The best period dramas to stream now
With autumn nearly upon us, it is time we start planning our escapist viewing for the season ahead – and nothing fits the bill quite like period dramas. Ranging from classic Austen adaptations – like the BBC’s glorious 1995 Pride and Prejudice – to slightly edgier new drama like Bridgerton, there really is something for everyone.
During a particularly serious discussion in the House & Garden office, a crucial question was raised: what constitutes a period drama? Is it a TV show or film set in any distinct period of the past (as recent as the 1970s, for example), or does it have to recreate a time of which few or none of us have memories? The general consensus was that the postwar period, up to and including the early 1950s, was probably our cut-off. After all, we want to be able to enjoy evocative sets and costumes, not just interiors that look much like our own and clothes that might still be found in a charity shop.
With all of this in mind, we have rounded up our favourite period dramas available to stream in the UK right now, from golden oldies to the latest arrivals. If you’re an Austen fan, this is the perfect moment to catch up on the classics before the arrival of a miniseries of Pride and Prejudice on Netflix, a new film of Sense and Sensibility starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and a BBC adaptation of Janice Hadlow’s novel The Other Bennett Sister – all due over the coming years. Watch this space.
The best period dramas to stream now
LUCIA IUORIO/NETFLIX1/26Netflix: The Leopard
It was a brave move for Netflix to adapt The Leopard, the famous 1958 novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa about the vanishing world of the aristocracy in Sicily. The original 1963 film has legions of fans, and indeed has been how many people have discovered the magic of the book.
The Netflix adaptation, which stars Kim Rossi Stuart as Don Fabrizio, Benedetta Porcaroli as his daughter Concetta, and Deva Cassel (Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel’s daughter) as the nouveau riche Angelica, was filmed on location in Sicily, including the cities of Palermo, Catania, Trapani and Syracuse, which retain many of their 19th-century streetscapes, with other scenes also filmed in Rome and the surrounding Lazio countryside and Turin. As befits a book that laments the decadent, declining world of a grand aristocracy, the series is full of sun-baked palazzos with extravagant Baroque and Rococo interiors.
Read more: Where was Netflix's The Leopard filmed? All the filming locations from the sumptuous new adaptation
BBC/Playground Entertainment/Nick Brigg2/26BBC iPlayer: Wolf Hall
We go right back to the 1500s for this BBC adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s brilliant trilogy of novels: Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light. Based on real events and figures of the dark Tudor period, it follows the dramatic rise of Thomas Cromwell from blacksmith’s son to King Henry VIII’s chief minister. Mark Rylance as Cromwell and Damian Lewis as Henry VIII are both incredibly compelling, and the filming locations transport you straight to 16th-century England.
Robert Viglasky3/26Disney+: A Thousand Blows
Disney’s gritty Victorian drama A Thousand Blows captures the people and places of London’s East End in the 1880s with all the grace and grit of a boxing match. Created by Peaky Blinders writer Steven Knight, the show pulls back the curtain on the guts of the East End bare-knuckle boxing scene of the 1880s, with lines like ‘the city makes only one promise – that it will kill you the first chance it gets’.
Based on real stories (with a little creative license), the story follows the bloody rivalry between Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby), a Jamaican boxer who made a name for himself in London, and London criminal boss Henry ‘Sugar’ Goodson (Stephen Graham). Then there's the formidable gang leader Mary Carr (Erin O'Doherty), who governs a gang of female thieves known as the Forty Elephants and whose sights are set on something bigger than petty crime. The three characters (and a sprawling supporting cast made up of recognisable British rising stars) guide us through the backstreets of London and into an epic tale of revenge, pain and love.
READ MORE: Where was A Thousand Blows filmed? The punchy new period drama by the makers of Peaky Blinders
4/26BBC iPlayer: Miss Austen
This four-part drama has been adapted from Gill Hornby’s best-selling novel of the same name and stars Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard, Line of Duty, It’s A Sin) in the role of Cassandra Austen, Jane Austen's older sister and devoted best friend.
Set in 1830 and 1840, 13 and 23 years after Jane’s passing, Miss Austen’s story begins when Cassandra visits Isabella (Rose Leslie of Game of Thrones fame), the niece of her long-dead fiancé, who is on the verge of losing her home following her father’s death. While she appears to be there to support Isabella, Cassandra’s true mission is to recover a hidden bundle of private letters that could jeopardise Jane’s reputation. As she uncovers them, she is transported back in time, reliving the joys and heartbreaks of her youth. Flashbacks introduce Young Cassy (Synnøve Karlsen) and Jane (Patsy Ferran), as they experience the romantic entanglements, friendships, and disappointments that shaped their lives and inspired Jane’s timeless novels.
