Period Dramas.com

Top-Rated Period Dramas

Here are the top ten period-drama movies or TV series as rated by visitors to Period Dramas.com:


1. North & South (2004 TV Mini-series)

Effective rating:
4.76 / 5 (from 49 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)

Effective rating:
4.54 / 5 (from 36 ratings)

Date set: 1811–1812

Directed by: Simon Langton

Writer(s): Jane Austen (novel); Andrew Davies

Cast: Jennifer Ehle; Colin Firth; Susannah Harker; Julia Sawalha; Alison Steadman


3. Little Dorrit (2008 TV Mini-series)

Effective rating:
4.39 / 5 (from 13 ratings)

Date set: 1805–1826

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


4. Jane Eyre (1973 TV Mini-series)

Effective rating:
4.33 / 5 (from 10 ratings)

Date set: 1829

Directed by: Joan Craft

Writer(s): Charlotte Brontë; Robin Chapman

Cast: Sorcha Cusack; Michael Jayston; Hazel Clyne; Zara Jaber; Megs Jenkins


5. Sense and Sensibility (2008 TV Mini-series)

Effective rating:
4.29 / 5 (from 16 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


6. Lark Rise to Candleford (2008 TV Series)

Effective rating:
4.28 / 5 (from 13 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


7. Sense and Sensibility (1995 Movie)

Effective rating:
4.25 / 5 (from 15 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;


8. Jane Eyre (2006 TV Mini-series)

Effective rating:
4.21 / 5 (from 37 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


9. Bright Star (2009 Movie)

Effective rating:
4.2 / 5 (from 15 ratings)

Date set: 1818

Directed by: Jane Campion

Writer(s): Jane Campion

Cast: Ben Whishaw; Abbie Cornish; Paul Schneider; Thomas Sangster; Kerry Fox


10. Emma (2009 TV Mini-series)

Effective rating:
4.19 / 5 (from 22 ratings)

Date set: 1815

Writer(s): Jane Austen (novel); Sandy Welch

Cast: Romola Garai; Jonny Lee Miller; Michael Gambon; Tamsin Greig; Robert Bathurst


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 “effective rating” system

The period dramas listed above are ranked by their effective rating, which works as follows. Visitors to Period Dramas.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; this is shown on the details page for that period drama. 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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