Here’s a list of current and upcoming period dramas with release dates and summaries for this year (2013) and next (2014)!

Update: Please check Period Dramas 2014 and Upcoming Period Dramas 2015-Future for a list of period dramas from 2014 onwards. Don’t forget that you can see the complete lists of period dramas in the Movies and TV pages which are alphabetically sorted by titles and categorised by eras.

Last updated on: 31 December 2014

Currently on:

• The Imitation Game (movie – 14 November UK / 21 November US 2014) – Set in WWII about British wartime cryptographer Alan Turing; stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Allen Leech (Downton Abbey), Matthew Goode, Charles Dance (Game of Thrones).

• Murdoch Mysteries S8 (TV – 6 Oct 2014) – Will Detective William Murdoch tie the knot with Dr Julia Ogden? Is Inspector Brackenreid still alive? S8 airs in October!

• CBC’s Strange Empire (TV – 6 Oct 2014) – CBC’s gothic western set in the 1860’s in Canada about a town where men have disappeared. Starts filming in June.

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Period Dramas 2014

• 1864 (TV – October 2014) – Danish period drama about the Second Schleswig War between the Kingdom of Denmark and the German Confederation (Prussia and Austria). (Danish trailer)
• 37 Days (TV Miniseries – 6-8 March 2014) – events leading up to WWI from June-August 1914.
• The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box (movie – 10 Jan 2014) – Fantasy drama with Victorian-inspired costumes. Stars Aneurin Barnard (The White Queen), Lena Headey, Ioann Gruffudd, etc.

• Belle (movie – 2* May 2014 US/16 May 2014 CAN/13 June 2014 UK) – Based on the mixed-race aristocrat, Dido Belle in 18th Century England.

• La Belle et la bête (movie – 12 Feb 2014) – French film set in France in 1810, retelling the story of Beauty and the Beast. Costumes reflect different periods. Stars Vincent Cassel (Black Swan) and Léa Seydoux (Farewell, My Queen; Grand Budapest Hotel; etc.).

• Black Sails (TV – S1: 25 Jan 2014 / S2: 2015) – adventures of Captain Flint and his pirates.

• The Bletchley Circle S2 (TV – 6 Jan 2014 UK / April 2014 US/Canada) – Set in 1952-53 about four women who used to be codebreakers at Bletchley Park.
• Blandings S2 (TV – 16 Feb 2014) – Comedy set in 1929/30 at Blandings Castle, based on the stories by the same name. Stars Timothy Spall (Nicholas Nickleby, Sweeney Todd, etc.).
• Bomb Girls – Facing the Enemy (TV movie – 27 March 2014 CAN / 26 May 2014 US) – 2-hour TV movie set in 1943 Canada picking up from Bomb Girls S2.

• Call The Midwife (TV – 19 Jan 2014 UK / 31 March 2014 US) – S3 Christmas Special premieres on Christmas Day 2014; S4 premiers in January 2015 in the UK and 39 March 2015 in the US/Canada.

• Cilla (TV – 15 Sept 2014) – ITV series set in the 1960’s on singer, Cilla Black. Stars Sheridan Smith (Hysteria) and Aneurin Barnard (The White Queen).

• The Crimson Field (orig. called The Ark) (TV – 6 April 2014) – Set in fictional hospital in France during WWI about the lives of medics and patients.

• Da Vinci’s Demons S2 (TV – 22 March 2014) – Historical fantasy series on Leonardo Da Vinci’s early life. It has been renewed for a 3rd series.
• Downton Abbey (TV – S4: 5 Jan 2014 – PBS & S5: Autumn 2014) – S4 starts 6 months after Matthew’s death. The Christmas special will be set in spring 1923 and will feature Lady Rose’s debutante ball and King George V and his wife, Queen Mary. DA has been renewed for S5 in Autumn 2014.
• Downton Abbey S5 (TV – 21 Sept 2014 UK / 4 Jan 2015 US/Canada) – The series follows the lives of those at Downton in the 1920’s.

