Period Dramas I Most Heartily Recommend



THIS PAGE CONSTANTLY UNDER HEAVY CONSTRUCTION
hover over the posters
back to my tumblr
<
Little Princess
IMDB - 1986 - PART 1
SUMMARY: Sara Crewe is the pampered darling of her father, an army colonel, and the Victorian London girls' school where he places her. But when her father dies, penniless, Sara becomes a skivvy in Miss Michin's school

main cast: Amelia Shankley, Nigel Havers, Miriam Margolyes, Maureen Lipman

A Room With A View
SUMMARY: When Lucy Honeychurch and chaperone Charlotte Bartlett find themselves in Florence with rooms without views, fellow guests Mr Emerson and son George step in to remedy the situation.

main cast: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands, Judi Dench, Daniel Day-Lewis, Rupert Graves

The Abduction Club
IMDB - 2002 - TRAILER/CLIP - PICS
SUMMARY: A group of Irish noblemen kidnap girls in order to marry into their fortune and avoid becoming priests or soldiers.

main cast: Alice Evans, Sophia Myles, Matthew Rhys, Daniel Lapaine, Liam Cunningham

Anne of Green Gables
IMDB - 1985 - TRAILER - PICS
SUMMARY: An orphan girl, sent to an elderly brother and sister by mistake, charms her new home and community with her firey spirit and imagination.

main cast: Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Richard Farnsworth,

As You Like It
IMDB - 2006 - TRAILER - PICS
SUMMARY: Rosalind falls in love with a young man named Orlando, but before she can even think twice about it, she is banished by Duke Frederick, who threatens death if she comes near the court again.

main cast: Bryce Dallas Howard, Romola Garai, Adrian Lester, David Oyelowo

Band of Brothers
IMDB - Year - TRAILER - PICS
SUMMARY: The story of Easy Company of the US Army 101st Airborne division and their mission in WWII Europe from Operation Overlord through V-J Day.

main cast: Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, Donnie Wahlberg, Neal McDonough, Matthew Settle, Eion Bailey,

Berkeley Square
IMDB - 1998 - EPISODE 1
SUMMARY: Three young women become friends when they all gain positions as nannies in the wealthy households of London's exclusive Berkeley Square.

main cast: Clare Wilkie, Victoria Smurfit, Tabitha Wady

Bright Star
IMDB - Year - TRAILER/CLIP - PICS
SUMMARY: The drama based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by Keats' untimely death at age 25.

main cast: Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw

Bleak House
SUMMARY: A suspenseful tale about the injustices of the 19th-century English legal system

main cast: Gillian Anderson, Carey Mulligan, Anna Maxwell Martin, Charles Dance, Patrick Kennedy

Casualty 1900s
SUMMARY: Casualty 1900 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 Victorian London hospital back to life.

main cast: Charity Wakefield, William Houston, Cherie Lunghi, Sarah Smart

The Cinder Path
IMDB - Year - TRAILER - PICS
SUMMARY: Tale of a farmer's son who gets involved with two sisters, then goes to fight in the trenches in WW1.

main cast: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Victoria Scarborough, Lloyd Owen

Cowboys & Aliens
IMDB - 2011 - TRAILER - PICS
SUMMARY: A spaceship arrives in Arizona, 1873, to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. A posse of cowboys and natives are all that stand in their way.

main cast: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde

Cranford
IMDB - 2007 - EPISODE 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: 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.

main cast: Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Alex Etel, Jim Carter, Andrew Buchan, Philip Glenister, Simon Woods,

Defiance
IMDB - 2008 - TRAILER - PICS
SUMMARY: Jewish brothers in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe escape into the Belarussian forests, where they join Russian resistance fighters and endeavor to build a village in order to protect themselves and about 1,000 Jewish non-combatants.

main cast: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell

Downton Abbey
IMDB - 2010 - S1 TRAILER - PICS
SUMMARY: The death of Lord Crawley's heir aboard the Titanic means distant cousin Matthew, a lawyer, suddenly is next in line and accepts moving onto the vast estate with his mother, who clashes with his lordship's mother.

