Time Travel Without The Time Machine
Who needs a DeLorean when you’ve got a good historical drama? These shows whisk you through eras, empires, scandals, and revolutions, all from the comfort of your couch (plus maybe snacks and blankets). Whether you’re chasing 18th‑century intrigue, 1950s glamour, or medieval power plays, these historical dramas nail the costumes, the conflicts, and the moments that make you say “Wait, that actually happened?”
Shōgun
A big-budget, immersive adaptation of the James Clavell novel, this series drops you into feudal Japan with swords, samurai codes, and cultural collisions. The visuals are stunning, the stakes high, and the historical setting rich with intrigue and honour. It’s a show that proves history can be exotic, dramatic, and deeply human all at once. Plus, there's samurai fights. What’s not to love?
Call The Midwife
Set in 1950s and 60s East London, this series captures both the gritty and the gentle sides of a changing Britain. With midwives, nuns, and post-war medical drama, it combines historical authenticity with heartwarming stories of everyday heroes. There’s laughter, tears, cultural shifts, and baby deliveries sprinkled across the streets of Poplar.
Neal Street Productions, Call the Midwife (2012-)
Mary & George
This period drama zooms in on a lesser-known historical figure (Mary Villiers) and her ambitious machinations in 17th-century England. With intrigue, power plays and clever dialogue, it proves history doesn’t just belong to monarchs and generals. It belongs to strategists, players, and the people who maneuver behind the scenes. Besides, who doesn’t love a story of cunning and climbing?
The Buccaneers
A series about wealthy American women entering British high society in the late 19th century, The Buccaneers blends historical context with romance and social change. It showcases the clash of new money, tradition and global relations. A top pick for viewers seeking historical setting plus charming drama.
Palm Royale
This upcoming drama brings you into 1960s Palm Beach high society: glamour, ambition and secrets under the sun. While not a distant past, the era carries its own historic weight in shifting American culture and class structure. With winks to social change and hidden motives, it’s fresh, fun and layered.
Apple TV+, Palm Royale (2024– )
Dickinson
A fresh, irreverent take on Emily Dickinson’s life in the mid-19th century, this show blends historical setting with modern sensibility (yes, there are rap battles). It invites you into the poet’s world, looking at her family, her reclusive habits, and her fierce inner fire. It’s eclectic, anachronistic, and absolutely fun. If you ever thought the 1800s were stuffy, Dickinson proves you can smash expectations without ditching the corset.
Apple TV+, Dickinson (2019–2021)
Victoria
This beautifully produced show traces Queen Victoria’s early reign, love story with Prince Albert, and the forging of an empire. It’s regal without losing heart; national history wrapped in personal journey. Victoria gives you epic scope and intimate details side by side.
Chernobyl
Gripping, harrowing, and beautifully filmed, this miniseries dives into the 1986 nuclear disaster with chilling precision. It’s less “costumes and castles” and more “cold reality meets human heroism”. The details are sharp: Soviet bureaucracy, radiation effects, the human cost of catastrophe. By the end you’ll know how serious history can be and why it matters deeply. It's one of those shows that sticks with you long after you hit record.
John Adams
This miniseries takes you through the life of the second American president, weaving politics, revolution, and personal relationships into one narrative. Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney shine in roles full of conviction and conflict. It’s a tour of American history with character depth, emotional weight, and an appreciation for the idea that a country isn’t built overnight. A compelling reminder of what “founding” really looked like.
Downton Abbey
Set in early 20th-century England, this series captures the upstairs/downstairs world with elegance, drama and dashes of humour. From Edwardian beginnings through World War I and changing times, Downton Abbey blends historical shifts with aristocratic tea, scandal, and heart. Whether you follow the Crawley family or the servants below stairs, it’s a ride through social change with beautiful sets and big feelings.
ITV, Downton Abbey (2010–2015)
Band Of Brothers, The Pacific, Masters Of The Air
These three war-drama series share a DNA. They’re gritty, immersive, and focused on brotherhood in battle. From the skies of WWII (Masters of the Air) to the muddy fields of Europe (Band of Brothers) to the Pacific theatre (The Pacific), they bring history alive in boots and helmets. The cost of war, the bonds forged in fire, the aftermath...all of it hits hard. If you’ve ever wondered what it meant to fight for something bigger than yourself, these shows deliver.
