Period Pieces
by fairfax512 | created - 15 Sep 2011 | updated - 05 Apr 2018 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. 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: 8,400
2. Cranford (2007–2009)
TV-PG | 469 min | Drama
In the 1840s, Cranford is ruled by the ladies. They adore good gossip, and romance and change is in the air, as the unwelcome grasp of the Industrial Revolution rapidly approaches their beloved rural market-town.
Stars: Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Julia McKenzie, Deborah Findlay
Votes: 10,619
3. 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: 92,257
4. Emma (2009)
TV-PG | 62 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Emma Woodhouse, a wealthy young woman living in the early 19th century, whose misplaced confidence in her matchmaking abilities occasions several romantic misadventures, which leads her into deeper meanings of love and life
Stars: Romola Garai, Michael Gambon, Jonny Lee Miller, Jodhi May
Votes: 18,035
5. Wives and Daughters (1999)
TV-PG | 75 min | Drama
The daughter of a country doctor copes with an unwanted stepmother, an impetuous stepsister, burdensome secrets, the town gossips, and the tug on her own heartstrings for a man who thinks of her only as a friend.
Stars: Francesca Annis, Justine Waddell, Bill Paterson, Keeley Hawes
Votes: 7,319
6. Dresden (2006 TV Movie)
176 min | Drama, Romance, War
A romance between a British pilot hiding in Germany and a German nurse is shown on the background of massive allied bombing of Dresden towards the end of World War 2.
Director: Roland Suso Richter | Stars: Felicitas Woll, John Light, Benjamin Sadler, Heiner Lauterbach
Votes: 2,689
7. The King's Speech (2010)
R | 118 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.
Director: Tom Hooper | Stars: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Derek Jacobi
Votes: 707,791 | Gross: $138.80M
8. Anne of Green Gables (1985)
TV-G | 100 min | Drama, Family
An orphan girl, sent to an elderly brother and sister by mistake, charms her new home and community with her fiery spirit and imagination.
Stars: Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Richard Farnsworth, Patricia Hamilton
Votes: 22,643
9. Anne of Avonlea (1987)
TV-G | 58 min | Drama, Family, Romance
Anne Shirley accepts a teaching position at a girls boarding school in a town dominated by a rich and belligerant family determined to make her life miserable.
Stars: Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Marilyn Lightstone, Schuyler Grant
Votes: 10,189
10. 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
11. The Secret Garden (1993)
G | 101 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
A young, recently-orphaned girl is sent to England after living in India all of her life. Once there, she begins to explore her new, seemingly-isolated surroundings, and its secrets.
Director: Agnieszka Holland | Stars: Kate Maberly, Maggie Smith, Heydon Prowse, Andrew Knott
Votes: 44,458 | Gross: $31.18M
12. A Room with a View (1985)
Not Rated | 117 min | Drama, Romance
Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) shares a brief romance with George Emerson in Florence. Yet as she tries to move on with her life and look for marriage elsewhere, can she truly forget the events of that summer?
Director: James Ivory | Stars: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Denholm Elliott, Julian Sands
Votes: 47,847 | Gross: $20.97M
13. Pride & Prejudice (2005)
PG | 129 min | Drama, Romance
Sparks fly when spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets single, rich, and proud Mr. Darcy. But Mr. Darcy reluctantly finds himself falling in love with a woman beneath his class. Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice?
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland
Votes: 330,519 | Gross: $38.41M
14. Lilies (2007)
60 min | Drama
Tough, sexy, funny and heartbreaking, Lillies details the lives of Iris, May and Ruby Moss - Catholic sisters coming of age in a dockland terraced house. Familial love sustains them, and ... See full summary »
Stars: Brian McCardie, Catherine Tyldesley, Kerrie Hayes, Leanne Rowe
Votes: 804
15.
Screen Two (1985–1998)
Episode:
Persuasion
(1995)
PG | 103 min | Drama
Theatrical film of Persuasion with Ciaran Hinds & Amanda Root. Directed by Roger Michell.
Director: Roger Michell | Stars: Amanda Root, Ciarán Hinds, Susan Fleetwood, Corin Redgrave
Votes: 11,397 | Gross: $5.46M
16. Little Women (1994)
PG | 115 min | Drama, Family, Romance
The March sisters live and grow in post-Civil War America.