main cast: Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Dan Stevens

Emma
SUMMARY: Emma Woodhouse seems to be perfectly content, a loving father whom she cares for, friends, and a home. But Emma has a terrible habit - matchmaking. She cannot resist finding suitors for her friends, most of all Harriot Smith.

main cast: Romola Garai, Jonny Lee Miller, Jodhi May, Blake Ritson, Rupert Evans

Enchanted April
IMDB - 1992 - TRAILER/PART 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: Lottie Wilkins and Rose Arbuthnot, two married women living in 1920's London, share the misery of empty relationships with their spouses and decide to rent an Italian castle for the spring to get away.

main cast: Alfred Molina, Joan Plowright, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent, Polly Walker, Michael Kitchen

Fifteen Streets
SUMMARY: In northern England around 1900, the worker John O'Brien lives near poverty in a small house in the worker's district. He falls in love with Mary, the teacher of his highly intelligent younger sister Kathy and daughter of a rich family.

main cast: Owen Teale, Sean Bean, Anny Tobin

Flambards
IMDB - 1979 - CLIP
SUMMARY: In the early 1900's in England, young Christina is orphaned and goes to live with her Uncle Russell, who owns the country estate of Flambards, and has two sons. Mark, the elder, is a wastrel, a roue and, like his father, loves to hunt. The younger son William lives to fly aeroplanes.

main cast: Christine McKenna, Steven Grives, Alan Parnaby

Fortunes War
IMDB - 1987 - PART 1
SUMMARY: Guy Pringle and his new wife, Harriet, are members of the English community in Bucharest, Rumania on the eve of World War II. The film catalogs and chronicles the characters that cross and re-cross their path as they flee before the advancing Germany armies.

main cast: Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Rupert Graves

The Four Feathers
IMDB - 2002 - TRAILER
SUMMARY: A British officer resigns his post just before battle and subsequently receives four white feathers from his friends and fiancee as symbols of what they believe to be his cowardice.

main cast: Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley, Kate Hudson, Djimon Hounsou

Great Expectations
IMDB - 2011 - TRAILER/CLIP - PICS
SUMMARY: A humble orphan suddenly becomes a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor.

main cast: Douglas Booth, Gillian Anderson, Ray Winstone, David Suchet, Harry Lloyd, Vanessa Kirby

He Knew He Was Right
IMDB - 2004 - PART 1 - PICS
SUMMARY:

main cast: Oliver Dimsdale, Laura Fraser, Christina Cole, Stephen Campbell Moore, David Tennant, Bill Nighy, Matthew Goode

Horatio Hornblower
IMDB - 1998-2003 - EPISODE 1 PART 1 - < ahref="http://somanyperioddramas.tumblr.com/tagged/Horatio_Hornblower">PICS
SUMMARY: Horatio Hornblower begins his naval career, but a deadly feud with a despicable mate is causing complications

main cast: Ioan Gruffudd, Robert Lindsay,

House of Elliot
IMDB - 1991-1994 - EPISODE 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: In stylish 1920s London, two sisters struggle to the top of the fashion world. Born into wealth and privilege they must support themselves after their profligate father dies and leaves them penniless. They have no education or training, just a passion for fashion design. As suitors try to woo them and scoundrels try to trip them up, they make independent, exciting lives for themselves and the women they employ in their house of haute couture.

main cast: Stella Gonet, Louise Lombard

The Importance of Being Earnest
IMDB - 2002 - TRAILER/CLIP - PICS
SUMMARY: In 1890s London, two friends use the same pseudonym ("Ernest") for their on-the-sly activities. Hilarity ensues.

main cast: Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Frances O'Connor, Reese Witherspoon, Judi Dench,

Ivanhoe
IMDB - 1982 - CLIP - PICS
SUMMARY: Ivanhoe, a worthy and noble knight, the champion of justice returns to England after the holy wars. He find England under the reign of Prince John and his henchmen and finds himself being involved in the power-struggle for the throne of England.

main cast: Anthony Andrews, Sam Neill, James Mason, Olivia Hussey, John Rhys-Davies

