If you’re looking to be swept away to another time in history, be it for romance, epic fight sequences, drama or just the fashion, than checkout these 20 amazing period drama shows streaming now on netflix!
If you’re looking to be swept away to another time in history, be it for romance, epic fight sequences, drama or just the fashion, than checkout these 20 amazing period drama shows streaming now on netflix!
We’ve got supernatural themes with Luna Nera and Dracula. Battle fights with Vikings Valhalla and Barbarians. Epic romance with Bridgerton. Sweeping drama with The Crown and Marco Polo.
These are the series on Netflix that you don’t want to miss.
We provide the link to the period drama series on Netflix so you can add it directly to your queue.
Start bingeing them now!
As with every list on our site, we offer a free interactive checklist for you to download for later reference!
The Crown is a critically acclaimed series that chronicles the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II from her wedding in 1947 to the early 21st century. The series explores the personal and political challenges faced by the monarch and her family, as well as the historical events that shaped Britain and the world.
2. Bridgerton (2020-present)
Number of seasons: 2
Actors: Phoebe Dynevor, Regé-Jean Page, Jonathan Bailey, Nicola Coughlan
Genre: Regency romance, Historical romance, Alternate history
Bridgerton is a steamy and scandalous series that follows the eight siblings of the Bridgerton family as they navigate the high society of Regency era London in search of love and happiness. Based on the bestselling novels by Julia Quinn, the series features a diverse cast of characters, a mysterious gossip columnist, and a dazzling soundtrack.
3. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (2023)
Number of seasons: 1
Actors: India Amarteifio, Adjoa Andoh, Michelle Fairley, Ruth Gemmell
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is a spin-off series about the titular monarch and her initial days as the Queen of the United Kingdom. The series consists of two plot lines – One in the present of Bridgerton, beginning in 1817 with the death of the royal heir Princess Charlotte, an event that causes the Queen to pressure her children to marry and produce another royal heir. The other begins in 1761 with Charlotte meeting and marrying King George, exploring the King and Queen’s marriage and his mental illness.
4. Vikings: Valhalla (2022-present)
Number of seasons: 2
Actors: Sam Corlett, Frida Gustavsson, Leo Suter, Bradley Freegard
Vikings: Valhalla is a sequel to the popular Vikings series that takes place 100 years later and follows the legendary adventures of some of the most famous Vikings who ever lived: Leif Eriksson, Freydis Eiríksdóttir, Harald Hardrada, and William the Conqueror. The series depicts the violent and epic saga of the Vikings as they fight for survival in a changing and evolving world.
5. The Empress (2022-present)
Number of seasons: 1
Actors: Devrim Lingnau, Philip Froissant, Melika Foroutan
The Empress is a German series based on the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, who married Emperor Franz Joseph at the age of 16 and faced the challenges of court politics and her husband’s family. The series depicts Elisabeth as a young woman ahead of her time, rebelling against the rigid rules of the 19th century and the court.
6. Marco Polo (2014-2016)
Number of seasons: 2
Actors: Lorenzo Richelmy, Benedict Wong, Joan Chen, Zhu Zhu
Marco Polo is a series that follows the adventures of the Venetian merchant and traveler who journeyed from Europe to Asia in the 13th century. He served the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan and witnessed the wonders and dangers of his empire.
7. The Queen’s Gambit (2020)
Number of seasons: 1
Actors: Anya Taylor-Joy, Bill Camp, Moses Ingram, Harry Melling
The Queen’s Gambit is a miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Walter Tevis. It tells the story of Beth Harmon, an orphan chess prodigy who rises to the top of the chess world while struggling with drug and alcohol dependency.
8. Barbarians (2020-present)
Number of seasons: 2
Actors: Laurence Rupp, Jeanne Goursaud, David Schütter
Barbarians is a series that follows the adventures of the Germanic tribes who rebelled against the Roman Empire in the 1st century CE. The series focuses on Arminius, a Germanic prince who was raised as a Roman officer and later betrayed his adoptive father, Varus, by leading the alliance of the tribes in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.
9. Luna Nera (2020)
Number of seasons: 1
Actors: Nina Fotaras, Giorgio Belli, Gloria Carovana
Luna Nera is a series based on the novel of the same name by Tiziana Triana. It tells the story of Ade, a young midwife who discovers that she is a witch and joins a group of women who live in the Lost Cities, a hidden place in the woods where they practice their magic. The series takes place in 17th century Italy, where witchcraft is feared and persecuted by the Church and the Benandanti, a group of witch-hunters.
10. Cable Girls (2017-2020)
Number of seasons: 5
Actors: Blanca Suárez, Maggie Civantos, Nadia de Santiago, Ana Fernández
Cable Girls is a Spanish series that follows the lives of four women who work as telephone operators in 1920s Madrid. The series depicts their struggles, friendships, romances, and secrets as they face the challenges of a changing society and a turbulent history.
