Best British Costume Dramas
by ratso-58171 | created - 16 Mar 2018 | updated - 16 Mar 2018 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Last King (2003)
TV-14 | 188 min | Biography, Drama, History
The chronicle of Charles II's time on the throne, his ten-year exile from Oliver Cromwell's England, and his triumphant return.
Stars: Rufus Sewell, Rupert Graves, Charlie Creed-Miles, Christian Coulson
Votes: 1,814
2. Victoria & Albert (2001)
200 min | Biography, Drama, History
The marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, a longtime royal love story.
Stars: Victoria Hamilton, Jonathan Firth, James Callis, Diana Rigg
Votes: 1,040
3. Mrs. Brown (1997)
PG | 101 min | Biography, Drama, History
When Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert dies, she finds solace in her trusted servant, Mr. John Brown, but their relationship also brings scandal and turmoil.
Director: John Madden | Stars: Judi Dench, Billy Connolly, Geoffrey Palmer, Antony Sher
Votes: 15,597 | Gross: $9.22M
4. Pride and Prejudice (1995)
TV-PG | 55 min | Drama, Romance
While the arrival of wealthy gentlemen sends her marriage-minded mother into a frenzy, willful and opinionated Elizabeth Bennet matches wits with haughty Mr. Darcy.
Stars: Colin Firth, Jennifer Ehle, Susannah Harker, Julia Sawalha
Votes: 92,344
5. The Buccaneers (1995)
TV-14 | 48 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Four American girls go to England to find husbands.
Stars: Carla Gugino, Alison Elliott, Mira Sorvino, Rya Kihlstedt
Votes: 2,615
6. Vanity Fair (1998)
Not Rated | 50 min | Drama, Romance
An adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's classic story of parvenue Becky Sharp's rise from obscure and humble origins to her subsequent ignominious fall from Society; set against the ... See full summary »
Stars: Natasha Little, Frances Grey, Philip Glenister, David Ross
Votes: 1,733
7. Aristocrats (1999)
TV-14 | 300 min | Drama, History
18th-century England and Ireland viewed through the eyes of four beautiful high-born sisters - Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah Lennox, great-granddaughters of a king, daughters of a cabinet minister, and wives of politicians and peers.
Stars: Siân Phillips, Alun Armstrong, Ben Daniels, Serena Gordon
Votes: 1,772
8. Sense and Sensibility (1995)
PG | 136 min | Drama, Romance
Rich Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his second wife and her three daughters poor by the rules of inheritance. The two eldest daughters are the title opposites.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, James Fleet, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 125,786 | Gross: $43.18M
9. North & South (2004)
TV-PG | 60 min | Drama, Romance
North and South is a four-part adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's love story of Margaret Hale, a middle-class southerner who is forced to move to the northern town of Milton.
Stars: Daniela Denby-Ashe, Richard Armitage, Tim Pigott-Smith, Sinéad Cusack
Votes: 34,981
10. The Duchess (2008)
PG-13 | 110 min | Biography, Drama, History
A chronicle of the life of 18th-century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was revered for her extravagant political and personal life.
Director: Saul Dibb | Stars: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Dominic Cooper, Charlotte Rampling
Votes: 87,304 | Gross: $13.82M
11. Berkeley Square (1998)
50 min | Drama, History, Romance
Three young women from very different backgrounds meet, become friends and share experiences when they all gain positions as nannies in the wealthy households of London's exclusive Berkeley Square.
Stars: Victoria Smurfit, Clare Wilkie, Tabitha Wady, Hermione Norris
Votes: 1,216
12. The Forsyte Saga (2002–2003)
TV-PG | 276 min | Drama, History, Romance
Chronicles the lives of three generations of the upper-middle-class British family, the Forsytes, from the 1870s to 1920.
Stars: Damian Lewis, Rupert Graves, Gina McKee, Amanda Root
Votes: 6,550
13. The Way We Live Now (2001)
TV-14 | 75 min | Drama, Romance
Augustus Melmotte is a European-born city financier whose background is as mysterious as his business. Only weeks after his arrival in London, he announced a new venture and promises instant fortune.
