Top-Rated Period Dramas
Here are the top 25 period-drama movies or TV series as rated by visitors to Period Dramas.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:
4.83 / 5 (from 317 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:
4.7 / 5 (from 207 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. Little Dorrit (2008 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
4.38 / 5 (from 84 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
4. Jane Eyre (2006 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
4.33 / 5 (from 141 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
5. Downton Abbey (2010 TV Series)
User rating:
4.28 / 5 (from 127 ratings)
Directed by: Brian Percival, Ben Bolt, Brian Kelly
Writer(s): Julian Fellowes
Cast: Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Penelope Wilton, Dan Stevens
6. The Young Victoria (2009 Movie)
User rating:
4.23 / 5 (from 65 ratings)
Directed by: Jean-Marc Vallée
Writer(s): Julian Fellowes
Cast: Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Miranda Richardson, Mark Strong, Jim Broadbent
7. Sense and Sensibility (2008 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
4.22 / 5 (from 71 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
8. Emma (2009 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
4.2 / 5 (from 81 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:
4.17 / 5 (from 67 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. Lark Rise to Candleford (2008 TV Series)
User rating:
4.07 / 5 (from 87 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
11. Pride & Prejudice (2005 Movie)
User rating:
4.05 / 5 (from 170 ratings)
Date set: 1797
Directed by: Joe Wright
Writer(s): Jane Austen (novel), Deborah Moggach (screenplay)
Cast: Keira Knightley, Rosamund Pike, Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn, Jena Malone
12. Persuasion (2007 TV Movie)
User rating:
4.05 / 5 (from 84 ratings)
Date set: 1814
Directed by: Adrian Shergold
Writer(s): Jane Austen (novel), Simon Burke
Cast: Sally Hawkins, Rupert Penry-Jones, Alice Krige, Anthony Head, Julia Davis
13. Bright Star (2009 Movie)
User rating:
4 / 5 (from 34 ratings)
Date set: 1818
Directed by: Jane Campion
Writer(s): Jane Campion
Cast: Ben Whishaw, Abbie Cornish, Paul Schneider, Thomas Sangster, Kerry Fox
14. Rome (2005 TV Series)
User rating:
4 / 5 (from 20 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
15. Jane Eyre (2011 Movie)
User rating:
3.98 / 5 (from 29 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
16. Cranford (2007 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
3.97 / 5 (from 51 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
17. The Tudors (2007 TV Series)
User rating:
3.95 / 5 (from 29 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. The King's Speech (2010 Movie)
User rating:
3.93 / 5 (from 27 ratings)
Directed by: Tom Hooper
Writer(s): David Seidler
Cast: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush, Guy Pearce, Jennifer Ehle
19. Northanger Abbey (2007 TV Movie)
User rating:
3.9 / 5 (from 34 ratings)
Directed by: Jon Jones
Writer(s): Jane Austen (novel), Andrew Davies
Cast: Felicity Jones, JJ Feild, Carey Mulligan, William Beck, Catherine Walker
20. Persuasion (1995 TV Movie)
User rating:
3.89 / 5 (from 29 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
21. The Forsyte Saga (2002 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
3.85 / 5 (from 26 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
22. Little Women (1994 Movie)
User rating:
3.82 / 5 (from 19 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
23. The Pillars of the Earth (2010 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
3.82 / 5 (from 23 ratings)
Directed by: Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Writer(s): Ken Follett, John Pielmeier
Cast: Ian McShane, Matthew Macfadyen, Eddie Redmayne, Hayley Atwell, Rufus Sewell
24. The New World (2005 Movie)
User rating:
3.79 / 5 (from 14 ratings)
Date set: 1607
Directed by: Terrence Malick
Writer(s): Terrence Malick
Cast: Colin Farrell, Q'orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale, August Schellenberg
25. Tess of the D'Urbervilles (2008 TV Mini-series)
User rating:
3.79 / 5 (from 37 ratings)
Directed by: David Blair
Writer(s): Thomas Hardy (novel), David Nicholls
Cast: Gemma Arterton, Eddie Redmayne, Hans Matheson, Jodie Whittaker, Ruth Jones
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 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. 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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