Director: Gillian Armstrong | Stars: Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes
Votes: 63,561 | Gross: $50.08M
17. Elizabeth (1998)
R | 124 min | Biography, Drama, History
The early years of the reign of Elizabeth I of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch.
Director: Shekhar Kapur | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Liz Giles, Rod Culbertson, Paul Fox
Votes: 105,088 | Gross: $30.08M
18. The Notebook (2004)
PG-13 | 123 min | Drama, Romance
An elderly man reads to a woman with dementia the story of two young lovers whose romance is threatened by the difference in their respective social classes.
Director: Nick Cassavetes | Stars: Gena Rowlands, James Garner, Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling
Votes: 619,895 | Gross: $81.00M
19. Out of Africa (1985)
PG | 161 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
In 20th-century colonial Kenya, a Danish baroness/plantation owner has a passionate love affair with a free-spirited big-game hunter.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Michael Kitchen
Votes: 86,322 | Gross: $87.10M
20. Amadeus (1984)
R | 160 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice
Votes: 427,832 | Gross: $51.97M
21. A Man for All Seasons (1966)
G | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of Sir Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarry.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw, Leo McKern
Votes: 37,145 | Gross: $28.35M
22. True Grit (2010)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Western
A stubborn teenager enlists the help of a tough U.S. Marshal to track down her father's murderer.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin
Votes: 357,415 | Gross: $171.24M
23. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
PG | 110 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
In 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid lead a band of outlaws. When a train robbery goes wrong, they find themselves on the run with a posse hard on their heels. After considering their options, they escape to South America.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin
Votes: 226,665 | Gross: $102.31M
24. The Missing (I) (2003)
R | 137 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
In 1885 New Mexico, a frontier medicine woman forms an uneasy alliance with her estranged father when her daughter is kidnapped by an Apache brujo.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchett, Evan Rachel Wood, Jenna Boyd
Votes: 38,225 | Gross: $26.90M
25. Rome (2005–2007)
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic.
Stars: Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson, Polly Walker, Kerry Condon
Votes: 185,261
26. Glory Road (2006)
PG | 118 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.
Director: James Gartner | Stars: Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Austin Nichols, Jon Voight
Votes: 48,814 | Gross: $42.64M
27. Garrow's Law (2009–2011)
Biography, Drama, History
Garrow's Law is the true tale of William Garrow, who acted as counsel for the accused, introducing the concept of 'innocent until proved guilty' at London's Old Bailey.
Stars: Andrew Buchan, Lyndsey Marshal, Rupert Graves, Aidan McArdle
Votes: 1,247
28. 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: 1,765
29. City of Vice (2008)
50 min | Crime, Drama, History
In 18th-century London, novelists Henry and John Fielding fight crime on the perilous streets of Covent Garden, determined to clean up the city rife with prostitution, gambling, and villainy before modern policing.
Stars: Ian McDiarmid, Francis Magee, Steve Speirs, Alice O'Connell
Votes: 522
30. South Riding (2011)
Drama
In 1930s Yorkshire, a spirited new headmistress brings inspiration and modern ideas to an all girls' school and shakes up the more conservative-minded residents of South Riding.
Stars: Anna Maxwell Martin, David Morrissey, Penelope Wilton, Katherine McGolpin
Votes: 1,514
31. Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012 TV Movie)
TV-MA | 155 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A drama centered on the romance between Ernest Hemingway and World War II correspondent Martha Gellhorn, Hemingway's inspiration for For Whom the Bell Tolls, and the only woman who ever asked for a divorce from the writer.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Clive Owen, David Strathairn, Rodrigo Santoro
Votes: 10,409
32. Call the Midwife (2012– )
TV-PG | 60 min | Drama, History
Chronicles the lives of a group of midwives living in East London in the late 1950s to late 1960s.
Stars: Vanessa Redgrave, Laura Main, Jenny Agutter, Stephen McGann
Votes: 31,459
33. Lincoln (2012)
PG-13 | 150 min | Biography, Drama, History
As the Civil War rages on, U.S President Abraham Lincoln struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on his decision to emancipate the slaves.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Votes: 272,559 | Gross: $182.21M
34. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)
PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy, Romance
Guinevere Pettigrew, a middle-aged London governess, finds herself unfairly dismissed from her job. An attempt to gain new employment catapults her into the glamorous world and dizzying social whirl of an American actress and singer, Delysia Lafosse.
