You can simply never have enough Period TV shows. There is just something about swishing gowns, glittering balls, and handsome, brooding men in cravats that draws one in. But not all Period pieces are made the same. If BBC’s Pride and Prejudice is a subtle, romantic waltz, Bridgerton is all unadulterated steaminess. It carries all the melodrama of a salacious gossip mag, not unlike the one the character of Lady Whistledown pens in the show. It swaps authenticity for extravagance and splendor.
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The array of beautiful characters also helps bring up the beauty quotient. The overall plot has been blamed for being a little superficial, but boy, is it still fun to watch all the drama unfold. Unfortunately enough, there is an ungodly amount of waiting to do before each season. Season four, for example, is not scheduled for release till 2026. Thankfully, gentle reader, here is a list of some of the best dramas, romances, and adventure tales set in the Regency, Victorian, and Georgian eras to tide you over till the next season of Bridgerton comes out:
1) Pride and Prejudice
Any avid Austen fan worth their salt is not easily satisfied by adaptations. But, if there is one Austen adaptation with which one can never find a single fault, it is the BBC’s 1995 take on Pride and Prejudice. The cast was carefully chosen, and the attention to detail — from the costumes, the furniture, and the decorations — is exquisite. But what indeed takes one’s breath away is watching Colin Firth as the handsome, enigmatic, and somehow still adorably charming Mr. Darcy. Jennifer Ehle’s performance as Elizabeth is effortless, making one feel as if one’s genuinely watching Darcy and the lovely Elizabeth fall in love, slowly but all at once, in front of our very eyes. So, if you’re a fan of romance and regency, this is a must-watch.
2) Sense and Sensibility
This adaptation of Jane Austen’s (yes, another one!) Sense and Sensibility boasts a star-studded cast. We have the young and charming Mr. Hugh Grant playing Edward Ferrars, the unspeakably talented Emma Thompson as Elinor Dashwood, and Kate Winslet, before whom adjectives fall short, playing a youthful Miss Marianne Dashwood. But perhaps the subtle maturity of Colonel Brandon’s character, brought to life by no other than Alan Rickman himself, truly takes the cake.
Directed by Ang Lee, this 1995 movie skillfully tells the tale of the young Dashwood daughters, whose marriage prospects look grim after the sudden demise of their father. The scenes are beautifully shot, the characters wonderfully explored, and, if it is a slow burn you like, Sense and Sensibility will offer you platterfuls of it.
3) Bright Star
Pining, poetry, and pain — that’s what this movie is about. Nothing more, not much less. This movie tells the story of Fanny Brawne and the posthumously famous Romantic poet John Keats. It traces the events of the three years as the two fall in love, unaware that Keats is nearing the end of his life. The film’s plot develops almost excruciatingly slowly, but the beautiful words of the poet litter every available moment, which leaves little space for boredom. Throughout their relationship, the audience is aware that it’s doomed from the start, and no amount of pining and passion between the two can distract one from it. So, the movie becomes one of slow heartbreak, like watching the sunset over a beautiful city that you know you must leave behind.
4) North & South
Words honestly fall short when it comes to describing this mini-series. It has everything — drama, heartbreak, pining, and romance. If you are a sucker for the enemies-to-lovers trope, know that North & South does it annoyingly well.
Set in the heart of the Industrial Revolution, it features the brooding, dark, and gorgeous Mr. Thornton as the male lead (played by Richard Armitage). Opposite him, we have the fierce and empathetic female lead, Margaret Hale (Daniela Denby-Ashe). It is reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice in a way. Thornton is pride, and the female protagonist is prejudiced against the North and what Thornton stands for. She is romance, and he is modernization. She is poetry and the delicate flower of the South, whereas he is grim, gritty, and mysterious.
