Top-Rated Period Dramas
Here are the top 25 period-drama movies or TV series as rated by visitors to PeriodDramas.com. This list is “live”, meaning that it is based on the ratings as of this moment.
1. North & South (2004 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
4.86 / 5 (from 721 ratings)
Date set: 1851
Directed by: Brian Percival
Writer(s): Elizabeth Gaskell (novel), Sandy Welch
Cast: Daniela Denby-Ashe, Richard Armitage, Tim Pigott-Smith, Sinéad Cusack, Brendan Coyle
2. Pride and Prejudice (1995 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
4.79 / 5 (from 435 ratings)
Directed by: Simon Langton
Writer(s): Jane Austen (novel), Andrew Davies
Cast: Jennifer Ehle, Colin Firth, Susannah Harker, Crispin Bonham-Carter, Julia Sawalha
3. Jane Eyre (2006 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
4.47 / 5 (from 241 ratings)
Date set: 1829
Directed by: Susanna White
Writer(s): Charlotte Brontë (novel), Sandy Welch
Cast: Ruth Wilson, Toby Stephens, Lorraine Ashbourne, Pam Ferris, Ned Irish
4. Downton Abbey (2010 TV Series)
User rating:
4.44 / 5 (from 256 ratings)
Directed by: Brian Percival, Ben Bolt, Brian Kelly
Writer(s): Julian Fellowes
Cast: Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Penelope Wilton, Dan Stevens
5. Persuasion (1995 TV Movie)
User rating:
4.43 / 5 (from 113 ratings)
Date set: 1814
Directed by: Roger Michell
Writer(s): Jane Austen (novel), Nick Dear
Cast: Amanda Root, Ciarán Hinds, Susan Fleetwood, Corin Redgrave, Fiona Shaw
6. Little Dorrit (2008 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
4.43 / 5 (from 153 ratings)
Directed by: Adam Smith, Dearbhla Walsh, Diarmuid Lawrence
Writer(s): Charles Dickens (novel), Andrew Davies
Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Judy Parfitt, Claire Foy, Tom Courtenay, Arthur Darvill
7. Lark Rise to Candleford (2008 TV Series)
User rating:
4.32 / 5 (from 156 ratings)
Date set: 1891
Directed by: John Greening, Charles Palmer, Marc Jobst
Writer(s): Flora Thompson, Bill Gallagher
Cast: Olivia Hallinan, Julia Sawalha, Brendan Coyle, Claudie Blakley, Dawn French
8. Emma (2009 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
4.31 / 5 (from 161 ratings)
Date set: 1815
Writer(s): Jane Austen (novel), Sandy Welch
Cast: Romola Garai, Jonny Lee Miller, Michael Gambon, Tamsin Greig, Robert Bathurst
9. Sense and Sensibility (1995 Movie)
User rating:
4.29 / 5 (from 139 ratings)
Date set: 1795
Directed by: Ang Lee
Writer(s): Jane Austen (novel), Emma Thompson (screenplay)
Cast: Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Greg Wise, Alan Rickman
10. The King's Speech (2010 Movie)
User rating:
4.28 / 5 (from 82 ratings)
Directed by: Tom Hooper
Writer(s): David Seidler
Cast: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush, Guy Pearce, Jennifer Ehle
11. Sense and Sensibility (2008 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
4.27 / 5 (from 127 ratings)
Date set: 1795
Directed by: John Alexander
Writer(s): Jane Austen (novel), Andrew Davies
Cast: Hattie Morahan, Charity Wakefield, Dan Stevens, Dominic Cooper, David Morrissey
12. Anne of Green Gables (1985 TV Movie)
User rating:
4.27 / 5 (from 36 ratings)
Date set: Unknown
Directed by: Kevin Sullivan
Writer(s): Lucy Maud Montgomery (novel), Kevin Sullivan, Joe Wiesenfeld
Cast: Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Richard Farnsworth, Patricia Hamilton, Marilyn Lightstone
13. Cranford (2007 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
4.19 / 5 (from 103 ratings)
Directed by: Simon Curtis, Steve Hudson
Writer(s): Elizabeth Gaskell (novel), Sue Birtwistle, Susie Conklin, Heidi Thomas
Cast: Simon Woods, Judi Dench, Lisa Dillon, Imelda Staunton, Julia McKenzie
14. The Young Victoria (2009 Movie)
User rating:
4.15 / 5 (from 123 ratings)
Directed by: Jean-Marc Vallée
Writer(s): Julian Fellowes
Cast: Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Miranda Richardson, Mark Strong, Jim Broadbent
15. The Forsyte Saga (2002 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
4.14 / 5 (from 65 ratings)
Date set: 1874
Directed by: Christopher Menaul, Dave Moore
