Welcome to the 8th annual Upcoming Period Dramas post (a list of historical dramas and costume dramas with a specific time period)!

This year’s featured couple is Linda Radlett (Lily James) and Fabrice de Sauveterre (Assaad Bouab) from BBC’s Pursuit of Love.

I would like to thank my readers for following my blog for my period dramas list over the years! (I know it’s far easier to follow Instagram accounts for photos and instant updates.) I would also like to thank my readers who inform me of upcoming period dramas that I have missed and I apologise I have not been on top of my emails.

Sadly, I am unable to update the Period Dramas – Movies, Period Dramas – TV series, and Costume Dramas: Fairytales/Fantasy pages because the website freezes when I attempt to update them. Instead, films will continue to be added to my imdb lists.

The following list is in chronological order (alphabetical where no date is specified) by release date and will be updated as more films and release dates are known. I will only include a very short review if I have time.

Final update: 23 January 2022

January 2021

4 January 2021 Canada – CBC’s Frankie Drake Mysteries S4 (TV Series)
Not renewed.

5 January 2021 Canada (Netflix) | 24 July 2020 UK | 31 July 2020 Canada/US – Summerland (Movie)
Set during WWII (London Blitz) about a folklore investigator (Gemma Arterton) who eventually re-evaluates her views when she has to take in a young evacuee.

8 January 2021 – Apple TV+’s Dickinson S2 (TV Series)
Renewed for S3.

10 January 2021 Canada (CBC) | 30 Dec 2018 UK (BBC One) | 14 Apr 2019 US (PBS) – BBC1’s Les Miserables (TV miniseries) ★★★★★
A six-part non-musical adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel of the same name. Thank you, Maria!

10 January 2021 US/Canada (Masterpiece) | 1 September 2020 UK – Channel 5’s All Creatures Great and Small S1 (TV Series)
New adaptation of James Herriot’s books on country veterinarians in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1930’s. Six episodes plus a Christmas special. Renewed for S2.

13 January 2021 France – France 2’s Les ventures du jeune Voltaire (TV Series)
4 episodes on young French Enlightenment philosopher and writer Voltaire.

15 January 2021 US | 26 June 2020 UK (Amazon/iTunes/Google/etc)- Fanny Lye Deliver’d (Movie)
Set in Shropshire in 1657 about Fanny Lye whose world changes with the unexpected arrival of two strangers.

16 January 2021 Canada (Netflix) | 16 Feb 2020 US/Canada (W Network) | 17 Feb 2020 UK (Amazon Prime) – Starz’s Outlander S5 (TV series) ★★★★★
12 episodes based on Diana Gabaldon’s The Fiery Cross.
Review: I found S5 better than S4 but there were many episodes that were hard to watch. Looking forward to S6!

29 January 2021 – Netflix’s The Dig (TV Movie) ★★★★★
Based on John Preston’s novel of the same name. Set in 1938 about archaeologist Basil Brown’s (Ralph Fiennes) excavation of Sutton Hoo on Mrs Edith Pretty’s (Carey Mulligan) property.

31 January 2021 Canada/US (Masterpiece PBS) | 18 Dec 2018 UK – BBC One’s The Long Song (TV Miniseries)
Adapted from Andrea Levy’s novel of the same name. Set in Jamaica in 1838 just before the abolition of slavery.

February 2021

8 February 2021 France – Paris Police 1900 S1 (TV Series)
Detective series with 8 episodes set in Paris in 1899. Renewed for S2.

14 February 2021 US (Ovation) | 4 January 2021 Canada | 18 January 2021 UK (Alibi) – CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries S14 (TV Series) ★★★★★
11 episodes. Renewed for S15.

14 February 2021 Canada (CBC) | 12 April 2020 US (Epix) | 17 May 2020 Australia | 15 March 2020 UK – ITV’s Belgravia (TV Series) ★★★★★
Adapted from Julian Fellowes’ novel of the same name set in the Napoleonic era and 1840s.
Review: I thought the series was well done and faithful to the novel.

19 February 2021 Canada/US | 26 December 2020 UK – Blithe Spirit (Movie)
Comedy based on the 1941 play set in the 1930s about a writer suffering from writer’s block who deals with a complex love triangle with his second wife after a spiritualist accidentally summons the spirit of his late first wife.