Rome
This HBO epic doesn’t hold back: gladiators, senators, power struggles, and juicy betrayals abound as the Roman Republic teeters and falls. The production value is huge, the costumes lavish, and the drama relentless. Think ancient Rome meets modern flair: blood, politics, and seduction. It’s as historically grounded as it’s sensational, giving you empire-scale stakes with characters you can actually root for (or root against).
Mad Men
Though set in the 1960s advertising world rather than classic history, Mad Men nails the era’s mood, style and undercurrents of change. As much about identity, gender and culture as it is about selling cigarettes or cars, the show shows how history is often written in boardrooms, offices and late-night bars. Slick suits, smoky rooms, shifting values—it’s historical drama with a side of existential crisis.
AMC Networks, Mad Men (2007–2015)
Reign
A young Mary, Queen of Scots; French courts filled with excess; rivalries, romance, and danger… Reign serves up a decadent mix of history and fantasy. Sure, it takes liberties, but it leans into the lavish production design and emotional drama with full force. If you like your history with gowns, politics, and plot twists, this one’s for you.
Sanditon
Based on Jane Austen’s unfinished novel, Sanditon is light, breezy and filled with nods to Regency England. A seaside town, social climbers, romance, and the scent of change linger in the air. While not heavy on major historical events, it captures the era’s flavour: social manners, class friction and mystery. Think of it as a gentler slice of time travel.
The Borgias
Back to power, sensuality, church intrigue, and Renaissance Italy? The Borgias delivers all this and more. With Rodrigo Borgia reaching for the papacy, scandal, ambition and betrayal unfold in rich, opulent visuals. It’s history you can wear (velvet, gold, dagger-hidden) and feel. Dramatic, decadent and unforgettable.
Showtime Networks, The Borgias (2011–2013)
The Empress
Set in 19th-century Austria-Hungary, this lavish Netflix series explores Catherine “Sisi” and her complex life as Empress. With splendour, politics and personal demons, The Empress shows how history meets glamour and hardship hand in hand. It’s visually stunning and emotionally rich—a combo that lifts it above many period pieces.
The Gilded Age
This show throws you into New York’s 1880s world of opulence, change and social upheaval. With railroad tycoons, old money, new money, and everything in between, The Gilded Age is historical drama turned into fashion show and power struggle. It’s the past viewed through glittering dresses and glass ceilings cracking.
The Great
Stylish, witty and wildly irreverent, The Great loosely charts Catherine the Great’s rise in 18th-century Russia. It’s history, yes—but served with sharp humour, bold visuals and a modern voice. If you like your period drama with a wink and a roar, this one hits the sweet spot.
The Spanish Princess
This series follows Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII’s early years, full of romance, politics, duty and power. It blends royal pageantry with personal struggle and gives voice to one of history’s remarkable yet overlooked women. The costumes are lush, the stakes high, and the era’s upheavals feel immediate.
Starz, The Spanish Princess (2019 -2020)
The Tudors
Another look at Henry VIII and his reign, but this one is rawer, more dramatic and unapologetically intense. The Tudors captures ambition, betrayal, love and faith in sweeping arcs and stunning sets. It’s history with edge—it makes you feel the weight of crowns and the cost of desires.
Showtime, The Tudors (2007–2010)
Outlander
Yes, time-travel included. Outlander hops between 1940s Scotland and 18th-century Jacobite rebellions, mixing historical events with romance and fantasy. The result? A sprawling saga that gives you war, love, and the itch to hike the Scottish Highlands. It’s a historical drama that knows how to bend the rules—and win you over in the process.
Peaky Blinders
Post-First World War Birmingham never looked cooler. Peaky Blinders gives gangster drama, historical upheaval and stylish brutality in equal measure. The hunt for power, the scars of war, and the forging of new identities fit the historical drama mold perfectly. Sharp suits, sharper ambitions.
BBC, Peaky Blinders (2013–2022)
Queen Charlotte
A prequel to Bridgerton, this show dives into the life of Queen Charlotte in late-18th-century England and its colonial connections. With high fashion, political conflict and romance all tangled together, it gives historical portrayal a modern spin. A show for fans of elegance, whispers and big stakes.
Netflix, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (2023)
The Serpent Queen
Focused on Catherine de’ Medici’s rise, The Serpent Queen mixes teenage ambition, court intrigue and deadly politics in 16th-century France. It’s ambitious, brutal and emotionally charged. History never felt so messy—or so addictive.
Starz, The Serpent Queen (2022– )
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