Writer(s): John Galsworthy (novel), Stephen Mallatratt, Jan McVerry
Cast: Damian Lewis, Rupert Graves, Gina McKee, Ioan Gruffudd, Corin Redgrave
16. Northanger Abbey (2007 TV Movie)
User rating:
4.08 / 5 (from 94 ratings)
Directed by: Jon Jones
Writer(s): Jane Austen (novel), Andrew Davies
Cast: Felicity Jones, JJ Feild, Carey Mulligan, William Beck, Catherine Walker
17. The Tudors (2007 TV Series)
User rating:
4.07 / 5 (from 68 ratings)
Directed by: Ciaran Donnelly, Jeremy Podeswa, Dearbhla Walsh, Steve Shill, Brian Kirk, Alison Maclean, Charles McDougall, Jon Amiel, Colm McCarthy
Writer(s): Michael Hirst
Cast: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Henry Cavill, James Frain, Anthony Brophy, Sarah Bolger
18. Jane Eyre (2011 Movie)
User rating:
4.07 / 5 (from 127 ratings)
Date set: 1829
Directed by: Cary Fukunaga
Writer(s): Charlotte Brontë (novel), Moira Buffini
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Judi Dench, Sally Hawkins
19. Little Women (1994 Movie)
User rating:
4.07 / 5 (from 58 ratings)
Date set: 1861
Directed by: Gillian Armstrong
Writer(s): Louisa May Alcott (novel), Robin Swicord
Cast: Winona Ryder, Trini Alvarado, Samantha Mathis, Claire Danes, Susan Sarandon
20. Tess of the D'Urbervilles (2008 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
4.07 / 5 (from 75 ratings)
Directed by: David Blair
Writer(s): Thomas Hardy (novel), David Nicholls
Cast: Gemma Arterton, Eddie Redmayne, Hans Matheson, Jodie Whittaker, Ruth Jones
21. Rome (2005 TV Series)
User rating:
4.06 / 5 (from 52 ratings)
Directed by: Michael Apted, Allen Coulter, Alan Poul, Steve Shill;Timothy Van Patten, Alan Taylor, John Maybury
Writer(s): Bruno Heller, William J. MacDonald, John Milius, Scott Buck, Todd Ellis Kessler, Mere Smith
Cast: Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson, Polly Walker, Kerry Condon, James Purefoy
22. Bright Star (2009 Movie)
User rating:
4.04 / 5 (from 65 ratings)
Date set: 1818
Directed by: Jane Campion
Writer(s): Jane Campion
Cast: Ben Whishaw, Abbie Cornish, Paul Schneider, Thomas Sangster, Kerry Fox
23. The Pillars of the Earth (2010 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
4.03 / 5 (from 56 ratings)
Directed by: Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Writer(s): Ken Follett, John Pielmeier
Cast: Ian McShane, Matthew Macfadyen, Eddie Redmayne, Hayley Atwell, Rufus Sewell
24. Lorna Doone (2000 TV Movie)
User rating:
4 / 5 (from 34 ratings)
Date set: 1675
Directed by: Mike Barker
Writer(s): R. D. Blackmore (novel), Adrian Hodges
Cast: Martin Clunes, Richard Coyle, Aiden Gillen, Amelia Warner, Anthony Calf
25. An Ideal Husband (1999 Movie)
User rating:
3.98 / 5 (from 28 ratings)
Date set: 1895
Directed by: Oliver Parker
Writer(s): Oscar Wilde (play), Oliver Parker
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver, Rupert Everett, Julianne Moore, Jeremy Northam
How to rate
To rate a period drama, find its details page (using the search box or by looking on the timeline), and then look for "Your rating" in the list of details. Choose a rating for it from the drop-down box, and then click on the "Rate!" button.
About the rating system
The period dramas listed above are ranked by their effective rating, which works as follows. Visitors to PeriodDramas.com can give a rating to any of the period dramas in our database. From the given ratings and the number of ratings, the average rating for a period drama can be calculated. The effective rating of each period drama is then calculated using its average rating and the number of ratings it has been given: when a period drama has received a lot of ratings, its average rating is considered to be quite accurate (or “trustworthy”), and its calculated effective rating will then be very close to its average rating; conversely, if a period drama hasn't received many ratings yet, its average rating will not be particularly accurate, and its calculated effective rating will then be closer to a “default” (or “neutral”) rating. The actual calculation we use to determine an effective rating for a period drama is known as the Bayesian average.
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