooper, Charity Wakefield, Hattie Morahan, Janet McTeer
Votes: 12,983
5. The Barchester Chronicles (1982)
385 min | Drama
When a crusade against the Church of England's practice of self-enrichment misfires, scandal taints the cozy community of Barchester when their local church becomes the object of a scathing, investigative report.
Stars: Donald Pleasence, Janet Maw, Nigel Hawthorne, Angela Pleasence
Votes: 1,219
6. Under the Greenwood Tree (2005 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 93 min | Drama, Romance
In this lighthearted romance from Victorian novelist Thomas Hardy, the beautiful new village school teacher is pursued by three suitors: a working-class man, a landowner, and the vicar.
Director: Nicholas Laughland | Stars: Keeley Hawes, James Murray, Terry Mortimer, Richard Leaf
Votes: 2,988
7. Lark Rise to Candleford (2008–2011)
TV-PG | 53 min | Drama, Romance
An adaptation of Flora Thompson's autobiographical novel "Lark Rise To Candleford", set in 19 century Oxfordshire, in which a young girl moves to the local market town to begin an apprenticeship as a postmistress.
Stars: Olivia Hallinan, Sarah Lancashire, Julia Sawalha, Fergus Drysdale
Votes: 8,402
8. Elizabeth I (2005)
TV-MA | 112 min | Biography, Drama, History
Mini-series about the the public and private lives of the later years of Queen Elizabeth I.
Stars: Helen Mirren, Toby Jones, Hugh Dancy, Patrick Malahide
Votes: 7,032
9. Downton Abbey (2010–2015)
TV-PG | 60 min | Drama, Romance
A chronicle of the lives of the British aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early twentieth century.
Stars: Hugh Bonneville, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Brendan Coyle
Votes: 224,821
10. Upstairs, Downstairs (1971–1975)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama
The lives and fortunes of the Bellamy family and their below-stairs servant staff at 165 Eaton Place play out against the social, political and historical backdrop of Edwardian London from 1903 to 1930.
Stars: Gordon Jackson, David Langton, Jean Marsh, Angela Baddeley
Votes: 3,564
11. Mansfield Park (2007 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 88 min | Drama, Romance
The classic tale by Jane Austen of family scandal, social graces, and the unrequited love between cousins.
Director: Iain B. MacDonald | Stars: Julia Joyce, Douglas Hodge, Maggie O'Neill, Tara Berwin
Votes: 7,551
12. Northanger Abbey (2007 TV Movie)
PG | 84 min | Drama, Romance
A young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart.
Director: Jon Jones | Stars: Geraldine James, Michael Judd, Julia Dearden, Gerry O'Brien
Votes: 16,192
13. Wuthering Heights (1992)
PG | 105 min | Drama, History, Romance
A man becomes obsessed with vengeance when his soul mate marries another man.
Director: Peter Kosminsky | Stars: Juliette Binoche, Ralph Fiennes, Janet McTeer, Sophie Ward
Votes: 14,345
14. The Tudors (2007–2010)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, History, Romance
A dramatic series about the reign and marriages of King Henry VIII.
Stars: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Henry Cavill, Anthony Brophy, James Frain
Votes: 81,169
15. The Borgias (2011–2013)
TV-MA | 50 min | Crime, Drama, History
In the fifteenth century, Pope Alexander VI tries to control all power in Italy with the help of his several sons, through murder, intrigue, war, and marriage alliances.
Stars: Jeremy Irons, François Arnaud, Holliday Grainger, Peter Sullivan
Votes: 53,931
16. The Buccaneers (1995)
TV-14 | 48 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Four American girls go to England to find husbands.
Stars: Carla Gugino, Alison Elliott, Mira Sorvino, Rya Kihlstedt
Votes: 2,614
17. The Way We Live Now (2001)
TV-14 | 75 min | Drama, Romance
Augustus Melmotte is a European-born city financier whose background is as mysterious as his business. Only weeks after his arrival in London, he announced a new venture and promises instant fortune.