21 February 2021 US – Hallmark’s When Calls The Heart S8 (TV Series)

March 2021

1 March 2021 UK | 18 August 2020 US (digital release) – Emperor (Movie)
Inspired by Shields “Emperor” Green, a descendant of African kings, who escaped enslavement in the South pre-Civil War and fights is way north to seek freedom for his family.

8 March 2021 US (Peacock) | 4 December 2020 Spain – Movistar+’s Dime Quién Soy: Mistress of War / Tell Me Who I Am (TV Series)
Nine-part series based on the Julia Navarro’s novel set in various countries from the Spanish Civil War to the Cold War about Amelia Garayoa who is caught up in the world of international espionage.

11 March 2021 (Netflix) | 2 October 2020 (Spain) – Coven of Sisters / Akelarre (Movie)
Action film about a witch hunt set in Basque Country in 1609.

12 March 2021 UK | 26 February 2021 US (Hulu) – The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Movie)
Set around 1947. Biopic on legendary African-American jazz singer Billie Holiday (portrayed by Andra Day).

12 March 2021 Canada (CBC) | 17 January 2021 US (Masterpiece) | 31 March 2020 UK (Alibi) – A+E’s Miss Scarlet and the Duke S1 (TV Series) ★★★★★
Six-part drama set in 1880’s London about its first-ever female detective (played by Kate Phillips). Renewed for S2.

15 March 2021 (Netflix) | 2 October 2020 US | 23 October 2020 UK – A Call To Spy (Movie) ★★★★
Inspired by true stories. Set during WWII about the SOE who recruit two female spies to undermine the Nazis in France.

15 March 2021 – Netflix’s The Lost Pirate Kingdom (Movie) ★★★★
A new dock-series on the real pirates of the Caribbean, including Charles Vane, Anne Bonny, and Blackbeard.

25 March 2021 US/Canada (SundanceNow) | 25 December 2020 Sweden – SVT’s Vår tid är nu / The Restaurant S4 (TV Series)
Episode 1 is a Christmas special set in Stockholm in the summer of 1951.

26 March 2021 UK (Sky Cinema) – Six Minutes to Midnight (Movie)
Set in the UK on August 15, 1939 about the quest to find an English teacher and his German students.

26 March 2021 – Netflix’s The Irregulars (TV Series)
Set in Victorian London about a group of teens who work with Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes to solve supernatural crimes.

26 March 2021 – Amazon’s La Templanza / The Vineyard (TV Series)
Based on the romantic novel by María Dueñas set in various cities (London, Havana, Cádiz, Mexico City) in 1860 with 8 episodes.

April 2021

2 April 2021 – Netflix’s Madame Claude (TV Movie)
Set in Paris about Fernande Grudet ‘Madame Claude’ who ran a popular brother in the 1960s.

4 April 2021 Canada/US (Masterpiece PBS) | 25 October 2020 Norway – NRK’s Atlantic Crossing (TV Series)
8 hour-long episodes about Crown Princess Märtha who fought for her country and marriage during WWII (1940).

11 April 2021 US – HBO Max’s The Nevers (TV Series)
Six episodes set in Victorian London about a gang of women with supernatural powers.

16 April 2021 UK & Ireland (Amazon Prime) | 23 March 2021 Italy – Rai 1’s Leonardo (TV Series)
Eight episodes on Leonardo Da Vinci (Aidan Turner) through his works.

May 2021

14 May 2021 – Amazon Prime’s The Underground Railroad (TV Series)
Ten part series based on the novel by Colson Whitehead about Cora and Caesar who escape enslavement from Georgia by following the Underground Railroad.

16 May 2021 US (Starz) | 28 Nov 2018 UK (BBC Two) | 26 Nov 2018 Ireland (RTÉ One) – Death and Nightingales (TV miniseries)
Based on the 1992 novel of the same name. Set in Ireland in 1885.

28 May 2021 US – Axis Sally (Movie)
Based on the true story of American Mildred Gillars who had broadcast Nazi propaganda during WWII.

June 2021

3 June 2021 US – CBS’ Why Women Kill S2 (TV Series)
S2 takes place in Los Angeles in 1949 about a housewife with dreams of being part of the elite gardening club.

4 June 2021 Canada/US | 21 June 2021 UK – Rajah / Edge of the World (TV)
Based on the true story of Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, who established his own kingdom.

