The 12 best period dramas currently streaming

Period dramas are a perfect example of the phrase “truth is stranger than fiction.” Humans have been weird for as long as they’ve been around, and historical TV shows do their part in shining a light on so much of that weirdness — or at least as much can be corroborated by historians. Plenty of these shows are streaming on one service or the other, so here’s a list of the best period dramas most people can watch right now, listed in order of their time period. It’s like going to history class, except a lot of it is made up and it’s also just television.

1. Rome, 49 BCE

Take it way back to the days of Pompey, Caesar, and all the intrigues of ancient Rome with Rome. This show made waves when it aired on HBO for its crazy high production value and constant appearances by historical characters that made it feel more like an Assassin’s Creed game than a TV show, and takes place at the perfect time to start off a chronological viewing of the best period dramas currently streaming. Hail, Caesar!

Streaming on: HBO, Hulu, Amazon Prime

2. Marco Polo, late 1200s

Most people know Marco Polo from screaming his name in a pool every summer, but the actual guy was pretty cool too. Marco Polo is a Netflix original that dramatizes the 13th century Italian explorer’s time serving as a liaison to Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis and the first Mongol ruler to conquer all of China. It’s a lot more diverse than most period dramas, with a fantastic main cast of east and south Asian actors that wage war, dress in a lot of flowing silks, and backstab the crap out of each other in the Khan’s duplicitous court.

Streaming on: Netflix

3. Medici: Masters of Florence, 1429–1440s

For anyone wondering what Richard Madden got up to between dying on Game of Thrones and being cast in a Marvel movie, it was Medici: Masters of Florence. This show’s a little all over the place, not least because Dustin Hoffman plays Lorenzo de Medici with a heavy Brooklyn accent but hey, there’s plagues and banks and a lot of great CGI shots of renaissance Florence. 

Streaming on: Netflix

4. The Borgias, 1492–1503

Pope Alexander XI is a polarizing figure in Vatican history, with some saying he was the most immoral, lecherous man to ever sit the throne of Saint Peter. The Borgias tells the story of Pope Alexander’s rise and rule from his perspective as well of that of his scheming bastard children. It’s a very loose interpretation of events, with potentially 100% more hitmen and incest than what really happened, but what else would anyone really want from a show about a 15th century Pope’s kids? Father of the church indeed. 

Streaming on: Netflix, Showtime

5. The Tudors, 1526–1547

Divorced, beheaded, died…and so on. That’s it. That’s the show. Without the wild success of The Tudors in 2007, the current wave of sexified royal history TV shows may never have happened. For that we thank The Tudors, and also for being one of Henry Cavill’s first high-profile roles (as the Duke of Suffolk) and giving every casting director on the planet the idea to cast Natalie Dormer as a cool, sneaky queen. That’s right, Anne Boleyn was the original Margaery Tyrell. 

Streaming on: Netflix, Showtime

6. Gunpowder, 1605

Image: Robert Viglasky/HBO

Kit Harington’s other HBO series is Gunpowder, a miniseries that follows the legendary events of Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder plot to blow up the British houses of parliament. Harington plays Fawkes, whose political and social motivation form the backdrop of his character. Even though pretty much everyone knows how this one ends — there is a literal holiday in England commemorating it — Gunpowder puts a fresh face to the story of Fawkes’ treason and serves as a more than decent window into the past. 

Streaming on: HBO

7. Versailles, 1660s

Some period dramas tell the story of a particular event in history; Versailles tells the story of a place. In the mid-1600s, King Louis VIV had an idea to expand the French royal family’s hunting lodge into a palace the likes of which the world had never seen before. His vision, along with the dramatic foibles of his court, form the plot of Versailles, which shoots on location at the standing palace as well as several other era-appropriate chateaux in France. Come for the architecture porn, stay for the super dark royal secrets. 

Streaming on: Netflix

8. Harlots, 1760s-ish

Most of the shows on this list are about known historical figures, but Harlots is about the women history would rather forget. It stages a mob drama between two rival bordellos — one serving the wealthy upper class men of Georgian London and the other striving to improve its financial and social position. Sex work has always been a part of human civilization, and Harlots provides an entertaining and incisive look at a place and time when women had two options: get married, or be a harlot. 

Streaming on: Hulu

9. Catherine the Great, 1770-1796

If some of these shows seem a little much to commit to, try Catherine the Great on HBO. It’s a miniseries with four episodes, and even though it probably could have done with a longer run it manages to be satisfying in between feeling overstuffed. Helen Mirren plays the last Tsarina of Russia, whose status as the most powerful woman in Europe was revolutionary in her time — and whose legacy is a complicated mix of sexually provocative rumors and undeniable imperial success.

Streaming on: HBO

10. Victoria, 1838–1851

This BBC show follows the life of Queen Victoria as played by Jenna Coleman and manages to cover a lot of ground. In just three seasons it’s gone from the young queen’s coronation to her marriage (and several children) with the love of her life, Prince Albert. Queen Victoria holds the record for the second-longest reign as monarch in the UK (the first is the current 68-and-counting years of Queen Elizabeth II), so there’s plenty of stories in her history to fill several more seasons. 

Streaming on: Amazon Prime

11. Downton Abbey, 1912-1925

Of course no period drama list is complete without Downton Abbey, the second on this list to revolve around primarily fictional characters. While the noble Crawley family of the Downton Estate have their own share of drama in the tumultuous early decades of the 20th century, their stories regularly intersect with real historical and political events of their time — including the sinking of the Titanic,  the Teapot Dome scandal, and the rumored rakishness of a certain British prince who would only briefly be king.  

Streaming on: Amazon Prime

12. The Crown, 1947–1976

As weird as it feels to designate a show about living people as “historical,” The Crown technically counts for this list. It’s a deliciously dramatized portrayal of life in Buckingham Palace from the time of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation to, as of Season 3, Prince Charles’ first romance with his future second wife Camilla Shand. Real-life palace intrigue and a peek behind the royal scandals that dominated headlines in their time are this show’s bread and butter, so go ahead and sit down for some tea.

Streaming on: Netflix