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Can you recommend any good historical series?

posted 5 years ago by Jes' Sayin' (6009)
15 replies | jump to latest

Apparently our taste for them is insatiable. Can you suggest any others we might like? We don't care for the ones are too violent or deal too much in war.

Some of those we have seen:

Ancient
-------
I, Claudius
Rome

Medieval
--------
Brother Cadfael
Charlemagne
Marco Polo
Mists of Avalon, The
White Queen, The

Renaissance
-----------
Borgias, The
Medici: Masters of Florence

16th Century
------------
Elizabeth R
Shogun
Wolf Hall

17th Century
------------
Black Sails
Jamestown
Roots
Three Musketeers

18th Century
------------
Adams Family Chronicles
John Adams
North and South
Poldark

19th Century
------------
Cranford
Deadwood
Hell on Wheels
Lark Rise to Candleford
Les Miserables
Paradise,The
Pride & Prejudice
Strauss Family Chronicles
War & Peace
Wives and Daughters
Young Victoria

1900s
-----
Duchess of Duke Street
Knick, The
Mr. Selfridge

1910s
-----
Crimson Field, The
Downton Abbey
Howard's End
Lost Empires
Upstairs, Downstairs

1920s
-----
Boardwalk Empire
Durrells in Corfu, The
Grand, The
Miss Fisher's Mysteries

1930s
-----
Last Tycoon, The

1940s
-----
Crown, The
Foyle's War

1950s
-----
Man in the High Castle
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Masters of Sex

1960s
-----
Good Girls Revolt
Mad Men

1980s
-----
Halt and Catch Fire
Red Oaks

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Outlander (set in 17th century, 1940’s - 1960’s)
The Crown (1940’s-1960’s)
Young Victoria (19th century)
Stranger Things (SF/horror but set in 1980’s)
Alias Grace (19th century)
The Bletchley Circle (1950’s)
Boardwalk Empire (prohibition era, but quite violent at times)
Call the Midwife (1950’s)

[–] Jes' Sayin' (6009) 5 years ago

Thanks!
I should have had Young Victoria and The Crown in the list. Have now edited them in.
Also Boardwalk Empire. We liked the first two seasons, but then it got to be too much.
Appreciate all the other suggestions!

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

You’re welcome.

Yeah, Boardwalk was great at first, but the last season ruined it for me.

[–] Jes' Sayin' (6009) 5 years ago

Yes, we didn't like it when the younger guy started targeting the Steve Buscemi character, who was kind of his virtual father.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Yeah, I still liked the show despite that. I just really hated the ending.

What ruined it for me was:

SPOILER!!!

when Nucky gets killed by the younger guys son when he grows up as a revenge for Nucky killing his father. That’s how the show ended, and also the whole last season was much shorter. I didn’t like it, ending seemed rushed and a cop out. It was just meh!

[–] Jes' Sayin' (6009) 5 years ago

Really. Sounds just like a Greek tragedy then.

I wonder if a lot of people didn't check out at that point and so they decided to cut it short.

Thanks.

Just remembered I forgot to put Upstairs, Downstairs in the list. Must rectify.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Actually now when I think about it, parts really were like greek tragedy -Oedipus Rex to be more precise. It involved mother-son creepy incestuous relationship.

I guess people did check out and lost interest, but there was also a rumor that showrunners or HBO (or both) lost interest as well as they wanted to start with their new show called Vinyl.

That show might be interesting to you, it is set in the 1970’s. But it was short lived, only got one season. I thought serves them right for ruining the Boardwalk Empire. It wasn’t a bad show, but somehow it just didn’t suck me in. Apparently it was like that for others too, if they canceled it so soon.

Oh, yeah! I meant to recommend Upstairs, Downstairs, but forgot in the end.

Not sure if I mixed something up, but isn’t there like two versions of Upstairs, Downstairs? I think there is one from the 80’s and another more recent one. Or maybe it was just another show with a similar premise. Will need to check that out.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

It turns out I was right.