13 June 2021 France – Amazon’s Mixte (TV Series)
Comedy about an all boys school in France that becomes coed in 1963.

16 June 2021 (Netflix) | 10 December 2020 Russia – Silver Skates (Movie)
Romantic drama inspired by Romeo and Juliet and based on Mary Mapes Dodge’s Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates. Set in 1899 in St Petersburg about a poor man with a pair of silver-plated skates who falls in love with an aristocrat’s daughter.

July 2021

9 July 2021 (Netflix) | 21 February 2021 Spain – Atresmedia Televisión’s La cocinera de Castamar S1 / The Cook of Castamar (TV Series)
12 episodes set in early 18th-century Madrid about the love story between an agoraphobic cook and a widowed nobleman.

15 July 2021 UK – BBC Two’s The North Water (TV Miniseries)
Four-part thriller adapted from Ian McGuire’s novel set in the UK and the Arctic in the late 1850s about an ex-army surgeon who joins a whaling expedition.

15 July 2021 – Amazon Prime’s El Cid S2 (TV Series)
Set in Medieval Spain about Castilian nobleman and war hero, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar.

23 July 2021 US/Canada/etc | 6 August 2021 UK – Netflix’s The Last Letter from Your Lover (Movie) ★★★
Based on the novel by Jojo Moyes. Partly set in 1965.

30 July 2021 – The Green Knight (Movie) ★★★★★
Medieval fantasy story about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

30 July 2021 US/Canada/Australia (Amazon Prime Video) | 9 May 2021 UK – BBC One’s The Pursuit of Love (TV Miniseries) ★★★★
Three-part drama based on Nancy Mitford’s first novel in a trilogy about an upper class English family. Set before and during WWII.

August 2021

13 August US/Canada | 10 September 2021 UK – Respect (Movie)
Biographical drama about Aretha Franklin (Jennifer Hudson).

13 August 2021 US | 13 May 2021 Netherlands – De Oost / The East (Movie)
Set in post-WWII Indonesia about a young Dutch soldier who’s torn between duty and conscience when he’s deployed to suppress independence efforts in the Dutch colony.

18 August 2021 Canada (Netflix) | 30 October 2020 Germany – ZDF’s The Defeated / Shadowplay / Im Schatten Der Mörder (TV Series) ★★★★
Eight part series set in Berlin in 1946 about an American cop who helps create a police force.

27 August 2021 Canada (Amazon Prime) | 17 May 2021 UK | 16 April 2021 US (online) – The Courier (Movie)
Set in 1962 during the Cold War about MI-6 Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his Russian source, Oleg Penkovsky (codename: Ironbark), who try to end the Cuban Missile Crisis.

September 2021

3 September 2021 – Amazon Prime’s Cinderella (Movie)
A modern musical version of Cinderella.

10 September 2021 UK | 1 October 2021 US – The War Below (Movie)
Set during WWI (Battle of Messines) about a group of British miners who have to dig a tunnel underneath no man’s land and set bombs below the German front.

12 September 2021 UK | 2022 Canada/US (Masterpiece) – ITV’s Endeavour S8 (TV Series)
Three part detective series set in 1971.

13 September 2021 Canada | ? US (Ovation) | ? UK (Alibi) – CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries S15 (TV Series) ★★★★★

16 September 2021 Denmark – Margrete den første (Movie)
Set in 1402 about Queen Margrete who rules Sweden, Norway and Denmark through her adopted son, Erik.

17 September 2021 US | 6 June 2020 Japan – Wife of a Spy / Supai no tsuma (TV Movie)
Set in Japan during WWII about a wife of a Japanese merchant who suspects her husband is involved in espionage.

30 September 2021 – Netflix’s Luna Park (TV Series)
Six part series set in Rome in the 1960s.

October 2021

1 October 2021 US – Adventures of a Mathematician (Movie)
Based on a true story about Polish immigrant and mathematician Stan Ulam who immigrated to the US in the 1930s and helped create the first hydrogen bomb and first computer.

3 October 2021 Canada/US (PBS) | 18 April 2021 UK – BBC One’s Call the Midwife S10 (TV Series) ★★★★★
8 episodes plus a Christmas Special. Renewed for S12-14.

3 October 2021 Canada/US (Masterpiece PBS) | 3 September 2021 UK – ITV1’s Grantchester S6 (TV Series) ★★★★
Renewed for S7.

10 October 2021 UK – ITV’s The Larkins (TV Series)
Six-part adaptation of H.E. Bates’ novel ‘The Darling Buds of May’, set in Kent in the 1950s.