• Dracula Untold (movie – 10 Oct 2014)

• Effie Gray (movie – May 10 Oct 2014 UK / ? Nov 2014 US) – Originally set for release in Oct 2013 but was postponed due to a legal battle. It tells the story of Effie Gray, wife of critic John Ruskin. Stars Dakota Fanning.

• Endeavour S2 (TV – 30 March 2014) – Crime drama set in Oxford in 1966.
• Father Brown (TV – S2: 6 Jan 2014) – Set in England in the early 1950’s, features a crime-solving Catholic priest, Father Brown, in the fictional Cotswold village of Kembleford. Series has been renewed for S3 in 2015.
  
• Fleming (TV – 29 Jan 2014) – Four-part TV miniseries about the creator of Bond, Ian Fleming from the late 20’s until 1963. Stars Dominic Cooper (The Duchess) as Fleming and Lara Pulver (Sherlock) as Ann.

• Generation War (Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter) (TV – 15 Jan 2014) – This is the German ‘Band of Brothers’ TV miniseries by ZDF. It had been released in Germany in March 2013.

• Grace of Monaco (movie – 14 May 2014 at the Cannes. Available for rent on iTunes.) – Originally set for release in Nov 2013 then March 2014 but was postponed. Set in Monaco in the early 60’s, the film focuses on Princess Grace (née Kelly)’s marriage and identity crisis during the political dispute between Prince Rainier III and Charles De Gaulle.

• The Grand Budapest Hotel (movie – 7 March 2014) – Set in 1932. Stars Ralph Fiennes.

 

• The Great Fire (TV – Oct 2014) – ITV’s 4-part series on the Great Fire of London in 1666. Stars Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire), Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones), Perdita Weeks (Lost in Austen, ITV’s Titanic, The Invisible Woman), Oliver Jackson-Cohen (World Without End, Mr Selfridge S1, Dracula), Andrew Tiernan (Ripper Street), Charles Dance (Game of Thrones), David Schofield (POTC 2-3, Da Vinci’s Demons) and Sonya Cassidy (The Paradise, The Tudors).

•  Houdini (TV – 1-2 September 2014 USA/CAN) – 2-part TV series from the History Channel about the legendary Hungarian-American escape artist, Harry Houdini. Set in the early 20th Century. Stars Adrien Brody as Houdini.

• The Immigrant (movie – 6 June 2014) – Set in 1921 New York City about two Polish sisters, Ewa and Magda, who immigrate to USA for a better life. Stars Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose), Joaquin Phoenix (Quills), and Jeremy Renner.

• In Secret (movie – 21 Feb 2014) – Set in 1860’s Paris about Therese Raquin (Elizabeth Olsen)’s loveless marriage to her cousin, Camille (Tom Felton), her life under her aunt, Madame Raquin (Jessica Lange), and her affair with her husband’s friend Laurent (Oscar Isaac). Thriller.

• The Invisible Woman (movie – 7 Feb 2014 UK) – The story of Nelly Ternan, Charles Dickens’ secret mistress. Stars Ralph Fiennes as Charles Dickens, Felicity Jones as Nelly Ternan, and Kristin Scott Thomas as Catherine Ternan (Nelly’s mother).

• Jamaica Inn (TV – 21-23 April 2014) – 3-part 1-hour series based on Daphne du Maurier’s gothic novel by the same name. Set in 1820’s Cornwall. Stars Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey), Matthew McNulty (The Paradise), Sean Harris (The Borgias), Joanne Whalley (The Borgias), etc.

• Jersey Boys (movie – 20 June 2014) – Biographical film based on the musical, Jersey Boys, which tells the story of the American rock and pop band from the mid-1960’s, The Four Seasons. Stars Vincent Piazza (Boardwalk Empire), Christopher Walken (Sleepy Hollow), Freya Tingley (Once Upon A Time), etc.