Stars: David Suchet, Matthew Macfadyen, Cillian Murphy, Paloma Baeza
Votes: 3,321
14. The Wings of the Dove (1997)
R | 102 min | Drama, Romance
An impoverished woman who has been forced to choose between a privileged life with her wealthy aunt and her journalist lover, befriends an American heiress. When she discovers the heiress is attracted to her own lover and is dying, she sees a chance to have both the privileged life she cannot give up and the lover she cannot live without.
Director: Iain Softley | Stars: Helena Bonham Carter, Linus Roache, Alex Jennings, Charlotte Rampling
Votes: 13,060 | Gross: $13.72M
15. The Winslow Boy (1999)
G | 104 min | Drama, Romance
Following the theft of a postal order, a 14-year-old cadet is expelled from Naval College. To save the honour of the boy and his family, the pre-eminent barrister of the day is engaged to take on the might of the Admiralty.
Director: David Mamet | Stars: Rebecca Pidgeon, Jeremy Northam, Nigel Hawthorne, Matthew Pidgeon
Votes: 9,452 | Gross: $3.96M
16. The House of Mirth (2000)
PG | 135 min | Romance, Drama
A woman risks losing her chance of happiness with the only man she has ever loved.
Director: Terence Davies | Stars: Gillian Anderson, Dan Aykroyd, Eleanor Bron, Terry Kinney
Votes: 8,086 | Gross: $3.04M
17. The Golden Bowl (2000)
R | 130 min | Drama, Romance
A man marries an heiress for her money even though he is actually in love with her friend.
Director: James Ivory | Stars: Uma Thurman, Jeremy Northam, Kate Beckinsale, James Fox
Votes: 4,605 | Gross: $3.04M
18. A Room with a View (1985)
Not Rated | 117 min | Drama, Romance
Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) shares a brief romance with George Emerson in Florence. Yet as she tries to move on with her life and look for marriage elsewhere, can she truly forget the events of that summer?
Director: James Ivory | Stars: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Denholm Elliott, Julian Sands
Votes: 47,886 | Gross: $20.97M
19. Persuasion (2007 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 93 min | Action, Drama, Family
Anne was in love with Frederick, who was rejected by her snobby parents 8 years ago. They've now hit hard times and rent out their mansion to his brother-in-law. He returns a Royal Navy captain. Will he remember Anne?
Director: Adrian Shergold | Stars: Sally Hawkins, Alice Krige, Anthony Head, Julia Davis
Votes: 16,510
20. Under the Greenwood Tree (2005 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 93 min | Drama, Romance
In this lighthearted romance from Victorian novelist Thomas Hardy, the beautiful new village school teacher is pursued by three suitors: a working-class man, a landowner, and the vicar.
Director: Nicholas Laughland | Stars: Keeley Hawes, James Murray, Terry Mortimer, Richard Leaf
Votes: 2,989
21. Emma (1996)
PG | 120 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
While matchmaking for friends and neighbours, a young 19th Century Englishwoman nearly misses her own chance at love.
Director: Douglas McGrath | Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, James Cosmo, Greta Scacchi, Alan Cumming
Votes: 41,630 | Gross: $22.20M
22. Mansfield Park (1999)
PG-13 | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Fanny, born into a poor family, is sent away to live with wealthy uncle Sir Thomas, his wife and their four children, where she'll be brought up for a proper introduction to society.
Director: Patricia Rozema | Stars: Frances O'Connor, Jonny Lee Miller, Alessandro Nivola, Hannah Taylor Gordon
Votes: 25,847 | Gross: $4.76M
23. Wives and Daughters (1999)
TV-PG | 75 min | Drama
The daughter of a country doctor copes with an unwanted stepmother, an impetuous stepsister, burdensome secrets, the town gossips, and the tug on her own heartstrings for a man who thinks of her only as a friend.