11. The Last Kingdom (2015-2022)
Number of seasons: 5
Actors: Alexander Dreymon, David Dawson, Emily Cox, Ian Hart
The Last Kingdom is a British series based on Bernard Cornwell’s novels The Saxon Stories. It tells the story of Uhtred, a Saxon noble who is captured and raised by the Danes, and his quest to reclaim his ancestral lands and loyalty in the midst of the wars between the Saxons and the Vikings in 9th and 10th century England. The series portrays the historical events and figures that shaped the emergence of a united England under King Alfred the Great.
12. Frontier (2016-2018)
Number of seasons: 3
Actors: Jason Momoa, Greg Bryk, Landon Liboiron, Zoe Boyle
Genre: Historical drama, Action, Adventure, Western
Frontier is a Canadian series that chronicles the North American fur trade in the late 18th century. It follows Declan Harp, a half-Irish, half-Cree outlaw who leads a campaign to break the monopoly of the Hudson’s Bay Company on the fur trade.
Anne with an E is a series based on the classic novel Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. It follows the adventures of Anne Shirley, a young orphan girl who is sent to live with a middle aged brother and sister on their farm in Prince Edward Island. Anne’s vivid imagination, fiery spirit, and thirst for knowledge often get her into trouble, but also win her the hearts of those around her.
14. Alias Grace (2017)
Number of seasons: 1
Actors: Sarah Gadon, Edward Holcroft, Zachary Levi, Anna Paquin
Alias Grace is a miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. It tells the true story of Grace Marks, a young Irish immigrant who was convicted of murdering her employer and his housekeeper in 1840s Canada. Grace claims to have no memory of the crime, and a doctor is hired to examine her mental state. The series alternates between Grace’s account of her life and the doctor’s interviews with her, revealing a complex and ambiguous portrait of a woman who may be innocent, guilty, or somewhere in between.
15. Traitors (2019)
Number of seasons: 1
Actors: Emma Appleton, Michael Stuhlbarg, Matt Lauria, Keeley Hawes
Traitors is a series that follows Feef Symonds, a young British woman who works as a civil servant in 1945. She is recruited by the American intelligence to spy on her own government, which is suspected of having ties with the Soviet Union. Feef soon finds herself in a dangerous game of deception, betrayal, and loyalty, as she tries to balance her personal and professional lives.
16. Freud (2020)
Number of seasons: 1
Actors: Robert Finster, Ella Rumpf, Georg Friedrich, Christoph Krutzler
Freud is a series that imagines a young Sigmund Freud as a crime solver in 1886 Vienna. He teams up with a medium named Fleur Salomé and a police inspector named Alfred Kiss to investigate a series of murders, conspiracies, and occult phenomena. The series blends historical facts with fictional elements.
17. Peaky Blinders (2013-2022)
Number of seasons: 6
Actors: Cillian Murphy, Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle, Joe Cole
Peaky Blinders is a series that follows the exploits of the Peaky Blinders, a gang of mixed Irish Traveller and Romani origins based in Birmingham, England, starting in 1919, several months after the end of the First World War. It centers on the Peaky Blinders street gang and their ambitious, cunning crime boss Tommy Shelby.
18. Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood (2020)
Number of seasons: 1
Actors: Misel Maticevic, Martina Gedeck, Klaus Steinbacher, Mercedes Müller
Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood is a series that follows a rich newcomer with a shady past who arrives in Munich determined to crash the local Oktoberfest with his own brewery. But when his daughter falls in love with the heir to a rival brewery, a violent chain of events is unleashed that will threaten both families’ futures. The series is based on true events and portrays the bloody, boozy origins of Oktoberfest in the early 20th century.
19. Dracula (2020)
Number of seasons: 1
Actors: Claes Bang, Dolly Wells, John Heffernan, Morfydd Clark
Dracula is a miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Bram Stoker. It follows the legendary vampire Count Dracula from his origins in Transylvania to his battles with Van Helsing’s descendants and beyond. The series reimagines the classic story with a modern twist, blending horror, humor, and mystery.
20. The Last Czars (2019)
Number of seasons: 1
Actors: Robert Jack, Susanna Herbert, Ben Cartwright, Oliver Dimsdale
The Last Czars is a series that follows the reign of Nicholas II, the last emperor of Russia’s Romanov dynasty, from his accession to the throne in 1894 to his execution along with his family in 1918. The series combines dramatized scenes with documentary footage and interviews with experts, revealing the political and social upheavals that led to the fall of the monarchy and the rise of the Bolsheviks.
Thanks for reading this article for historical period drama inspiration!
Tiffany is a female entrepreneur who has been in the movie business since 2005.
She loves all things horror! Movies, Books, Magazines, Podcasts and Film Festivals. *****
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