Period Drama (Mini/TV Series)
A list of period mini /series available on DVD and to stream as part of the BBC Classic Drama Collection of costume dramas: PBS Masterpiece Theatre productions, BBC television mini-series, romances mostly set in the England, UK in the Georgian, Regency, Victorian and Edwardian eras.
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- CreatorSue BirtwistleSusie ConklinStarsJudi DenchImelda StauntonJulia McKenzieIn 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.
- CreatorBill GallagherStarsOlivia HallinanSarah LancashireJulia SawalhaAn 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.
- StarsAnna Maxwell MartinCarey MulliganDenis LawsonA suspenseful tale about the injustices of the 19th Century English legal system.
- StarsDaniel RadcliffeTrevor EvePauline QuirkeA gentle orphan discovers life and love in an indifferent adult world.
- StarsRomola GaraiMichael GambonJonny Lee MillerEmma 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
- StarsDouglas BoothJack RothRay WinstoneThe orphan Pip becomes a gentleman when his life is transformed by a mystery benefactor.
- StarsOliver DimsdaleChristina ColeLaura FraserLouis Trevelyan's refusal to trust his wife Emily destroys their marriage.
- StarsJohn SessionsBenjamin WhitrowRon CookA ribald and rowdy romp through the mansions and taverns of Georgian England. Henry Fielding's fallen hero bed-hops his way out of a good home and almost into a hangman's noose, via a series of misadventures and misunderstandings.
- StarsRuth WilsonToby StephensLorraine AshbourneA young governess falls in love with her brooding and complex master. However, his dark past may destroy their relationship forever.
- CreatorDaisy GoodwinStarsJenna ColemanAdrian SchillerTommy KnightThe early life of Queen Victoria, from her ascension to the throne at the tender age of 18 to her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert.
- CreatorNeil JordanStarsJeremy IronsFrançois ArnaudHolliday GraingerIn the fifteenth century, Pope Alexander VI tries to control all power in Italy with the help of his several sons, through murder, intrigue, war, and marriage alliances.
- StarsAnna MasseyAngela PleasenceSylvestra Le TouzelImpoverished Fanny Price is sent to live with her more affluent uncle and aunt. The arrival of new neighbors brings a chance for romance to Fanny and her cousins.
- StarsEmma ChambersJulia SawalhaKeith AllenOld Martin Chuzzlewit is nearing his death. Who will inherit his riches? With such a prize to play for, the Chuzzlewit family bring forth all of their cunning, greed and selfishness. Adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens.
- StarsDouglas HodgeJuliet AubreyTrevyn McDowellMiddlemarch 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.
- StarsToby JonesVicky McClureCharlie HamblettVerloc, the owner of a seedy shop in Victorian Soho, plays a dangerous game spying on an agitating anarchist group that will prove useful to the foreign power he is secretly working for.
- StarsDaniela Denby-AsheRichard ArmitageTim Pigott-SmithNorth 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.
- CreatorJulian FellowesStarsHugh BonnevillePhyllis LoganElizabeth McGovernA chronicle of the lives of the British aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early twentieth century.
- StarsSiân PhillipsAlun ArmstrongBen Daniels18th-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.
- StarsWilliam MillerTom HardyTimothy SpallThe adventures of the orphaned Oliver Twist in Victorian London.
- StarsSam SmithDavid RossJulie WaltersAn orphan named Oliver Twist (Sam Smith) meets a pickpocket on the streets of London. From there, he joins a household of boys who are trained to steal for their master.
- StarsBen RodskaEric PorterMichael AttwellAn orphan named Oliver Twist meets a pickpocket on the streets of London. From there, he joins a household of boys who are trained to steal for their master.
- StarsPaul McGannKeeley HawesDominic MafhamIntertwining tales of love, greed, and secret identities in Charles Dickens's 1860s London.
- StarsAnn FirbankBryan MarshallMarian SpencerAnne 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?
- StarsPaul DanoJames NortonLily JamesAs the Russian conflict with Napoleon reaches its peak, five aristocratic families face the possibility of their lives being changed forever.