“Upstairs Downstairs is a British drama series, broadcast on BBC One from 2010 to 2012, and co-produced by BBC Wales and Masterpiece. Created and written by Heidi Thomas, it is a continuation of the London Weekend Television series Upstairs, Downstairs, which ran from 1971 to 1975 on ITV.”

[–] Jes' Sayin' (6009) 5 years ago

Yes, for sure. The original one takes a while to get good, but unfortunately does not have subtitles. The later one was pretty good, but made the mistake of coming out at the same time as Downton.

[–] whoanelly (1558) 3 years ago

Not in order of preference, just off the top of my head, or how they’re sitting on my shelf

*Medieval*
Ivanhoe (Waddington)

*17th century*
The First Churchills
By the Sword Divided

*18th century*
The Aristocrats
A Tale of Two Cities
She Stoops to Conquer
The Scarlet Pimpernel (Anthony Andrews, although Richard E Grant is okay)
Tom Jones (Brian Blessed version)
Garrow’s Law
A Respectable Trade
The Madness of King George
The Prince Regent

*19th century*
Cousin Bette (BBC: Tyzack)
Lillie
Edward the King (aka Edward VII)
The Mayor of Casterbridge (Alan Bates, although the Ciaran Hinds version is also good)
The Strauss Family (Granada: Stuart Wilson)
Our Mutual Friend (both BBC versions, although I prefer Paul McGann)
Little Dorrit
Bleak House
Oliver Twist
David Copperfield
Nicholas Nickleby (RSC Stage Production, also James D’Arcy version)
Micawber
North & South (Gaskell)
The Forsyte Saga (prefer 1967, although 2002 is also good)
Vanity Fair (1990s, Natasha Little)
To the Ends of the Earth
Sharpe’s films starring Sean Bean
Horatio Hornblower series
The Scarlet Tunic
War and Peace (Anthony Hopkins)
Jennie, Lady Randolph Churchill
The Pallisers
He Knew She Was Right
Our Mutual Friend (so-so)
The Barchester Chronicles
The Mill on the Floss
Middlemarch
Daniel Deronda
Silas Marner
Adam Bede
The Buccaneers (Wharton)
Jane Eyre
The Tennant of Wildfell Hall
Madame Bovary (Annis)
Far from the Madding Crowd (Nathaniel Parker)
Fingersmith
Tipping the Velvet
Affairs of the Heart

*Edwardian*
Nancy Astor
Berkeley Square
Flambards
Number 10
Raffles

*WW1*
The Village
Testament of Youth (hopefully still on youtube)

*Between the Wars*
The House of Eliott
The Bretts
Brideshead Revisited
The Jewel in the Crown
Indian Summers
The Flame Trees of Thika
A Dance to the Music of Time
Mapp & Lucia (McEwan and Scales)
A Horseman Riding By
To Serve Them All My Days
Poirot series
Miss Marple series
The Agatha Christie Hour
Edward and Mrs Simpson
Coming Home
All Creatures Great and Small
Rebecca
Love in a Cold Climate (80s version is better)

*WW2*
Homefires
Glorious 39
Any Human Heart

*Post WW2*
Father Brown (older version)
Dorothy Sayers Mysteries
Doctor Finlay

First Among Equals
Midsommer Murders
Rosemary & Thyme
Scott & Bailey
Playing the Field (youtube)
Ballykissangel
Hamish Macbeth
Monarch of the Glen

[–] chilidoggg (13206) 3 years ago

I liked "Frontier" (at least the first season) on Neflix.

Also The Ottomans on Netflix.

There's a show about the War of 1812 like a poor man's Ken Burns show.

The Tudors with Sam Neil (Showtime?)

Centennial (James Michener's saga settlers in Colorado 1800s) (1970s)

The Winds of War with Robert Mitchum (WWII before USA gets in) (1982?)

