For a really long time (like, exacting hundreds of years), Jane Austen’s work has been the center of attention for everyone hoping to peruse and watch period pieces that don’t maintain the dull and unnecessarily man-centric traditions of the past hundreds of years. Luckily for enthusiasts of both empire silhouette dresses and women’s liberation, in the recent past, we have seen a flood of emancipating versions of antiquated stories — the most recent example of which is Shonda Rhimes’ first production under her new deal with Netflix, Bridgerton.
The first season of Bridgerton was released just before the start of 2024 and we have only seen upward trends of its appreciation, viewership, and hype since. The first season centers essentially around Daphne Bridgerton, a beautiful, high-society young lady resolved to wed for affection, as opposed to status. She is encircled by equally intriguing ladies kicking the societal pressures in their own particular manners, including a sister who has greater plans for herself than a conventional existence of family life, and an unknown tattle reporter who not just has monstrous force and impact over the Regency society, yet in addition, underpins herself monetarily with this work. Bridgerton is additionally modernized by the wily inclusion of old-style adaptations of current pop melodies, and by its portrayal of Georgian culture as undeniably more racially different than it likely was.
So, it is an amazing show, and it would be entirely adequate if you’re presently gazing silently at your TV, thinking about what to watch next that will recover even a tad of the enchantment of Bridgerton. Don’t you worry for a second because we have got you covered. People with an immense love for cable TV can watch period shows and movies on TV when the networks decide to air them. If you are determined to keep up your cable subscription, I would recommend you explore some affordable cable plans that are enabled with a perfect channel lineup. However, for those who have immersed in the ocean of on-demand streaming, watch your favorite period dramas at your own schedule.
For both classes of people, here are 13 shows featuring the same vein as Bridgerton that will hold you throughout until it is time to get back to our dearest Bridgertons and Featheringtons.
Gossip Girl
Source: FLARE
- Genre: Teen Drama
- Developed by: Stephanie Savage, Josh Schwartz
- No. of seasons: 06
- No. of episodes: 121
- Main Cast: Leighton Meester, Blake Lively, Ed Westwick, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, Taylor Momsen
- Principle Network: The CW
If you liked the scandalous rumors, arbitrations of love and romance, and the close-knitted storyline of Bridgerton, you are going to love Gossip Girl. It is modern, spunky, and full of life. An anonymous gossipmonger tapping the lives and relationships of a group of friends and deciding their fates is all that Gossip Girl is about. One might even say that Gossip Girl is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Lady Whistledown with all of her tactics up the sleeves.
The Great
Source: Vulture
- Genre: History, Comedy, Fiction, Drama
- Created by: Tony McNamara
- No. of seasons: 01
- No. of episodes: 10
- Main Cast: Elle Fanning, Phoebe Fox, Nicholas Hoult, Sacha Dhawan, Gwilym LCharity Wakefield
- Principle Network: Hulu
After watching Bridgerton, ‘The Great’ will allow you to relive those moments again and again with a hint of wits and humor. The series follows the life of a young girl, Catherine the Great played by Elle Fanning, as she is shipped to Russia to get married to Peter III played by Nicholas Hoult. How she overthrows her marriage and makes her own destiny, promotes equality, and education will make you feel so much more confident and empowered.
Outlander
Source: Vulture
- Genre: History, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
- Developed by: Ronald D. Moore
- No. of seasons: 05
- No. of episodes: 67
- Main Cast: Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Sophie Skelton, Richard Rankin, Duncan Lacroix, Tobias Menzies, Graham McTavish
- Principle Network: Starz
Outlander is a story with two-folds of history: one set up during World War II and the second takes you to the 1740s. Jamie Fraser, a Scottish Highlander, takes Claire Randall, a combat nurse from 1945 back in time mysteriously. The vicissitudes that she goes through to survive and understand the whole situation is what will grip you from the start. If that were not enough then the perfect casting, time-appropriate costumes, and teeth-clenching storyline would enthrall you.
Gentleman Jack
Source: Vulture
- Genre: History, Drama
- Created by: Sally Wainwright
- No. of seasons: 01
- No. of episodes: 08
- Main Cast: Sophie Rundle, Suranne Jones, Joe Armstrong, Rosie Cavaliero, Amelia Bullmore, Gemma Whelan, Timothy West, Gemma Jones
- Principle Network: BBC One, HBO
A period drama set in the 1800s about love and romance. What else do you need to stay hooked? Gentleman Jack is a story about a prominent industrialist and landowner, Anne Lister, who happens to be a lesbian, trying to court her friend Ann Walker. This series is one of the first to show the LGBTQ side of history. The direction and cinematography of the series make it an obvious winner.
Vanity Fair
Source: IMDb
- Genre: History, Drama
- Created by: Gwyneth Hughes
- No. of seasons: 01 (Mini-series)
- No. of episodes: 07
- Main Cast: Claudia Jessie, Olivia Cooke, Tom Bateman, Johnny Flynn, Simon Russell Beale, Charlie Rowe, Anthony Head, Martin Clunes
- Principle Network: ITV
Vanity Fair is a period drama that talks more about social advancing among the high class and less about romance. Olivia Cooke plays the protagonist, Becky Sharp, who is a charming and intelligent young lady who overthrows the societal pressures of how a lady should behave and paves her path to the top. However, her plan gets complicated when she falls for Tom Bateman, a cavalry officer.
Downton Abbey
Source: Entertainment Weekly
- Genre: History, Drama
- Created by: Julian Fellowes
- No. of seasons: 06
- No. of episodes: 52
- Main Cast: Laura Carmichael, Hugh Bonneville, Brendan Coyle, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery, Joanne Froggatt, Phyllis Logan, Sophie McShera, Dan Stevens
- Principle Network: ITV
Downton Abbey with its six seasons is packed with historical references, societal pressures, and scandals, a bold take on the injustices of the time, and British classism. The series centers around the lives of the upper-worldly Crawley family in the post-Edwardian era. The effect of historical events on the British aristocracy and social hierarchy and their family is well versed in the series.