- StarsClémence PoésyAlessio BoniAlexander BeyerThe story of five aristocratic families in Russia during the Napoleonic Wars of 1812
- StarsColin FirthJennifer EhleSusannah HarkerWhile the arrival of wealthy gentlemen sends her marriage-minded mother into a frenzy, willful and opinionated Elizabeth Bennet matches wits with haughty Mr. Darcy.
- CreatorDebbie HorsfieldStarsAidan TurnerEleanor TomlinsonJack FarthingRoss Poldark returns home after the 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.
- CreatorRonald D. MooreStarsCaitríona BalfeSam HeughanSophie SkeltonClaire Beauchamp Randall, a nurse in World War II, mysteriously goes back in time to Scotland in 1743. There, she meets a dashing Highland warrior and gets drawn into an epic rebellion.
- StarsRobin EllisAngharad ReesClive FrancisIn 1783, Ross Poldark returns from the American wars to his native Cornwall to right wrongs and reunite with the love of his life.
- StarsDominic CooperCharity WakefieldHattie MorahanThe sisters Eleanor and Marianne Dashwood try to find love and security in the 1800's. These two sisters coudn't be more different. Where Eleanor is calm and always acts proper Marianne is passionate and usally forgets herself.
- StarsIrene RichardTracey ChildsAnnie LeonTwo sisters of opposing temperaments find love and some heartbreak in Jane Austen's 18th century classic.
- StarsHarry RichardsonTom HollanderStefanie MartiniPenniless Mary Thorne grows up with her uncle, Doctor Thorne, and develops a friendship with the family at the nearby Greshamsbury Park estate.
- StarsGemma ArtertonEddie RedmayneRuth JonesThe story of Tess Durbeyfield, a low-born country girl whose family find they have noble connections.
- StarsDonald PleasenceJanet MawNigel HawthorneWhen 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.
- StarsAlan BatesJanet MawJack GallowayIn a drunken and disheartened state, Michael Henchard sells his wife at a fair. When he becomes sober again, he realizes what he has done, and though unable to find his wife and child, changes his ways. He becomes the Mayor of the town. Nearly twenty years later, his past comes back to haunt him.
- StarsJosh SilverLeo WringerTerenia EdwardsA diamond goes missing after a party at an English country house, and numerous suspects have a motive for its disappearance.
- StarsCarla GuginoAlison ElliottMira SorvinoFour American girls go to England to find husbands.
- StarsNigel StockClive SwiftAlan ParnabyThe story follows Samuel Pickwick and three other members of The Pickwick Club as they travel throughout the English countryside by coach observing the phenomena of life and human nature, and recording their experiences for the other members of The Pickwick Club. Their memoirs of these experiences are the Pickwick Papers of the novel's title. During their travels Pickwick and Friends manage to land themselves in many humorous and sometimes hair-raising misadventures.
- StarsToby StephensTara FitzgeraldRupert GravesAn adaptation of Anne Bronte's novel; a young widow takes her son and moves to Yorkshire.
- StarsDavid SuchetMatthew MacfadyenCillian MurphyAugustus Melmotte is a European-born city financier whose background is as mysterious as his business. Only weeks after his arrival in London, he announced a new venture and promises instant fortune.
- StarsNatasha LittleFrances GreyPhilip GlenisterAn adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's classic story of parvenue Becky Sharp's rise from obscure and humble origins to her subsequent ignominious fall from Society; set against the backdrop of Regency England and continental Europe during the Napoleonic War.
- StarsFrancesca AnnisJustine WaddellBill PatersonThe 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.
- StarsMegan FollowsColleen DewhurstRichard FarnsworthAn orphan girl, sent to an elderly brother and sister by mistake, charms her new home and community with her fiery spirit and imagination.
- StarsMegan FollowsColleen DewhurstMarilyn LightstoneAnne 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.
- StarsMegan FollowsJonathan CrombieSchuyler GrantThe continuing adventures of Anne Shirley in New York and in France during World War I.
- CreatorTom FontanaStarsMark RyderIsolda DychaukDiarmuid NoyesStory of the rise and the fall of the Renaissance dynasty.