Photographer: Alison Cohen Rosa5/26Now/Sky: The Gilded Age
Downton Abbey and Fitzrovia writer Julian Fellowes’ series The Gilded Age draws heavily on the New York that Edith Wharton wrote about in the last decade of the 19th century. The show follows the ingenue Marian Brook as she negotiates the New York social scene after moving from rural Pennsylvania to live with her two ‘old money’ aunts Agnes van Rhijn and Ada Brook (played by Sex and the City alumna Cynthia Nixon). Marian inadvertently finds herself in the midst of a social war between her aunts and their new neighbours, a railroad tycoon and his wife. As with many of Fellowes’ series, the manoeuvring and social climbing is only half of the fun – and production for season two is underway.
Angus Pigott6/26Apple TV: The Buccaneers
Like an edgy Bridgerton, this deranged adaptation sees a group of rowdy teenage girls in Gilded Age New York travel to London to find husbands. With a stellar cast and some wonderful costumes and sets this - whilst not a classic period drama - is worth a watch.
Rory Mulvey/ SKY UK7/26Now: Mary & George
Julianne Moore is electric in this intense (and intensely sexual) adaptation of the unbelievable true story of the treacherous Mary Villiers and her charismatic son George. With the Spanish invasion as a backdrop, this story follows the bribery and scheming of the pair as they rise through the social ranks. Beautifully shot with costumes to match, you'll quickly get hooked on this series.
Jonathan Prime8/26Amazon Prime: My Lady Jane
This lively TV series combines adventure, comedy, drama and history. It has none of the classy serenity that you might associate with earlier period adaptations, but it is raunchy, fun and at times very surreal. Gemma Burgess is the creator and Edward Bluemel, Emily Bader lead a wonderful cast (with great comedy turns from Rob Brydon and Anna Chancellor.)
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LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX9/26Netflix: Bridgerton
Having taken the world by storm since Christmas Day in 2020, Bridgerton has made its mark on period drama fans and presented a new take on the genre. As bright, bold and racy as ever, its most recent season explored Nicola Coughlan’s character Penelope Featherington and her romance with Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). Season four is confirmed for 2026 and will tell the love story of the second Bridgerton son, Benedict (Luke Thompson), and a mysterious maid named Sophie.
©Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection10/26Virgin TV Go/Amazon Prime/Apple TV: Emma (2020)
Autumn de Wilde’s 2020 adaptation of the Jane Austen classic is visually breathtaking, and follows the Gwyneth Paltrow version in depicting a world of truly fabulous wealth. The interiors of Hartfield, Emma’s home, are glorious confections of pastel colours, and it’s pretty amazing that she has a hothouse.
READ MORE: Every Jane Austen adaptation ranked
NETFLIX11/26Netflix: Enola Holmes
Millie Bobby Brown plays Sherlock Holmes’ sister in this Netflix adaptation of Nancy Springer’s novels of the same name. There’s a star-studded cast that sees Henry Cavill play Sherlock and Helena Bonham Carter play Millie’s missing mother. A third season has now been confirmed.
12/26U: The Pursuit of Love
This lavish BBC production of Nancy Mitford’s most famous novel is not flawless, but it is most enjoyable, with all the lovely costumes and fascinating sets you want from a period drama. Watch it purely for Andrew Scott’s turn as Lord Merlin and you won’t be disappointed.
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13/26Channel 4/Hulu: The Great
This wild, raucous and often raunchy take on Catherine the Great’s rise to power has garnered a huge fan base over the course of its three seasons. Expect pastel hair, tiny waists in impeccable costumes, silly asides and fast-paced humour as Tony McNamara adds a fictional spin to Russia’s longest reigning empress, played by Elle Fanning.
14/26ITVX: Brideshead Revisited
Few period dramas are as loved as the original Brideshead adaptation, starring Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews. Evelyn Waugh’s classic novel was turned into 11 glorious episodes in the 1980s and all are still available for the ultimate binge watch.
Netflix15/26Netflix: Pride & Prejudice (2005)
There are two camps when it comes to Pride and Prejudice: Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, or Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen? While the former BBC adaptation will always have our hearts (more on this below), the latter is a tour de force in its own right. In Joe Wright’s 2005 film adaptation, the locations used add so much richness to an already gorgeous portrayal.