5) The Age of Innocence
Directed by Martin Scorsese, this 1993 movie is an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. It tells the story of Newland Archer, a young man who lives by all of high society’s rules until he meets a woman who makes him question his ideals and those that society holds dear. Like many before and after him, he wonders if a life without love is truly worth living and if love is enough to take on the world, leaving everything one holds dear far behind.
The movie is set in 19th-century New York. It beautifully portrays the opulence of high society, with operas, balls, and garden parties punctuating every new sequence. It also questions the superficiality, the restrictive nature that makes outcasts out of opinionated women and scandals out of love stories.
6) Lady Macbeth
Directed by William Oldroyd, this 2016 movie is an adaptation of Nikolai Leskov’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. It is set in lush, rural England, with all its rolling vales and misty pathways, in the 19th century. In essence, it is a story of scandal and eventual murder. It begins when a young girl, Katherine, played by Florence Pugh, is sold into marriage, only for her to fall for a young estate worker and succumb to desire.
The movie is masterfully told, with Florence Pugh portraying the tungsten-hearted Katherine. It also offers a brilliant account of the ideas of race, gender, and class that characterized the century. The bleak beauty of the rural values and the general aesthetic that seems devoid of any warmth echo the coldness of the loveless family life Katherine is forced into. All in all, a masterpiece and a must-watch for lovers of the Victorian era.
7) Interview with the Vampire
Directed by Neil Jordan, this 1994 movie tells the life (and after-life) story of a vampire. The story is of epic proportions and doesn’t shy away from depictions of blood and gore. It is told through the eyes of the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac, who once fell for the call of immortality and has lived a life of betrayal, bloodlust, and utter loneliness since.
Brad Pitt’s acting as the wretched, if determined, Louis is captivating. As the cruel and charming Lestat de Lioncourt, Tom Cruise is appropriately goosebump-inducing. Kirsten Dunst, as the eternally fair child Claudia, is equally captivating. Overall, this tale of opulence, gore, drama, and distress makes for an enjoyable watch.
8) A Respectable Trade
This criminally underrated 1998 mini-series tells the dramatic and devastating story of two lovers separated by race, class, and twisted societal ideas of morality. Set in 18th-century Bristol, Frances Scott (played by the dauntless Emma Fielding) marries Josiah Cole (Warren Clarke), a merchant specializing in rum, sugar, and the slave trade. Disaster ensues when, bored of her prim and proper life and boorish, uneducated husband, Frances falls for the charming and educated Yoruban slave, Mehuru (Ariyon Bakare). A masterfully spun tale, the movie explores questions of identity, freedom, and a love that can never be.
9) That Hamilton Woman
Directed by Alexander Korda, this 1941 movie features Vivien Leigh of Gone With The Wind fame as the vivacious young Emma. The story begins when Emma, now old and frail, gets caught stealing and thrown into prison. There she recounts the story of days gone by, of life once youthful and glittering with the promise of a great romance. Once married to the old widower Sir William Hamilton, Emma speaks of the charm of an opulent life in high society. But it all comes to a standstill with the arrival of the battle-worn and rugged Lord Nelson. The two are irrevocably drawn to each other, their passions burning bright, ignoring the chances of scandal and ruin.
10) The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
People’s fascination with the broody, mysterious detective has never known any bounds. And thus, adaptations, modernizations, and reinterpretations of his tales are inevitably common. But Billy Wilder’s ‘reinterpretation,’ while somewhat overlooked, is far superior to most Sherlock Holmes-related media that exists today. Robert Stephens plays Holmes perfectly, portraying the great detective’s broodiness, odd humor, and impetuous, albeit highly mysterious, nature perfectly on screen. As the lively, goofy, and exceedingly witty Watson, Colin Blakely is the perfect foil to Holmes’ aloofness. The story itself is atypical, following the case of a missing husband, naval experiments, murderous monks, and, at one point, even the Loch Ness monster. The film even has an original score, and that, along with the brilliant casting, costume design, and atmospheric setting, gives the movie an air of strange melancholy and intimacy.