Director: Bharat Nalluri | Stars: Frances McDormand, Amy Adams, Ciarán Hinds, David Alexander
Votes: 29,732 | Gross: $12.29M
35. 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: 224,798
36. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
Not Rated | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
In 1900, a young widow finds her seaside cottage is haunted and forms a unique relationship with the ghost.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, George Sanders, Edna Best
Votes: 20,865
37. Breathless (2013)
Drama
A TV series set in early 1960s England and centered around the doctors and nurses in a gynecology ward.
Stars: Catherine Steadman, Zoe Boyle, Shaun Dingwall, Jack Davenport
Votes: 1,512
38. Endeavour (2012–2023)
TV-14 | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Set from 1965 into the 1970s, the show follows Endeavour Morse in his early years as a police constable. Working alongside his senior partner DI Fred Thursday, Morse engages in a number of investigations around Oxford.
Stars: Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, James Bradshaw, Sean Rigby
Votes: 33,397
39. Father Brown (2013– )
TV-PG | 52 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In the early 1950s, Father Brown, a Roman Catholic priest based in the fictional Cotswold village of Kembleford, uses his distinctive skills to solve various crimes.
Stars: Mark Williams, John Burton, Sorcha Cusack, Jack Deam
Votes: 14,995
40. Casualty 1906 (2006 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, History
Innovative hospital drama that plunges the viewer into the Receiving Room (today's A&E) of the London hospital deep in the teeming East End. The drama is shot with the pace and action of ... See full summary »
Director: Bryn Higgins | Stars: Tim Baker, Paul Brightwell, Nigel Cooke, Dorothy Duffy
Votes: 406
41. Casualty 1907 (2008)
180 min | Drama, History
Uses case notes, ward diaries and memoirs from archives at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, to bring real doctors, nurses and patients from a Edwardian London hospital back to life.
Stars: Alfie Allen, Nicholas Farrell, Neil Fitzmaurice, William Houston
Votes: 521
42. Casualty 1909 (2009)
Drama, History
Available records and diaries of nurses, doctors, and patients of the London hospital are put to life in this compelling series about the historic London Hospital.
Stars: Cherie Lunghi, Sarah Smart, William Houston, Nicholas Farrell
Votes: 463
43. Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)
PG-13 | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A young peasant maid working in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer becomes his talented assistant and the model for one of his most famous works.
Director: Peter Webber | Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson, Judy Parfitt
Votes: 82,644 | Gross: $11.63M
44. GLOW (2017–2019)
TV-MA | 35 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
A look at the personal and professional lives of a group of women who perform for a wrestling organization in Los Angeles during the 1980s.
Stars: Alison Brie, Marc Maron, Betty Gilpin, Britt Baron
Votes: 50,559
45. Good Girls Revolt (2015–2016)
TV-MA | 55 min | Drama
A look at the personal and professional lives of employees at an American news magazine in the late 1960s.
Stars: Genevieve Angelson, Anna Camp, Erin Darke, Hunter Parrish
Votes: 6,265
46. Stranger Things (2016–2025)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one strange little girl.
Stars: Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Winona Ryder, David Harbour
Votes: 1,335,044
47. Penny Dreadful (2014–2016)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Explorer Sir Malcolm Murray, American gunslinger Ethan Chandler, scientist Victor Frankenstein and medium Vanessa Ives unite to combat supernatural threats in Victorian London.
Stars: Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton, Eva Green, Reeve Carney
Votes: 130,992
48. Mercy Street (2016–2017)
TV-14 | 53 min | Drama, History
Follows the lives of two volunteer nurses on opposing sides of the Civil War - New England abolitionist Mary Phinney and Confederate supporter Emma Green.
Stars: McKinley Belcher III, Suzanne Bertish, Norbert Leo Butz, Gary Cole
Votes: 2,949
49. The Nice Guys (2016)
R | 116 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
In 1970s Los Angeles, a mismatched pair of private eyes investigate a missing girl and the mysterious death of a porn star.
Director: Shane Black | Stars: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer
Votes: 373,083 | Gross: $36.26M
50. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2015)
60 min | Fantasy, War
In an alternate history, during the time of real life Napoleonic Wars, two men of destiny, the gifted recluse Mr. Norrell and daring spellcasting novice Jonathan Strange, use magic to help England.