16/26BBC iPlayer: War and Peace
The BBC’s 2016 adaptation of Tolstoy’s epic novel was a must-watch, even if it struggled to pack the events of 1,300 or so pages into its six parts. Still, it’s enough to give you a decent idea of the adventures of sundry Rostovs, Bezukhovs, Bolkonskys and Kuragins as they love, hate, fight and die in the Russia of the Napoleonic Wars. Plus, the ballroom scene in episode 3 where Lily James’ charming Natasha meets James Norton’s dashing Prince Andrei is the stuff of dreams. No man has ever looked better entirely dressed in white.
17/26Amazon Prime/Apple TV: Jane Eyre (2006 and 2011)
Jane Eyre has been adapted for TV and film countless times. Our top two are the 2006 BBC version starring Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson (available on Amazon Prime), and Cary Fukunaga’s 2011 film with Michael Fassbender (swoon) and Mia Wasikowska, now on Apple TV. Fassbender does an excellent line in craggy brooding, and Wasikowska perfects the title character’s reticence and emotional turmoil.
18/26Apple TV: Emma
Between this film, Sliding Doors and Shakespeare in Love, there’s no doubting the perfection of Gwyneth Paltrow’s English accent. While Paltrow brings perhaps a little too much polish and archness to her portrayal of Emma Woodhouse, this 1996 film is visually dreamy (as is Jeremy Northam in the role of Knightley). Ewan MacGregor looks faintly ridiculous as Emma’s love interest Frank Churchill, but there are delightful supporting turns from Greta Scacchi, Toni Collette and Alan Cumming.
19/26Netflix: Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey took the nation by storm when it appeared in 2010, and we laughed and cried our way through the Crawley family’s ups and downs until it ended in 2015. This has since been followed by two Downton films, with the third and final one due to premiere in a matter of weeks. The perfect excuse to go back to the very beginning and start all over again.
20/26BBC iPlayer: Pride and Prejudice (1995)
This is period drama that kicked off a generation’s Austen obsession and fuelled the romantic daydreams of millions. To this day, there’s nothing to beat it. Jennifer Ehle’s twinkling portrayal of Lizzie brought the character to life perfectly, and Colin Firth’s slow journey from pompous disdain to unswerving devotion gets us breathless every time.
21/26BBC iPlayer: Emma (2009)
The four-part BBC version of Emma features a much more convincing turn from Romola Garai as the impulsive, spoilt but ultimately sweet-natured title character, with Jonny Lee Miller as a charming, if slightly bad-boy-ish Knightley. Michael Gambon does his gruff, heart-of-gold act as Mr Woodhouse, and the whole thing has the usual BBC sumptuousness to it.
22/26ITVX: Sanditon
Sanditon was Austen’s final, unfinished novel. It tells the story of spirited country girl Charlotte Heywood, who visits the up-and-coming seaside resort of Sanditon. This has been spun out into three very watchable series on ITV, starring Rose Williams and Theo James in the lead roles.
23/26U: North and South
A period drama that takes you away from the usual country house setting into the wilds of the industrial north. This adaption of Elizabeth Gaskell’s 1855 novel features a young woman transplanted from the leafy south of England into the sooty fictional town of Milton, who gradually learns to love the self-made man John Thornton. Richard Armitage as Thornton presides over his factory as a sort of Mr-Darcy-with-a-Northern-accent, and Daniela Denby-Ashe is delightfully haughty as the wide-eyed and sincere Margaret Hale.
24/26Apple TV: Howards End
The 2017 adaptation of Howards End on the BBC was truly excellent, bringing E M Forster’s novel to a new generation of fans, but the 1992 version has a special place in our hearts. Emma Thompson and Helena Bonham Carter were going through their peak-period-drama phases – the former playing generous-minded Margaret Schlegel, and the latter the impulsive Helen, two artistic, intellectual sisters whose friendship with the straightforward Wilcox family has repercussions throughout their lives.
25/26Apple TV: Love in a Cold Climate
Nancy Mitford’s tale of the lives and loves of the fictional Montdore family was adapted in 2001 for the BBC, featuring a young Rosamund Pike as Fanny Wincham, who narrates the eccentric goings-on. It’s not the traditional period drama by any means, and the sort-of-happy ending is... unusual, to say the least, but as a portrait of the aristocracy between the wars, it’s fascinating.
26/26Amazon Prime: Daniel Deronda
This 2002 adaptation of George Eliot's novel was written by Andrew Davies, period drama creator par excellence, and is by turns sombre and utterly delightful. The intertwining stories of the spoilt Gwendolen Harleth (Romola Garai on excellent form) and the kind Daniel Deronda, who has fallen in love with a Jewish woman he rescued from drowning herself, are more morally serious than the usual fare, and ultimately make for a rewarding watch.