Stars: Francesca Annis, Justine Waddell, Bill Paterson, Keeley Hawes
Votes: 7,328
24. The Mayor of Casterbridge (2003 TV Movie)
196 min | Drama
A drunken farm worker sells his wife and child at a market and begins a new life of wealth and respect as the Mayor of Casterbridge. However, his past returns to haunt him when he is reunited with his family, with unexpected consequences.
Director: David Thacker | Stars: Ciarán Hinds, Juliet Aubrey, Jodhi May, James Purefoy
Votes: 1,590
25. The Age of Innocence (1993)
PG | 139 min | Drama, Romance
A tale of nineteenth-century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder, Linda Faye Farkas
Votes: 67,830 | Gross: $32.20M
26. David Copperfield (2000 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 180 min | Drama
A gentle orphan discovers life and love in an indifferent adult world.
Director: Peter Medak | Stars: Hugh Dancy, Michael Richards, Eileen Atkins, Anthony Andrews
Votes: 1,174
27. The Pallisers (1974–1975)
TV-PG | 50 min | Drama, Romance
Beginning with the forced marriage of Glencora (Susan Hampshire), the lives of the friends and children of this couple are the subject of study. The backdrop is the House of Commons in ... See full summary »
Stars: Susan Hampshire, Philip Latham, Barbara Murray, Moray Watson
Votes: 538
28. Poldark (1975–1977)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, History, Romance
In 1783, Ross Poldark returns from the American wars to his native Cornwall to right wrongs and reunite with the love of his life.
Stars: Robin Ellis, Angharad Rees, Clive Francis, Jill Townsend
Votes: 1,198
29. Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998)
PG-13 | 121 min | Drama, Romance
The Brothers Grimm arrive at the home of a wealthy Grande Dame who speaks of the many legends surrounding the fable of the cinder girl before telling the "true" story of her ancestor.
Director: Andy Tennant | Stars: Drew Barrymore, Anjelica Huston, Dougray Scott, Patrick Godfrey
Votes: 81,758 | Gross: $65.71M
30. The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970)
540 min | Drama, History, Romance
A six-episode dramatization of Henry VIII's relationships with each of his six wives. Each episode is devoted to one wife, and is a complete play in itself.
Stars: Keith Michell, Anthony Quayle, Patrick Troughton, Bernard Hepton
Votes: 1,457
31. The Edwardians (1972–1973)
50 min | Drama, History
This series covers the turning points in 9 different figures during the Edwardian era of the United Kingdom - Henry Royce and Charles Rolls - of Rolls Royce fame; Horatio Bottomly founder ... See full synopsis »
Stars: Thorley Walters, Judy Parfitt, Timothy West, Ron Moody
Votes: 77
32. The Woman in White (1997 TV Movie)
Unrated | 125 min | Mystery, Thriller
The gothic tale of a pair of half-sisters whose lives end up caught in a grand conspiracy revolving around a mentally ill woman dressed in white.
Director: Tim Fywell | Stars: Tara Fitzgerald, Justine Waddell, Andrew Lincoln, Susan Vidler
Votes: 1,218
33. Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978)
Not Rated | 350 min | Drama, History, Romance
The events leading to the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII, who gave up his throne to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson.
Stars: Edward Fox, Cynthia Harris, David Waller, Peggy Ashcroft
Votes: 456
34. Edward the King (1975)
687 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life of Edward VII (1841 - 1910), the King of the United Kingdom. Before becoming the King, he developed a reputation of a playboy, which angered his mother, Queen Victoria. He was a reformer and modernizer, but also an elitist.
Stars: Annette Crosbie, Timothy West, Helen Ryan, Felicity Kendal
Votes: 551
35. Downton Abbey (2010–2015)
TV-PG | 60 min | Drama, Romance
A chronicle of the lives of the British aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early twentieth century.
Stars: Hugh Bonneville, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Brendan Coyle
Votes: 225,007
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