Jane Eyre
IMDB - 2006 - PART 1/CLIP - PICS
SUMMARY: A young governess falls in love with her brooding and complex master. However, his dark past may destroy their relationship forever.

main cast: Ruth Wilson, Toby Stephens, Tara Fitzgerald, Andrew Buchan

Jeeves & Wooster
IMDB - 1990-1993 - EPISODE 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: Bertram Wooster, a well-intentioned, wealthy layabout, has a habit of getting himself into trouble and it's up to his brilliant valet, Jeeves, to get him out.

main cast: Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie

Kate & Leopold
IMDB - 2001 - TRAILER/CLIP - PICS
SUMMARY: Leopold is an English baron living in New York in the 1800s. He needs to marry a heiress to recover his family position from ruin. Kate is a successful businesswoman living also in New York, but in 2001. Due to a time incident, they meet each other in the present days and they fall in love to each other.

main cast: Meg Ryan, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Breckin Meyer, Bradley Whitford

Kidnapped
IMDB - 2005
SUMMARY: 15-year-old Davie Balfour is poised to receive a vast inheritance when he's lured onto a cargo ship, knocked unconscious, and kidnapped by his malevolent uncle Ebenezer, who devises a scheme to sell him into slavery.

main cast: James Anthony Pearson, Iain Glen, Paul McGann

The King's Speech
IMDB - 2010 - TRAILER - PICS
SUMMARY: The story of King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.

main cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Jennifer Ehle

Lark Rise to Candleford
IMDB - 2008 - EPISODE 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: A young girl moves to the local market town to begin an apprenticeship as a postmistress.

main cast: Olivia Hallinan, Julia Sawalha, Brendan Coyle

Lorna Doone
IMDB - 2000 - PART 1
SUMMARY: Against a backdrop of political and religious upheaval, a farmer falls in love with the "queen" of the notorious Doone clan, a family that he has sworn vengeance on.

main cast: Richard Coyle, Aidan Gillen, Amelia Warner, Barbara Flynn,

The Magic Flute
IMDB - 2006 - TRAILER/PART 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: During World War I, in an unnamed country, a soldier named Tamino is sent by the Queen of the Night to rescue her daughter Pamina from the clutches of the supposedly evil Sarastro. But all is not as it seems.

main cast: Joseph Kaiser, Amy Carson, René Pape

Martin Chuzzlewit
IMDB - 1994 - TRAILER/PART 1 - PICS
SUMMARY:

main cast: Paul Scofield, Tom Wilkinson, Julia Sawalha,

Man From Snowy River
IMDB - 1982 - TRAILER/PART 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: After his father's death, Jim is forced to work on the low lands for Harrison whose brother is good friends of Jims. While working on the farm Jim falls in love with Harrison's daughter Jessica.

main cast: Tom Burlinson, Kirk Douglas, Sigrid Thornton

Merlin
IMDB - 2008- - TRAILER/EPISODE 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: The adventures of the legendary sorcerer as a young man.

main cast: John Hurt, Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Anthony Head

Middlemarch
IMDB - 1994 - CLIP/PART 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: Dorothea Brooke, whose disastrous match to the pedantic Rev. Edward Casaubon sets in motion a chain of events that will change the face of Middlemarch forever.

main cast: Juliet Aubrey, Rufus Sewell, Jonathan Firth,

IMDB - 2011 - TRAILER - PICS
SUMMARY: When Inez goes off dancing with her friends, Gil takes a walk at midnight and discovers what could be the ultimate source of inspiration for writing. Gil's daily walks at midnight in Paris could take him closer to the heart of the city but further from the woman he's about to marry.

main cast: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, JJ Field

Much Ado About Nothing
IMDB - 1993 - TRAILER - PICS
SUMMARY: Young lovers Hero and Claudio, soon to wed, conspire to get verbal sparring partners and confirmed singles Benedick and Beatrice to wed as well.

main cast: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Keanu Reeves, Kate Beckinsale, Denzel Washington

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day
IMDB - 2008 - TRAILER - PICS
SUMMARY: 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.

main cast: Frances McDormand, Amy Adams, Ciarán Hinds, Lee Pace, Shirley Henderson

