Let’s face it: sometimes one gets so engrossed in doomscrolling that a return to times when palace politics, corsets, and scandals controlled the world is just necessary. Period dramas are one of those things that Netflix has managed to be quite successful at covering, from huge love stories to very difficult survival stories. However, which ones are the best to watch? Pour yourself some tea (or mead if that’s your thing) and brace yourself because below is a list of 10 excellent historical and period dramas available on Netflix, with the titles being listed in the reverse order of their maximum dramatic effect.
10. The Law According to Lidia Poët
Weren’t you thinking that all law-related TV shows are just old stories with dull-type jokes? Well, that’s definitely not the case with this one. Lidia Poet, the first female lawyer in Italy, is the heroine of this fantastic Italian series, which tells how she fought for her rights in a male-dominated industry. Also, Matilda De Angelis, with her great acting, lips for cases, and social expectations of the 19th-century Turin, Italy. So, when you consider brilliant gowns and stunning locations in the mix, you have a very far-from-dry kind of courtroom drama.
9. The Empress
If you love watching Bridgerton, then you are most likely going to love the next show on my list: The Empress. Set in the 1850s, the series follows the disruptive Elisabeth of Austria, aka “Sissi,” as she shakes up the stale, tradition-based Habsburg court. The show is a mix of forbidden love, cunning political games, and breathtaking attention to detail in the period. The second season was out in late 2024, and it just raised the stakes with the addition of more love and palace intrigues.
8. Vikings: Valhalla
Don’t you wish to watch something that has more swords than ballrooms? The new show Vikings: Valhalla carries on from where the old show Vikings ended, but it’s a century later. The new story is about these famous people, such as Leif Erikson and Freydis, who had to choose between religions that were enemies and cultures that were clashing. It’s not 100% historically accurate, but if the fight scenes are in this episode, then you probably don’t really care.
7. The Last Kingdom
In ninth-century England, a merciless and unstable society, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a Saxon nobleman who was raised by the Vikings, is followed in the famous series as he fights to get back his hereditary rights. Playing out through a mix of scheming, war stratagem, and personalities with high risks, The Last Kingdom reaches the ideal midpoint of tough-as-nails realism and grand-scale adventure. The show just kept getting larger and more spectacular throughout its five seasons.
6. American Primeval
The American frontier was as brutal as it comes, and American Primeval doesn’t hold back. Set in the 1857 Utah War, the series drops you into the wars between settlers, Native tribes, Mormons, and the U.S. Army. It’s brutal, gritty, and unapologetic, confronting some of America’s darkest moments. What sets it apart is its realism—consultants from each of the various communities worked to bring the series to life.
5. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
Queen Charlotte was a young woman before she became Bridgerton’s sassy power broker, but that wouldn’t have been dramatic enough for Lady Whistledown to invent. This prequel weaves a poignant origin story that balances romance with serious discussions of race and power in 18th-century England. India Amarteifio is wonderful in the role, and Charlotte’s ascension to the throne really was as dramatic as anything Lady Whistledown might invent.
4. Peaky Blinders
Gangsters, razor blades, and three-piece suits—Peaky Blinders has it all in terms of grit and swagger. Tracking Tommy Shelby (a charismatic Cillian Murphy) and his clan around post–WWI Birmingham, the series is a chic mix of history and crime drama. The music is contemporary, the images are atmospheric, and the action is addictive. It takes liberties with the truth, but there’s no matching its ambience.
3. All the Light We Cannot See
Based on Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, this limited series takes place in Nazi-occupied France in the last days of World War II. It is about the unlikely bond between Marie-Laure, a blind French girl, and Werner, a young German soldier. Visually stunning and emotionally powerful, the series captures the atrocities of war and the hope that can keep shining through even the darkest moments.
2. The Crown
The Crown, perhaps the most precious jewel in the Netflix crown (pun intended), tells the saga of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, and with it goes through the decades of both the Queen’s and the country’s personal and political drama. With lavish and grandiose sets, commendable care in research, and great acting skills, it is a definite history shovel and a prestige soap at the same time. Nevertheless, debates about its truthfulness have been an issue, but the fact remains: none of the other shows have been so full of drama.
1. Bridgerton
And obviously, at the very top of it all is the show that started the whole regency craze: Bridgerton. It is half-love story, half-scandal, half-fantasy, and it really is a feast of sumptuous clothes, diverse casting, and juicy plotlines. No doubt it is as historically accurate as a unicorn in a ballroom, but that is exactly the point—it’s romantic, it’s fun, and it’s addictively habit-forming. Bridgerton is more than just a show; it’s a cultural phenomenon.
Therefore, if you are into Viking raids, royal intrigue, or courtroom battles, Netflix has a historical drama for every taste. Not one of these shows transports you back in time, but they all let you live in another era.