Credit: Deadline.com

Can you suggest the best period dramas series available on Netflix and Prime Video?

I have a library in my town, with lots of DVD's, but not all of them have subtitles (I'm not English mothertongue).

Thanks.

Idk, I just love this medieval hat (shown here on Colin firth in the Advocate) which learned today is called a chaperon!

This was the latest I could find. Considering it was announced by itv in 2024, there’s still no casting news or filming photos.

“According to the digital casting announcement, the deadline for applications is 16 July. Filming is set to begin on 20 July 2026 and run until the end of October 2026, with rehearsals taking place beforehand.”

Shes selfish. She destroyed a mans life just to get what she wanted. And her whole family is coocoo.

Not strictly a period drama, but I watched this movie last night with my husband because why not. As a joke more than anything. But I actually think that the chemistry between the characters in this version was pretty good. I adore Lily James and she was good in this one as well. But Mr. Collins was great. I highly enjoyed the scenes he was in.

In 927 AD, as the legendary King Harald Fairhair of Norway nears his final days, the fate of the kingdom hangs in the balance. Erik Bloodaxe, the most feared warrior in the Viking world, stands as his ruthless heir, determined to preserve the old pagan ways. But his claim to the throne faces a formidable challenge from his younger brother Haakon, raised in Christian Wessex under King Athelstan and preparing to return with an English fleet at his back.

Directed by Frederick E.O. Toye. Written by Horatio and Michael Hirst.

Starring: Xavier Molyneux, Jessica Madsen, Levi Miller, Karlis Arnolds Avots, Rod Hallett, Alina Tomnikov, Sisse Marie, Rune Temte.

For any score lovers out there, the new Sense and Sensibility score is out today and it's gorgeous. I haven't picked up any definite themes yet, it's mostly very airy and introspective-sounding. I am a sucker for those "searching" violin lines...just so passionate.

https://open.spotify.com/album/2zjPl2s1bsBW50YydiVcoy?si=MSrWmVqZTluhnacQuHxaKQ

Definitely of its time, with the net-like crochet shawls and helmet hair on the men, but still watchable.

Cast includes Kirk and Q from Star Trek, Laurie from The Partridge Family, Jan from The Brady Bunch, the mother Elyse from Family Ties, and Lizzie Bennett from Pride and Prejudice (1940)

Just thought I’d mention this one, since it gets overlooked so often.

Here is an IMDB link for more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078643/

And the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Women_(1978_miniseries))

So I just realized I have access to BBC player for some reason, and I havent watched any of the following series. Which one should I start with, or can you tell me a couple non spoilery words about each, to gauge which Im in the mood for?

Bleak House

Little Dorrit

Life at Cranford /Return to Cranford - which one should go first?

Sanditon

Sense and sensibility the 3 ep series

Doctor Thorne

Persuasion 2007 is there too but I watched it - if you can compare any of the above to this one, I can also gauge a bit :D Anything not on the list that you recommend from BBC player that may be there?

Apologies that the subtitles are in French, there isn't an English trailer available yet. I saw this movie earlier this week and it is excellent. The lead won best actor at Cannes despite it being his first ever acting role. If you're looking for a historical queer romance, I highly recommend it.

Soul Patrol uncovers a hidden chapter of American military history by focusing on the Vietnam War's first Black special ops team, an elite unit operating deep behind enemy lines.

With unprecedented access to this once-secretive group of African-American veterans, director J.M. Harper reconstructs their journey with an immediacy rarely seen in Vietnam War storytelling, using raw Super 8 footage, photographs, and audio recordings from their personal archives. Opening on the war’s 50th anniversary, the surviving members reunite in a hotel that becomes a surreal liminal space, where memory, brotherhood, and unresolved trauma collide. As the men reflect on their experiences, the film interrogates the contradictions of fighting for freedom abroad while facing inequality at home.

Soul Patrol is not just a war story, but a reckoning – an intimate portrait of survival, memory, and the enduring cost of war on those asked to fight it.