15 October 2021 – The Last Duel (Movie)
Set in the 14th Century. Based on the book “The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France” about knight Jean de Carrouges and his squire Jacques LeGris who have been ordered by King Charles VI [of France] to have a trial by combat after Carrouges’ wife accuses LeGris of rape. Directed by Ridley Scott.

16 October 2021 – Amazon Prime’s Sardar Udham (TV Movie) 
A biopic about Punjabi Sikh revolutionary Udham Singh who spent two decades planning the assassination of the man responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

22 October 2021 – The French Dispatch (Movie) ★★★★★
About an American newspaper agency in 1950’s Paris.

November 2021

5 November 2021 – Apple TV+’s Dickinson S3 (TV Series) Just added!

5 November 2021 (Amazon Prime) – The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (Movie) ★★★★★
Set in the 19th Century about English artist Louis Wain (Benedict Cumberbatch).

5 November 2021 – Netflix’s Kulüp / The Club (TV Series)
Set in 1955 about a mother and daughter who work in one of the most important nightclubs in Istanbul.

10 November 2021 – Netflix’s Passing (Movie)
A black-and-white film based on Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel which explores the different lives of two mixed African-American childhood friends who reunite as adults in the 1920s.

12 November 2021 UK – Sky’s The Colour Room (Movie)
Set in 1920s England about ceramic artist Clarice Cliff who revolutionises the workplace at the pottery factory.

12 November 2021 Canada/US | 25 February 2022 UK – Belfast (Movie) ★★★★★
Kenneth Branagh’s Set in the late 1960s about a young boy and his working-class family experience. Starring Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan, Ciaran Hinds, etc.

12 November 2021 (Disney+) | 30 July 2021 – Jungle Cruise (Movie) ★★★★
Based on the Disney theme attraction. Set in the early 20th Century (1910s/WWI?), starring Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson. Thank you, Harv!

12 November 2021 UK | 19 November 2021 – Mothering Sunday (Movie) ★★★★
Based on the novel by Graham Swift set in 1924 about a secret love between a maid and county gentleman.

December 2021

5 December 2021 UK (StarzPlay) | 19 November 2021 US | Canada (Amazon Prime) – Hulu’s The Great S2 (TV series)

9 December 2021 US (AMC+) | 1 June 2021 UK – Channel 5’s Anne Boleyn (TV Miniseries)
Three-part series on the final months of Anne Boleyn’s life. Starring Jodie Turner-Smith as Anne Boleyn.

10 December 2021 UK – BBC Two’s Vienna Blood S2 (TV Miniseries) ★★★★★

10 December 2021 – West Side Story (Movie) ★★★★
An adaptation of the 1957 musical set in 1950s New York about the forbidden love between Tony and Maria and the rivalry between the White Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks.

12 December 2021 – TVNOW’s Sisi S1 (TV Miniseries) ★★★★
Six-part German miniseries about Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Renewed for S2.

21 December 2021 – Amazon Prime’s Being the Ricardos (TV Series)
Starring Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball and Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz.

22 December 2021 – The King’s Man (Movie) ★★★★★
A prequel to the Kingsman series set at the turn of the 20th Century.

24 December 2021 @9PM UK | 2022 US/Canada (Masterpiece) – Channel 5’s All Creatures Great and Small S2: Christmas Special (TV Series). ★★★★★

24 December 2021 @ 10:30PM UK – BBC Two’s A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Mezzotint (TV Episode) 
A half-hour ghost story set in an old English country house in 1922.

25 December 2021 @ 8PM UK / Canada/US (PBS) – BBC One’s Call the Midwife S10: Christmas Special (TV Series) ★★★★★

25 December 2021 @ 9PM UK – ITV’s The Larkins: Christmas Special (TV Series)

26 December 2021 @5:50PM UK | 2 January 2022 Canada/US (Masterpiece PBS) – BBC1’s Around the World in 80 Days (TV Series) ★★★★★
Starring David Tennant as Phileas Fogg.

26 December 2021 @ 9PM UK | 2022 US/Canada (Amazon Prime) – BBC One’s A Very British Scandal (TV Miniseries)
Set in 1963 about British socialite Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll’s sex scandal.

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You can visit Period Dramas 2020 to catch up on 2020 films or visit Upcoming Period Dramas 2022 – Future for new films in 2022 and beyond!