Roots (1977)

The Kent Family Series, first one "The Bastard" (1980?) I think there were three, a saga of a family in early America.

[–] Jes' Sayin' (6009) 3 years ago

Appreciate all the replies! In the spirit of giving back, I present a new, combined list:

[–] Jes' Sayin' (6009) 3 years ago

Ancient
-------
I, Claudius
Rome

Medieval
--------
Brother Cadfael
Charlemagne
Ivanhoe
Marco Polo
Mists of Avalon, The
White Queen, The

Renaissance
-----------
Borgias, The
Medici: Masters of Florence
Rise of Empires: Ottoman

16th Century
------------
Elizabeth R
Shogun
Tudors, The
Wolf Hall

17th Century
------------
Black Sails
By the Sword Divided
First Churchills, The
Jamestown
Roots
Three Musketeers

18th Century
------------
Adams Family Chronicles
Aristocrats, The
Frontier
Garrow’s Law
John Adams
Kent Family Chronicles, The
Madness of King George, The
Outlander (time travel: set in 18th century, 1940’s - 1960’s)
Poldark
Prince Regent, The
Respectable Trade, A
Scarlet Pimpernel, The
She Stoops to Conquer
Tale of Two Cities, A
Tom Jones

[–] Jes' Sayin' (6009) 3 years ago

19th Century
------------
Adam Bede
Affairs of the Heart
Alias Grace
Barchester Chronicles, The
Bleak House
Buccaneers, The
Centennial
Cousin Bette
Cranford
Daniel Deronda
David Copperfield
Deadwood
Edward the King
Far from the Madding Crowd
Fingersmith
Forsyte Saga, The
He Knew She Was Right
Hell on Wheels
Horatio Hornblower
Jane Eyre
Jennie, Lady Randolph Churchill
Lark Rise to Candleford
Les Miserables
Lillie
Little Dorrit
Madame Bovary
Mayor of Casterbridge,The
Micawber
Middlemarch
Mill on the Floss, The
Nicholas Nickleby
North & South (Gaskell)
North & South (US Civil War)
Oliver Twist
Our Mutual Friend
Pallisers, The
Paradise, The
Pride & Prejudice
Scarlet Tunic, The
Sharpe’s
Silas Marner
Strauss Family Chronicles
Tennant of Wildfell Hall, The
Tipping the Velvet
To the Ends of the Earth
Vanity Fair
War and Peace
Wives and Daughters
Young Victoria

1900s
-----
Berkeley Square
Duchess of Duke Street
Flambards
Horseman Riding By, A
Knick, The
Mr. Selfridge
Nancy Astor
Number 10
Raffles

1910s
-----
Crimson Field, The
Downton Abbey
Flame Trees of Thika, The
Howard's End
Lost Empires
Testament of Youth
To Serve Them All My Days
Upstairs, Downstairs
Village, The

1920s
-----
Agatha Christie Hour, The
Boardwalk Empire
Bretts, The
Brideshead Revisited
Dance to the Music of Time, A
Durrells in Corfu, The
Grand, The
House of Eliott, The
Love in a Cold Climate
Mapp & Lucia
Miss Fisher's Mysteries
Miss Marple series
Murdoch Mysteries
Poirot

1930s
-----
All Creatures Great and Small
Edward and Mrs Simpson
Indian Summers
Last Tycoon, The
Rebecca

1940s
-----
Any Human Heart
Coming Home
Crown, The
Foyle's War
Glorious 39
Homefires
Jewel in the Crown, The
Outlander (time travel: set in 18th century, 1940’s - 1960’s)
Winds of War, The

1950s
-----
Bletchley Circle, The
Call the Midwife
Doctor Finlay
Dorothy Sayers Mysteries
Father Brown
Man in the High Castle
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Masters of Sex

1960s
-----
Good Girls Revolt
Mad Men

[–] Jes' Sayin' (6009) 3 years ago

1980s
-----
Halt and Catch Fire
Red Oaks
Stranger Things (SF/horror)