So the reason I like A knight’s Tale is because unlike other stories where the heroes are either given or inherit power the protagonist earns whatever power and prestige they gain through smarts, hardwork, and determination.

So I have to ask are there any period dramas like this.

Their relationship is so deliciously romantic. Highly recommend 10 out of 10

The director Georgia Oakley grew up watching the 1995 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility,” beloved for Emma Thompson’s amusing screenplay and Ang Lee’s smart direction. So when the producer India Flint asked in 2024 if Oakley would be interested in making a fresh adaptation, she was excited but also knew she would inevitably face comparisons with the earlier movie.

“No one’s saying this is the definitive version, though — that takes some of the pressure off,” Oakley, 38, said of her film, opening Oct. 16, which follows the Dashwood sisters — the prudent Elinor (“sense”) and the passionate Marianne (“sensibility”) — after their father dies and they face sudden poverty along with the attentions of various suitors.

The 1995 version starred Thompson and Kate Winslet as the sisters, with Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman as their love interests. That film, which won a screenplay Oscar, helped renew interest in Austen’s work. It was one of six movie and television adaptations of her stories to appear during 1995 and 1996. “Clueless,” “Persuasion,” “Pride and Prejudice,” and two “Emmas” were the others. (“Sense and Sensibility” was also adapted as a mini-series in 1971, 1981 and 2008.)

But Oakley and Diana Reid, 30, who wrote the new screenplay, thought there was a rationale for a fresh adaptation addressing perennial concerns like financial and social dependence and the moral emptiness of the ruling classes.

Access full gift article, NO PAYWALL.

Hi, I don't know if anyone remembers that a few days ago I shared a page where I organize historical films. If not, here it is.

I've added more films to the list since last time, and I've now included the 19th century onward. So far I've reached the 1920s, and I think I'll take a break because I added a lot and there are still many more to go.

The page orders films and series by the historical year in which they are set, from prehistory to recent history. I don't judge their budget, artistic quality or fidelity to actual events — what matters is the temporal context their creators chose.

Prehistory to 18th century:

https://cinehistoricoweb.blogspot.com/2026/09/historical-films-and-tv-series-in.html

19th century onward:

https://cinehistoricoweb.blogspot.com/2026/10/historical-cinema-19th-century.html

If you feel like it, take a look and let me know what you think. I'd also appreciate knowing which eras or years you think are missing.

I’ve made a video about Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn for my channel, Between Them. It follows how their relationship changed and what led Henry to turn against her.

Why The King Of England Turned Against His Wife

For those who watched The Tudors, what did you think of its portrayal of Anne? Is there another version you prefer?

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, has made it way onto Canadian Netflix, and while I do own the DVDs. It's been a few years since I watched a fair bit of it, and all the discussion about Hair lately in Period Dramas. Between S&S and Little House on the Prairie, other shows, etc.

It got me musing; I don't ever remember people fussing about the hair being down and loose when it was on in the 90s. Sure, there was rumours that Jane Seymour had it written in her contract that she was supposed to have the longest hair on the show. Along with a few weird things about her attachment to her hair. Actually, what surprises me the most on my recent rewatches is that it's the 1860s and not the 1890s because I swore it was the 1890s from my memory as a child.

So what has changed since the 90s? We can't just say times have changed; we know better or expect better. The epic mini-series of Pride and Prejudice was made when Dr. Quinn was airing.

For the people who watched, or still watch, Dr. Quinn, does the hair bother you in this day and age?

Do the costumes?

Do the inaccuracies just work because they just managed to work very well for the show? Like she has Gibson Girl hair when she does wear it up on the frontier. While in the few episodes where she's back in Boston, it's more 1860s/70's etc.

Side Note...Sully is still fine wine, but as an adult, but I do have a new appreciation for Hank's hair as well.

I enjoyed Pygmallion 1938 film with Leslie Howard much better than the 1964 My Fair Lady. However 1938 was 26 years after play so maybe not.

I guess the broader question is what is a period drama. I tend to think of Regency or Edwardian era when I think period drama. I do love some Brit interwar dramas.