Stars: David Suchet, Matthew Macfadyen, Cillian Murphy, Paloma Baeza
Votes: 3,314
18. Berkeley Square (1998)
50 min | Drama, History, Romance
Three young women from very different backgrounds meet, become friends and share experiences when they all gain positions as nannies in the wealthy households of London's exclusive Berkeley Square.
Stars: Victoria Smurfit, Clare Wilkie, Tabitha Wady, Hermione Norris
Votes: 1,215
19. Middlemarch (1994)
54 min | Drama, Romance
Middlemarch is a story of provincial life on the brink of momentous change and a deeply moving saga about a group of people striving to give meaning and value to their lives during the Industrial Revolution.
Stars: Douglas Hodge, Juliet Aubrey, Trevyn McDowell, Jonathan Firth
Votes: 2,757
20. War and Peace (1965)
GP | 393 min | Drama, Romance, War
The Russian aristocracy prepares for the French invasion on the eve of 1812.
Director: Sergey Bondarchuk | Stars: Lyudmila Saveleva, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Sergey Bondarchuk, Boris Zakhava
Votes: 8,338 | Gross: $0.13M
21. Vanity Fair (1998)
Not Rated | 50 min | Drama, Romance
An adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's classic story of parvenue Becky Sharp's rise from obscure and humble origins to her subsequent ignominious fall from Society; set against the ... See full summary »
Stars: Natasha Little, Frances Grey, Philip Glenister, David Ross
Votes: 1,731
22. He Knew He Was Right (2004)
240 min | Drama
Louis Trevelyan's refusal to trust his wife Emily destroys their marriage.
Stars: Oliver Dimsdale, Christina Cole, Laura Fraser, Nathan Heath
Votes: 1,714
23. Clarissa (1991)
156 min | Drama, History
A virtuous young woman is oppressed by her ambitious family and a rake who's becomes obsessed with her.
Stars: Sean Bean, Saskia Wickham, Jonny Phillips, Lynsey Baxter
Votes: 628
24. Onegin (1999)
R | 106 min | Drama, Romance
Russia, 1820s: Onegin inherits his uncle's country estate and moves there from St. Petersburg. He befriends his neighbor, Lensky, and meets Tatyana through him. She falls in love with Onegin but he just wants friendship.
Director: Martha Fiennes | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Liv Tyler, Toby Stephens, Lena Headey
Votes: 8,305 | Gross: $0.21M
25. Oscar and Lucinda (1997)
R | 132 min | Drama, Romance
In mid-1800s England, Oscar is a young Anglican priest, a misfit and an outcast, but with the soul of an angel. As a boy, even though from a strict Pentecostal family, he felt God told him ... See full summary »
Director: Gillian Armstrong | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Cate Blanchett, Ciarán Hinds, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 7,193 | Gross: $1.51M
26. The House of the Spirits (1993)
R | 145 min | Drama, Romance
A rancher, his clairvoyant wife, and their family face turbulent years in South America in this adaptation of Isabel Allende's best-seller.
Director: Bille August | Stars: Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep, Maria Conchita Alonso, António Assunção
Votes: 24,949 | Gross: $6.27M
27. Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
R | 119 min | Drama, Romance
A scheming widow and her manipulative ex-lover make a bet regarding the corruption of a recently married woman.
Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Swoosie Kurtz
Votes: 75,121 | Gross: $34.70M
28. The Young Victoria (2009)
PG | 105 min | Biography, Drama, History
A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée | Stars: Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson
Votes: 66,373 | Gross: $11.00M
29. Poldark (2015–2019)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, Romance
Ross Poldark returns home after American Revolutionary War and rebuilds his life with a new business venture, making new enemies and finding a new love where he least expects it.
Stars: Aidan Turner, Eleanor Tomlinson, Jack Farthing, Beatie Edney
Votes: 36,088
30. Aristocrats (1999)
TV-14 | 300 min | Drama, History
18th-century England and Ireland viewed through the eyes of four beautiful high-born sisters - Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah Lennox, great-granddaughters of a king, daughters of a cabinet minister, and wives of politicians and peers.
Stars: Siân Phillips, Alun Armstrong, Ben Daniels, Serena Gordon
Votes: 1,766
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