- CreatorJohn HawkesworthStarsSharon MaughanAndrew MacLachlanRob EdwardsStory of the English Civil War as seen through the eyes of two families; the Laceys, loyal to King Charles I, and the Fletchers, loyal to Oliver Cromwell.
- StarsHelen MirrenToby JonesHugh DancyMini-series about the the public and private lives of the later years of Queen Elizabeth I.
- StarsWarren MitchellJonathan Rhys MeyersCelia ImrieA villain threatens the rise of a new earl in an ancient kingdom.
- DirectorGillies MacKinnonStarsVulpe AdrianCarmen UngureanuClémence PoésyMini series depicting the turbulent and bloody reigns of Scottish monarchs Mary, Queen of Scots and her son King James VI of Scotland who became King James I of England and foiled the Gunpowder Plot.
- CreatorJohn FayStarsKerrie HayesCiaran GriffithsBarbara MartenThe hard labour of cotton mill workers and the abuse they endure.
- StarsPolly DartfordAndrew BuchanTrixiebell HarrowellAn insight into what happened on the night of 2 September 1666, the Great fire of London.
- StarsJames MaxwellBruce HodgkinsNorma WestA series recording the key events in the reign of Henry Tudor and his founding of the Tudor Dynasty
- StarsDavid StarkeyCaroline LintottDavid FleeshmanA dramatic documentary narrated and presented by controversial historian David Starkey about the lives as wives and Queens of the six wives of Tudor king Henry VIII.
- StarsKeith MichellAnthony QuaylePatrick TroughtonA six-episode dramatization of Henry VIII's relationships with each of his six wives. Each episode is devoted to one wife, and is a complete play in itself.
- CreatorMichael HirstStarsJonathan Rhys MeyersHenry CavillAnthony BrophyEpic series reveals the scandalous life of a young king whose affairs and obsession with producing a male heir changed marriage, the church, and the world.
- StarsAneurin BarnardRebecca FergusonAmanda HaleThree different, yet equally relentless women vie for the throne in 15th-century England.
- StarsAnn-MargretPatricia ClarksonTim DalyThe son of a plantation owner has a daughter named Queen, with a slave. As Queen grows, she is faced with the struggle of trying to fit in with the troubled world around her.
- CreatorAdrian HodgesStarsLuke PasqualinoTom BurkeSantiago CabreraSet on the streets of 17th-century Paris, "The Musketeers" gives a contemporary take on the classic story about a group of highly trained soldiers and bodyguards assigned to protect King and country.
- CreatorSimon MirrenDavid WolstencroftStarsGeorge BlagdenAlexander VlahosTygh RunyanIn 1667, 28-year-old all-powerful king of France, Louis XIV, decides to build the greatest palace in the world - Versailles. But drained budget, affairs and political intrigues complicate things.
- StarsMark RylanceDamian LewisClaire FoyAfter the downfall of Cardinal Wolsey, his secretary, Thomas Cromwell, finds himself amongst the treachery and intrigue of King Henry VIII's court and soon becomes a close advisor to the King, a role fraught with danger.
- CreatorAshley PharoahStarsColin MorganCharlotte SpencerMalcolm StorryWhen a young couple inherit a farm, they are determined to turn it into a success, but strange supernatural forces soon intervene, threatening their marriage and their lives.
- StarsAnton LesserSimon Russell BealeTom GeorgesonA mini-series of adaptations of Shakespeare's history plays: Richard II, Henry IV: Parts 1 and 2, and Henry V.
- CreatorSimon BlockStarsClare CalbraithBrian FletcherSamantha BondA drama following a group of inspirational women in a rural Cheshire community during World War II.
- CreatorDaisy CoulamStarsRobson GreenTessa Peake-JonesAl WeaverA Cambridgeshire clergyman finds himself investigating a series of mysterious wrongdoings in his small village of Grantchester.
- StarsShaun EvansRoger AllamJames BradshawSet 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.
- StarsDamian LewisRupert GravesGina McKeeChronicles the lives of three generations of the upper-middle-class British family, the Forsytes, from the 1870s to 1920.
- StarsHermione NorrisOona ChaplinRichard RankinDuring the First World War, Kitty Trevelyan tries to put the past troubles behind her as she joins two other girls to volunteer at one of the busy war hospitals in northern France.