• Klondike (TV miniseries – 20-22 Jan 2014) – 6 part miniseries by Discovery Channel about the Klondike Gold Rush in the 1890’s. Stars Richard Madden as Bill Haskell.

• The Last of Robin Hood (movie – 29 August 2014) – About the last years of Errol Flynn and his liaison with Beverly Aadland. Stars Kevin Kline (De-Lovely) and Dakota Fanning.

• Mad Men (TV – 13 April 2014) – S7 will be split into two parts, with the first part airing on 13 April 2014 and the second part in 2015. S7Pt 1 is set in 1969. (Trailer)
• Madame Bovary (movie – 30 Aug 2014 US (Telluride) / 10 Sept 2014 Canada (TIFF) / 10 Oct 2014 UK (London Film Fest)) – Stars Mia Wasikowska as Emma Bovary. Currently filming.
• A Million Ways To Die (movie – 30 May 2014) – A Wild West comedy set in Arizona in 1882. Stars Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried (Les Miserables), Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List, Kingdom of Heaven, etc.), etc.

• Miss Julie (movie – 10 September 2014 France) – Based on the Swedish play by August Strindberg. Set in 1890 Fermanagh (Northern Ireland) about a daughter of a count, Julie, and her affair with her father’s valet, Jean. Stars Jessica Chastain (The Help) and Colin Farrell (Winter’s Tale).

• The Monuments Men (movie – 7 Feb 2014) – Set in WWII, an Allied group is tasked to save culturally important art items from destruction by Hitler.

• Mr Selfridge S2 (TV – 19 Jan 2014 UK / 30 Mar 2014 US/CAN) – ITV TV series on the Selfridges owner and employees, set in London in WWI (5 years after the 1st series). Renewed for a 3rd series to premiere in 2015.

• Mr. Turner (movie – 31 Oct 2014 UK / 3 Dec 2014 France / 19 Dec 2014 US) – A biopic on the celebrated British painter, J. M. W. Turner, during the last quarter century. Stars Timothy Spall as Turner.
• The Musketeers (TV – 19 Jan 2014 UK / 22 June 2014 US) – BBC TV series about Dumas’ The Three Musketeers. Renewed for a second series.

• New Worlds (TV – 1 April 2014 UK) – The sequel to ‘The Devil’s Whore‘ set on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1680’s. Stars Jamie Dornan (Once Upon A Time) as Abe and Freya Mavor (The White Queen) as Beth Fanshawe (daughter of Angelica Fanshawe in The Devil’s Whore).

• Penny Dreadful (TV – 11 May 2014) – Set in Victorian London, this 8-part psycho-thriller is perhaps more gruesome the Game of Thrones, featuring many characters from the gothic novels. Stars Eva Green (Camelot, Arsene Lupin, etc.) and Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbour). It has been renewed for a second 10-episode series in 2015.

• A Promise (movie – 16 April 2014 EU / 18 April 2014 USA ltd) – Romance drama set in pre-WWI Germany; stars Richard Madden (Game of Thrones), Alan Rickman, and Rebecca Hall (The Prestige).

• Serena (movie – April? 24 Oct 2014 UK) – Based on the novel by Ron Rash. Depression-era North Carolina. Stars Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.

• History’s Sons of Liberty (TV – 14 Dec 2014) – 6-hour miniseries on the Sons of Liberty, set in what is now the US in the 1770’s.
• The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (TV – Sept 2014) – Series on Detective Jack Whicher’s cases. There are two episodes for ‘Series 3’: Beyond the Pale (7 Sept 2014) and Ties That Bind (14 Sept 2014).

• The Theory of Everything (movie – 7 November 2014 US / 1 January 2015 UK) – About Stephen Hawking’s earlier days with his first wife during the 1960’s. Stars Eddie Redmayne (Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Les Miserables) and Felicity Jones (Northanger Abbey, The Invisible Woman).