Stars: Bertie Carvel, Eddie Marsan, Marc Warren, Charlotte Riley
Votes: 13,772
51. Godless (2017)
TV-MA | 65 min | Action, Drama, Western
In the 1880s American West, murderous outlaw gang leader Frank Griffin hunts for ex-protege Roy Goode. Frank's chase leads him to La Belle, New Mexico--a town inhabited, after a mining disaster, almost entirely by women.
Stars: Jack O'Connell, Michelle Dockery, Scoot McNairy, Merritt Wever
Votes: 78,496
52. 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: 36,081
53. The Indian Doctor (2010–2013)
Not Rated | Drama, History
In a comedy-drama set in the 1960s, a South Wales coal mining community is changed forever following the death of the local doctor, whose replacement comes as quite a shock to the villagers.
Stars: Sanjeev Bhaskar, Ayesha Dharker, Jacob Oakley, Mali Harries
Votes: 1,586
54. Mildred Pierce (2011)
TV-MA | 67 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Divorced single mom Mildred Pierce decides to open a restaurant business, which tears at the already-strained relationship with her ambitious elder daughter, Veda.
Stars: Kate Winslet, Guy Pearce, Evan Rachel Wood, Brían F. O'Byrne
Votes: 24,077
55. Deadwood (2004–2006)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, History
A show set in the late 1800s, revolving around the characters of Deadwood, South Dakota; a town of deep corruption and crime.
Stars: Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane, Molly Parker, Brad Dourif
Votes: 117,572
56. Defiance (I) (2008)
R | 137 min | Action, Drama, History
Jewish brothers in German-occupied Eastern Europe escape into a Belorussian forest, where they join Russian resistance fighters, and endeavor to build a village, in order to protect themselves and about one thousand Jewish non-combatants.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, Alexa Davalos
Votes: 155,641 | Gross: $28.64M
57. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)
Not Rated | 120 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A dramatization of the final days of Sophie Scholl, one of the most famous members of the German World War II anti-Nazi resistance movement, The White Rose.
Director: Marc Rothemund | Stars: Julia Jentsch, Fabian Hinrichs, Alexander Held, Johanna Gastdorf
Votes: 28,661 | Gross: $0.68M
58. The Bletchley Circle (2012–2014)
TV-14 | 314 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In 1952, four women who worked at the wartime code-breaking centre, Bletchley Park, reunite to track down a serial killer.
Stars: Rachael Stirling, Julie Graham, Sophie Rundle, Anna Maxwell Martin
Votes: 14,024
59. The Knick (2014–2015)
TV-MA | 58 min | Drama, History
A look at the professional and personal lives of the staff at New York's Knickerbocker Hospital during the early part of the twentieth century.
Stars: Clive Owen, André Holland, Jeremy Bobb, Juliet Rylance
Votes: 52,530
60. Goodfellas (1990)
R | 145 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco
Votes: 1,256,799 | Gross: $46.84M
61. Peaky Blinders (2013–2022)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama
A gangster family epic set in 1900s England, centering on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby.
Stars: Cillian Murphy, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle, Helen McCrory
Votes: 649,088
62. 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: 34,942
63. The Godfather Part II (1974)
R | 202 min | Crime, Drama
The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
Votes: 1,363,640 | Gross: $57.30M
64. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
In the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman
Votes: 330,724 | Gross: $45.51M
65. John Adams (2008)
TV-14 | 71 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life of one of the USA's Founding Fathers, its second President, and his role in the nation's first 50 years.
Stars: Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney, John Dossett, Stephen Dillane
Votes: 36,598
66. The Last Post (2017)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, History, Romance
Aden 1965. This is the story of a British army unit quashing a Yemeni fight for independence in the Middle East and the women and children who were there with them.
Stars: Jessie Buckley, Jeremy Neumark Jones, Tom Glynn-Carney, Stephen Campbell Moore
Votes: 2,836
67. Grantchester (2014–2025)
TV-14 | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A Cambridgeshire clergyman finds himself investigating a series of mysterious wrongdoings in his small village of Grantchester.
Stars: Robson Green, Tessa Peake-Jones, Al Weaver, Kacey Ainsworth
Votes: 17,175
68. The Death of Stalin (2017)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, History
Moscow, 1953. After being in power for nearly 30 years, Soviet dictator, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, takes ill and quickly dies. Now the members of the Council of Ministers scramble for power.
Director: Armando Iannucci | Stars: Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Jeffrey Tambor, Andrea Riseborough
Votes: 113,381 | Gross: $8.05M
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