- StarsJemima RooperMorven ChristieAlex KingstonAmanda, an ardent Jane Austen fan, lives in present day London with her boyfriend Michael, until she finds she's swapped places with Austen's fictional creation Elizabeth Bennet.
- StarsMatthew RhysAnna Maxwell MartinMatthew GoodeElizabeth and Darcy, now six years married, are preparing for their annual ball when festivities are brought to an abrupt halt. An adaptation of PD James's homage to Pride and Prejudice.
- CreatorBill GallagherSarah BartonSarah BrownStarsJoanna VanderhamEmun ElliottStephen WightThe story of a young woman who works in a department store and gets caught up in the charms of the modern world.
- CreatorAndrew DaviesKate BrookeStarsRon CookJeremy PivenTom Goodman-HillCenters on the real-life story of the flamboyant and visionary American founder of Selfridge's, London's department store.
- StarsDominic WestDavid OyelowoAdeel AkhtarTelevision adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel, which follows Jean Valjean as he evades capture by the unyielding Inspector Javert. Set against a backdrop of post-Napoleonic France as unrest begins to grip the city of Paris once more.
- StarsMatthew MacfadyenClaire FoyTom CourtenayThe Dorrits are a family whose life revolves around the Marshalsea, a debtor's prison. Amy Dorrit's kind nature brings the family into contact with a wide swath of English society, from the poorest to the richest, and back again.
- StarsKevin McNallyJenny SeagroveGillian RaineSeries follows the very different lives of Jan Leigh, a poor but studious young country lad and Diana Gayelorde-Sutton, the equally single minded daughter of a rich landowner, from the 1920s through to post-war Britain.
- StarsFelicity DeanDavid RobbMaureen O'BrienThe classic story of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table.
- StarsJodhi MayEdward FoxAmanda RootSet 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.
- StarsKeira KnightleySam NeillHans MathesonDoctor Zhivago falls for Lara despite being engaged. Their forbidden love blossoms amidst the upheaval of the Russian Revolution, impacting his career and family.
- StarsRebecca NightAlison SteadmanEmma StansfieldOrphaned by smallpox, young Lancashire country lady Fanny Hill cheerfully accepts her friend Esther Davies's offer to join the London 'working girls' with Mrs. Brown, a madam who recruits her as charmingly fresh enough to wait, in-living, on gentlemen. The first night, her room- and bed-mate Phoebe starts her sexual 'education', next she revels in being fitted her first-ever fancy frock. Her first 'client', Mr. Crofts, is neither naive nor attractive, rather a paying old rapist who isn't satisfied. Then the party scene, where men are younger and more charming. Handsome merchant's son Charles Standing declares love at first sight and offers to take Fanny away. After a few heavenly days of young love, they intend to demands Sir's blessing for their marriage, but as the ogre actually was her unsatisfied customer, Charles is made to choose between her and his future and leaves for colonial India. Being destitute, Fanny accepts becoming the kept woman of Mr. H., an earl's wealthy brother, in a fine London home with domestic staff, but since she won't give her heart he finally bangs her maid - Fanny seduces as 'revenge' her footman William. Both are dismissed. Fanny goes to Mrs. Cole's hat-shop, only to find it's a front for an upper-class whorehouse, a place where fathers even bring their sons to shed virginity with a virgin girl, a part Fanny plays well even though it breaks young Percy's heart. When she arrogantly scorns Mr. H, he has the whorehouse closed down; Fanny barely escapes, but without a dime. Alone on the street, her single act of kindness wins her a sick old rich man's favor, graduating from guest over house maid to companion and sole heir when he dies a few months later. Just then Charles returns...
- DirectorGiles FosterStarsBen KingsleyJenny AgutterPatrick RyecartWhen a respectable weaver is wrongfully accused of theft, he becomes a virtual hermit until his own fortune is stolen and an orphaned child is found on his doorstep.
- CreatorDeborah CookSuzanne van de VeldeStarsVictoria SmurfitClare WilkieTabitha WadyThree 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.