• Turn (TV – 6 April 2014) – American Revolution

• The Village (TV – 2013-2014) – Set in Derbyshire. S1 covers 1914-1920. S2 aired on 10 Aug 2014 and covers the 1920’s. Any future series will cover WWII and so forth.
• When Calls The Heart (TV – 11 Jan US / 16 Apr CAN 2014) – Hallmark TV series based on Janette Oke’s When Courage Calls from her When Calls the Heart / Canadian West series. Set in 1910 in Western Canada, it tells the story about a young teacher from a wealthy family who moves out west to Coal Valley, where she charms everyone except the Canadian mountie. It has been renewed for a second series which will air in 2015.

• Winter’s Tale (movie – 14 Feb 2014) – Set in 1916 and present-day Manhattan; based on novel of the same name.

 

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Past Period Dramas 2013

• 12 Years A Slave (18 Oct 2013 US/Canada & 24 Jan 2014 UK) – Victorian era (1840’s); slavery in the US; based on autobiography by Solomon Northup; stars Chiwetel Ejiofor (Love Actually), Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, etc.
• The Bletchley Circle S1 (TV – 6 Sept 2012 UK / April 2012 US/Canada) – Set in 1952-53 about four women who used to be codebreakers at Bletchley Park.

• The Book Thief (15 Nov 2013 US/Canada) – Set in 1930’s-WWII in Nazi Germany; based on novel by Markus Zusak; stars Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, etc.

• Bonnie and Clyde: Dead and Alive (TV – 8 & 9 Dec 2013) – Set in the 30’s. Stars Holliday Grainger and Emile Hirsch. See photos and trailer.

• The Christmas Candle (movie – 22 Nov 2013 US, 13 Dec 2013 UK) – Set in Victorian England (1890’s) and based on Max Lucado’s novel of the same name. Stars Hans Matheson (The Tudors), Samantha Barks (Les Miserables), and Susan Boyle (Britain’s Got Talent)!

• Death Comes to Pemberley (TV – 26-28 Dec 2013) – 3-part 60-min. TV series based on the novel of the same name. Stars Matthew Rhys (Edge of Love) as Mr Darcy, Anna Maxwell Martin as Elizabeth Darcy, and Matthew Goode as George Wickham. Read article here.
  
• Dracula (25 Oct US & 31 Oct UK) – A 10-part TV series set in Victorian London; different retelling of Dracula; stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Oliver Jackson-Cohen (World Without End, Mr Selfridge), Kate McGrath (Merlin), etc. The series has been cancelled by NBC.
• A Grand Affair (2013) – Based on the novel by Albert Cohen, Belle du Seigneur. Set in 1935-36 Geneva about the affair of a Jewish official and Protestant aristocrat. Starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Natalia Vodianova.

• The Great Train Robbery (TV – 18 & 19 Dec 2013) – 2 part series on the Great Train Robbery, set between November 1962 to 8 August 1963. Stars Luke Evans (The Three Musketeers, The Raven) and Jim Broadbent.

• Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries S2 (6 Sept 2013 Australia & 1 Nov 2013 Canada) – Returning series with 25 episodes set in 1920’s Australia; detective drama.

• Moonfleet (28 & 29 Dec 2013) – Two-part TV series set in 18th Century (1757) England, based on the novel by J. Meade Falkner from 1898. Stars Aneurin Barnard.

• The Paradise S2 (20 Oct 2013 UK) – Returning series with 8 episodes set in a northern English town in the Victorian era (1876). *Mr Selfridge is a similar ‘shopping’ costume drama series set in the Edwardian era.

• Peaky Blinders S1 (21 Nov 2013 Canada) – Set in Birmingham just after WWI; crime drama; stars Cillian Murphy. Renewed for a 2nd and 3rd series.

• Ripper Street S2 (28 Oct 2013 UK) – Returning series with 8 episodes set in Victorian London (1890); detective drama; stars Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn (Game of Thrones), etc. Renewed for a 3rd series via Amazon, set in 1894.