Miss Potter
IMDB - 2006 - TRAILER/PART 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: The story of Beatrix Potter, the author of the beloved and best-selling children's book, "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", and her struggle for love, happiness and success.

main cast: Renée Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson,

Nicholas Nickleby
IMDB - 2002 - TRAILER/PART 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: A young compassionate man struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his coldheartedly grasping uncle.

main cast: Charlie Hunnam, Jamie Bell, Romola Garai, Anne Hathaway, Christopher Plummer

North and South
IMDB - 1985 - CLIP/PART 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: Two friends, one northern and one southern, struggle to maintain their friendship as events build towards the American Civil War.

main cast: Patrick Swayze, James Read, Kirstie Alley, Jean Simmons

North and South (BBC)
IMDB - 2004 - EPISODE 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: Margaret Hale, a middle class southerner is forced to move to the northern town of Milton.

main cast: Daniela Denby-Ashe, Richard Armitage, Tim Pigott-Smith

Northanger Abbey
SUMMARY: Catherine Morland is taken to Bath, England by the wealthy Mr. and Mrs. Allen and introduces her to Georgian society. There she meets the social-climbing Isabella and John Thorpe, the handsome Henry Tilney and elegant Eleanor Tilney.

main cast: Felicity Jones, JJ Feild, Carey Mulligan,

Our Mutual Friend
IMDB - 1998 - CLIP/EPISODE 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: Intertwining tales of love, greed, and secret identities in Charles Dickens's 1860s London.

main cast: Paul McGann, Keeley Hawes, Steven Mackintosh, Anna Friel, David Morrissey

The Pacific
IMDB - 2010 - TRAILER/CLIP - PICS
SUMMARY: A 10-part mini-series from the creators of "Band of Brothers" telling the intertwined stories of three Marines during America's battle with the Japanese in the Pacific during World War II.

main cast: James Badge Dale, Joseph Mazzello, Jon Seda, Rami Malek

The Painted Veil
IMDB - 2006 - TRAILER/PART 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: A British medical doctor fights a cholera outbreak in a small Chinese village, while also being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.

main cast: Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber

Persuasion
SUMMARY: Royal Navy captain Wentworth was haughtily turned down eight years ago as suitor of pompous baronet Sir Walter Elliot's daughter Anne, despite true love. Now he visits their former seaside country estate, rented by his uncle, admiral Croft.

main cast: Sally Hawkins, Rupert Penry-Jones, Anthony Head,

Phantom of the Opera
IMDB - 2004 - TRAILER/CLIP - PICS
SUMMARY: A disfigured musical genius, hidden away in the Paris Opera House, terrorizes the opera company for the unwitting benefit of a young protégée whom he trains and loves.

main cast: Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson, Minnie Driver, Ciarán Hinds

Poldark
IMDB - 1975 - TRAILER
SUMMARY: Capt. Ross Poldark, a young hero who returns to Cornwall after America’s War for Independence, finds his estate in ruins, his inheritance gone, and his beloved Elizabeth engaged to another man.

main cast: Robin Ellis, Angharad Rees, Clive Francis

Pride & Prejudice
IMDB - 1995 - CLIP/PART 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: Jane Austen's classic novel about the prejudice that occurred between the 19th century classes and the pride which would keep lovers apart.

main cast: Colin Firth, Jennifer Ehle, Emilia Fox

The Railway Children
IMDB - 2000 - PART 1
SUMMARY: After the enforced absence of their father, three children move with their mother to Yorkshire, where during their adventures they attempt to discover the reason for his disappearance.

main cast: Jemima Rooper, Jenny Agutter, Michael Kitchen, Michael Kitchen

Robin Hood
IMDB - 2006-2009 - CLIP/EPISODE 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: After 5 years of fighting in the crusades, Robin returns to England and leads a band of outlaws to outwit the Sheriff of Nottingham.

main cast: Jonas Armstrong, Richard Armitage, Harry Lloyd, Lucy Griffiths

The Scarlet Pimpernel
IMDB - 1982 - CLIP/PART 1
SUMMARY: During the French Revolution, a mysterious English nobleman known only as The Scarlet Pimpernel snatches French aristocrats from the jaws of the guillotine.