- StarsDan StevensTim McInnernyHayley AtwellA young man becomes attached to a family that's not his own, and casts himself into the life of plentiful riches and gay love affairs for which he seems destined.
- StarsRachael StirlingKeeley HawesJodhi MayThe story of Nan Astley who falls in love with three different women on her journey to stardom and happiness in 1887 Victorian England.
- StarsElaine CassidySally HawkinsImelda StauntonIn Victorian England, Sue, a young thief, participates in a scam to defraud a rich heiress by becoming her maid. Things take an unexpected turn and Sue's plan goes horribly wrong.
- StarsRomola GaraiChris O'DowdAmanda HaleSet in 1870s London, a young prostitute finds potential power and status after becoming the mistress of a powerful patriarch.
- CreatorMartine BrantPeter FlanneryStarsAndrea RiseboroughDominic WestTom Goodman-HillDrama charts the progress of the English Civil War through the story of a young woman, the fictional Angelica Fanshawe, and her three husbands.
- StarsJamie DornanJeremy NorthamJoe DempsieThe 1680s bring a new King, Restoration, and more tyranny. In Massachusetts, a robber's son falls for an anti-monarchist. In England, a young lady falls for an outlaw.
- StarsSean BeanSaskia WickhamJonny PhillipsA virtuous young woman is oppressed by her ambitious family and a rake who's becomes obsessed with her.
- StarsJoely RichardsonSean BeanJames WilbyA 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.
- StarsVal McLaneAlec NewmanChristine AndersonIn 1854 Newcastle, 10-year-old Millie's mother dies in a brothel, leaving her to be taken in by 'Raggie Aggie'. On the streets, spirited Millie faces the city's corrupting influences again.
- StarsJan GravesonChristine KavanaghBrendan CoyleIn 1870s England, a wealthy woman uncovers a dark secret, prompting her to join her family's former groom on his caravan journey across Northumbria, navigating class divides and finding solace in their unlikely companionship.
- StarsGillian KearneyRay StevensonJames PurefoyTide of Life follows the fortunes of young housekeeper, Emily Kennedy, as she learns about relationships with three very different men. Forced from home of her first employer, Sep McGilby after his plans to marry her come to tragic end, Emily finds work as housekeeper for farmer, Larry Birch. Another tragedy occurs, and when Nick Stuart inherits the farm owned by Birch's wife, Nick gives Emily a new future.
- StarsTracy WhitwellLucy CohuRay StevensonThe story of 16-year-old Cissie Brodie who finds a barren place to live and care for her younger brothers and sisters, but her life becomes complicated when the aristocratic Fischel family takes an unwelcome interest.
- StarsClaire SkinnerEdward AttertonAnne ReidAgnes manages family affairs on eve of WWI, helps sister Jessie marry across class lines. Faces own class divide when courted by Charles despite parents' disapproval. Her heart torn between Charles and his soldier brother Reginald.
- StarsJoanna RowdenAdam IronsideMilton JohnsPeriod thriller serial. In the late 1880's reformed smuggler Freddie Musgrave has worked hard to turn a legitimate trade, but then a face from his past turns up threatening to ruin things for him.
- StarsJoe CaffreyDearbhla MolloyIan EmbletonIn industrial Tyneside during World War I, life for the McQueen family is turned upside down when daughter Bridget comes home with a black husband.
- CreatorBarry LangfordBenjamin RossStarsSean BeanRichie CampbellTom WardInspector John Marlott investigates a series of crimes in 19th Century London, which may have been committed by a scientist intent on re-animating the dead.
- CreatorDavid BenioffD.B. WeissStarsEmilia ClarkePeter DinklageKit HaringtonNine noble families fight for control over the lands of Westeros, while an ancient enemy returns after being dormant for millennia.
- CreatorStephen GallagherJustin BodleRichard MewisStarsSam NeillPhilip WinchesterTongayi ChirisaThe story follows the escapades of Crusoe, who embarks on a high-seas adventure and gets shipwrecked on a remote tropical island.
- StarsSantiago CabreraLou de LaâgeSydne RomeSet in late-19th-century Russia high-society, the aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the affluent and handsome Count Vronsky. Tolstoy's novel adaptation.