Best Period Pieces
by dianb | created - 11 Aug 2011 | updated - 05 Sep 2017 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. 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: 1,770
2. Masterpiece Theatre: Bleak House (1985)
391 min | Drama, Crime
The great case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce drags on, an obsession to all involved. Then a question of inheritance becomes a question of murder.
Stars: Denholm Elliott, Suzanne Burden, Jonathan Moore, Diana Rigg
Votes: 414
3. Bleak House (2005)
TV-PG | 30 min | Crime, Drama
A suspenseful tale about the injustices of the 19th Century English legal system.
Stars: Anna Maxwell Martin, Carey Mulligan, Denis Lawson, Gillian Anderson
Votes: 10,628
4. Daniel Deronda (2002)
53 min | Drama, Romance
Set in Victorian London, Gwendolen Harleth is drawn to Daniel Deronda, a selfless and intelligent gentleman of unknown parentage, but her own desperate need for financial security may destroy her chance at happiness.
Stars: Jodhi May, Edward Fox, Amanda Root, David Bamber
Votes: 5,203
5. 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: 18,046
6. Gormenghast (2000)
Unrated | 58 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A villain threatens the rise of a new earl in an ancient kingdom.
Stars: Warren Mitchell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Celia Imrie, John Sessions
Votes: 3,101
7. Lady Chatterley (1993)
Unrated | 205 min | Drama, Romance
A young woman's husband returns wounded after the First World War. Facing a life with a husband now incapable of sexual activity she begins an affair with the groundskeeper.
Stars: Joely Richardson, Sean Bean, James Wilby, Shirley Anne Field
Votes: 1,875
8. Middlemarch (1994)
54 min | Drama, Romance
Middlemarch is a story of provincial life on the brink of momentous change and a deeply moving saga about a group of people striving to give meaning and value to their lives during the Industrial Revolution.
Stars: Douglas Hodge, Juliet Aubrey, Trevyn McDowell, Jonathan Firth
Votes: 2,757
9. North & South (2004)
TV-PG | 60 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: 34,973
10. Persuasion (1971)
225 min | History, Romance
Anne Elliot is convinced to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth. When her father rents the family estate to Admiral Croft, Anne is forced to accompany Frederick. Will he and Anne rekindle the old flame?
Stars: Ann Firbank, Bryan Marshall, Marian Spencer, Richard Vernon
Votes: 592
11. Poldark (1975–1977)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, History, Romance
In 1783, Ross Poldark returns from the American wars to his native Cornwall to right wrongs and reunite with the love of his life.
Stars: Robin Ellis, Angharad Rees, Clive Francis, Jill Townsend
Votes: 1,198
12. 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: 92,316
13. The Barchester Chronicles (1982)
385 min | Drama
When a crusade against the Church of England's practice of self-enrichment misfires, scandal taints the cozy community of Barchester when their local church becomes the object of a scathing, investigative report.
Stars: Donald Pleasence, Janet Maw, Nigel Hawthorne, Angela Pleasence
Votes: 1,219
14. The Buccaneers (1995)
TV-14 | 48 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Four American girls go to England to find husbands.
Stars: Carla Gugino, Alison Elliott, Mira Sorvino, Rya Kihlstedt
Votes: 2,614
15. The Devil's Mistress (2008)
47 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Drama charts the progress of the English Civil War through the story of a young woman, the fictional Angelica Fanshawe, and her three husbands.
Stars: Andrea Riseborough, Dominic West, Tom Goodman-Hill, John Simm
Votes: 2,730
16. The Forsyte Saga (2002–2003)
TV-PG | 276 min | Drama, History, Romance
Chronicles the lives of three generations of the upper-middle-class British family, the Forsytes, from the 1870s to 1920.
Stars: Damian Lewis, Rupert Graves, Gina McKee, Amanda Root
Votes: 6,546
17. 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: 22,656
18. 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: 10,192
19. Far from the Madding Crowd (1998 TV Movie)
54 min | Drama, Romance
A vain, pretty girl has recently taken over her uncle's farm. Her independent, naïve personality leaves her torn between the three men who wish to marry her.
Director: Nicholas Renton | Stars: Paloma Baeza, Jonathan Firth, Nigel Terry, Gwynn Beech
Votes: 963
20. Mansfield Park (1999)
PG-13 | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Fanny, born into a poor family, is sent away to live with wealthy uncle Sir Thomas, his wife and their four children, where she'll be brought up for a proper introduction to society.
Director: Patricia Rozema | Stars: Frances O'Connor, Jonny Lee Miller, Alessandro Nivola, Hannah Taylor Gordon
Votes: 25,845 | Gross: $4.76M
21.
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
22. Sense and Sensibility (1995)
PG | 136 min | Drama, Romance
Rich Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his second wife and her three daughters poor by the rules of inheritance. The two eldest daughters are the title opposites.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, James Fleet, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 125,749 | Gross: $43.18M
23. The Mill on the Floss (1997 TV Movie)
90 min | Drama
Lawyer Wakem takes away the mill on the river Floss from Edward Tulliver, whose ancestors owned it for 300 years, and becomes the worst enemy of Tulliver's family. When Edward's daughter, ... See full summary »
Director: Graham Theakston | Stars: Emily Watson, Cheryl Campbell, James Frain, Bernard Hill
Votes: 593
24. The Moonstone (1996 TV Movie)
112 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
When the fabulous Moonstone diamond is stolen, all the suspects appear to have alibis. Even the young girl who owns the diamond won't say whom she saw took it. A dear family friend calls in... See full summary »
Director: Robert Bierman | Stars: Greg Wise, Keeley Hawes, Terrence Hardiman, Mellan Mitchell
Votes: 544
25. The Woodlanders (1997)
PG | 98 min | Drama, Romance
The story is set in late 19th century rural corner of South England. The daughter of timber merchant Melbury, Grace, returns to the town after finishing school. Her father now believes she ... See full summary »
Director: Phil Agland | Stars: Emily Woof, Rufus Sewell, Cal MacAninch, Tony Haygarth
Votes: 747
26. 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
27. A Dance to the Music of Time (1997– )
Not Rated | 416 min | Drama
Anthony Powell's twelve volume novel sequence "A Dance to the Music of Time" has been dramatized for television.
Stars: Gillian Barge, Nicholas Jones, Simon Russell Beale, Robin Bailey
Votes: 518
28. The Pallisers (1974–1975)
TV-PG | 50 min | Drama, Romance
Beginning with the forced marriage of Glencora (Susan Hampshire), the lives of the friends and children of this couple are the subject of study. The backdrop is the House of Commons in ... See full summary »
Stars: Susan Hampshire, Philip Latham, Barbara Murray, Moray Watson
Votes: 538
29. The Thorn Birds (1983)
Unrated | 122 min | Drama, Romance
In the arid 1920s Australian Outback, a Catholic priest and the beautiful niece of a vast sheep station owner stand powerless before God's will, tormented by desire. How far are they willing to go in the name of love?
Stars: Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, Christopher Plummer, Bryan Brown
Votes: 10,197
30. 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: 7,324
31. Doctor Thorne (2016)
TV-G | 48 min | Drama
Penniless Mary Thorne grows up with her uncle, Doctor Thorne, and develops a friendship with the family at the nearby Greshamsbury Park estate.
Stars: Harry Richardson, Tom Hollander, Stefanie Martini, Rebecca Front
Votes: 5,238
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