main cast: Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour, Ian McKellen

The Secret Life of Mrs Beeton
IMDB - 2006 - CLIP - PICS
SUMMARY: How did a woman who couldn't cook produce the world's most famous recipe book?

main cast: Anna Madeley, JJ Field, Joseph Mawle

Sense & Sensibility
IMDB - 2008 - TRAILER - PICS
SUMMARY: After the death of the patriarch, the Dashwood family take a step down in society and face hardship as they are four women virtually penniless. Elenor and Marianne, two sisters with different perspectives on life and interests, keep one another in line and support one another through death, hardship and a love and friendship.

main cast: Hattie Morahan, Charity Wakefield, David Morrissey, Janet McTeer, Dan Stevens, Dominic Cooper,

Sharpe's Rifles
IMDB - 1993 - EPISODE 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: In the Penisular War, a British seargent is field promoted to a lieutenant in charge of a disrespectful rifle company.

main cast: Sean Bean, Brian Cox, Julian Fellowes

Sweetland
IMDB - 2005 - TRAILER - PICS
SUMMARY: Set in 1920, Inge travels from Germany to rural Minnesota meet the man destined to be her husband. Bureaucracy and social morality cause major complications.

main cast: Elizabeth Reaser, Tim Guinee, Alan Cumming, Alex Kingston

Tess of D'Urbervilles
SUMMARY: A low-born country girl's family find they have noble connections.

main cast: Gemma Arterton, Eddie Redmayne, Hans Matheson,

Titanic
IMDB - 2012 - TRAILER - PICS
SUMMARY: Follows the lives of the ship's passengers, from all walks of life, as they travel on the maiden voyage of the ill-fated Titanic. From the wealthy family of the Earl of Manton, the designers of the ship, to the stokers in the engine room - who will make it onto the lifeboats?

main cast: Perdita Weeks, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Noah Reid, Linus Rooache

True Grit
IMDB - 2010 - TRAILER - PICS
SUMMARY: A tough U.S. Marshal helps a stubborn young woman track down her father's murderer.

main cast: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld

Twelfth Night
IMDB - 1996 - PART 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: A girl disguises herself as a man to be near the count she adores, only to be pursued by the woman he loves.

main cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Richard E. Grant, Toby Stephens, Imogen Stubbs, Ben Kingsley, Steven Mackintosh

Under the Greenwood Tree
IMDB - 2005 - PART 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: The beautiful new village school teacher is pursued by three suitors: a working-class man, a landowner, and the vicar.

main cast: Keeley Hawes, James Murray, Ben Miles

Upstairs Downstairs
IMDB - 1971-75 - EPISODE 1
SUMMARY: The series follows the lives of both the family and the servants in the London townhouse at 165 Eaton Place.

main cast: Gordon Jackson, David Langton, Jean Marsh

Victoria & Albert
IMDB - 2001 - PART 1
SUMMARY: Lavish two-part dramatisation of the passionate love story that was Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's lengthy marriage.

main cast: Victoria Hamilton, Jonathan Firth, Diana Rigg,

Wives & Daughters
IMDB - 1999 - CLIP/EPISODE 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: 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.

main cast: Justine Waddell, Keeley Hawes, Tom Hollander, Iain Glen

The Woman In White
IMDB - 1997 - PART 1 - PICS
SUMMARY: the gothic tale tells of a pair of half sisters whose lives end up caught in a grand conspiracy revolving around a mentally ill woman dressed in white. As the story unfolds, murder, love, marriage, and greed stand between the two women and happy lives. Their only hope is the secret the woman in white waits to tell them.

main cast: Tara Fitzgerald, Justine Waddell, Andrew Lincoln, James Wilby

Young Victoria
IMDB - 2009 - TRAILER/CLIP - PICS
SUMMARY: A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.

main cast: Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany

TITLE
IMDB - Year - TRAILER
SUMMARY:

main cast:

TITLE
IMDB - Year - TRAILER
SUMMARY:

main cast:

TITLE
IMDB - Year - TRAILER
SUMMARY:

main cast:



coded by labyrinthines.