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While waiting for ENDEAVOUR Season 7, here are 15 PBS Period Dramas that are currently (as of August 3, 2020) available on Amazon Prime Video. As always, the status can change. But for now, these are 15 terrific period dramas on Amazon Prime Video.
PBS Period Dramas on Amazon Prime Video
#1. The Railway Children with Jemima Rooper, Jenny Agutter, Richard Attenborough
This family-friendly movie aired on Masterpiece Theatre in 2000. The story, based on the E. Nesbit novel, tells of 3 children whose lives are dramatically changed when they move with their mother to a cottage by the railway.
#2. The Bletchley Circle
Set in Post War London, four ordinary women (including Rachael Stirling and Anne Maxwell Martin), team up to investigate a string of grisly murders.
#3. Les Miserables with Dominic West, Lilly Collins, David Oyelowo [Only Available until August 31st]
In the time leading up to the French Revolution, a convict Jean Valjean (Dominic West) tries his hardest to bury his past in good works and faith. His nemesis, Inspector Javert (David Oyelowo), however, won’t let him alone.
#4. Poldark with Aidan Turner
Poldark is a 2015-2020 PBS remake of the beloved 1975 series that’s been hailed as the British Gone with the Wind. Based on the Winston Graham novels, Captain Ross Poldark has returned from the American Revolutionary War to right wrongs and nurse his broken heart.
#5. The Durrells in Corfu with Keeley Hawes (Spooks, Wives and Daughters)
Impoverished widow (Keeley Hawes) uproots her family and decides to start over again in Corfu in the 1930s. The series is based on the books by Naturalist Gerald Durrell.
#6. Grantchester with James Norton, Robson Green
In a similar yet darker vein to Father Brown, Granchester follows a vicar who has a knack for solving crimes. In this series, the vicar(s) become good friends with a veteran cop whom he partners with on numerous cases in their 1950s English village.
#7. Endeavour Seasons 1-6 with Shaun Evans, Roger Allam (Les Miserables: Original London Cast)
Endeavour is a prequel to the beloved Inspector Morse (John Thaw) and Inspector Lewis (Kevin Whately). As a young policeman on the force in Oxford, Endeavour Morse uses his love for opera and the classics to help solve the daunting cases he and Inspector Thursday (Roger Allam, Javert from Les Miserables the Musical).
#8. Victoria with Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who)
Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who) stars as a young Queen Victoria in this Masterpiece favorite. The show begins as she is still a princess living with her mother at Kensington Palace, includes a fanciful romance with Prime Minister Melbourne (Rufus Sewell), and chronicles her life with Albert. The (oftentimes fictional) servants are also given ample screen time.
#9. Home Fires with Samantha Bond (Emma, Downton Abbey) and Francesca Annis (Wives and Daughters, Reckless)
Set in a rural city in England during World War Two, the women are left behind and must adapt quickly to the pressures of their new “roles” and the world that is rapidly changing around them.
#10. Indian Summers with Julie Walters (Harry Potter, Mamma Mia)
Mamma Mia‘s Julie Walters stars in this period drama about the 1930s British summer scenes in the Himalayan Mountains. The show explores the paradox of the British summers and real life in the streets of India for the native citizens.
#11. Little Women with Emily Watson and Angela Lansbury
Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel is told over the course of three episodes with an excellent and fresh cast of young actresses in the roles of the March sisters and featuring the legendary Angela Lansbury (Murder, She Wrote) as Aunt March.
#12. Downton Abbey with Hugh Bonneville (Mansfield Park)
Downton Abbey, the most famous of PBS Period Dramas, set in the Yorkshire countryside between 1912 and 1926, is an upstairs-downstairs drama about the Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era.
#13. To Walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters
To Walk Invisible The Brontë Sisters follows the Brontë sisters in the eventful three-year period that saw them rise from ordinary, unmarried women, taking care of the household and their widowed father, to the secret authors of the world’s most sensational literature.
#14. Mercy Street
Inspired by real events, Mercy Street takes viewers beyond the battlefield and into the lives of a distinctive cast of characters — doctors, nurses, contraband laborers, and Southern loyalists — realizing the chaotic world of Union-occupied Alexandria, Virginia and the Mansion House Hospital during the early years of the American Civil War.
#15. Howards End with Hayley Atwell (Cinderella, Captain America) and Matthew MacFadyen (Pride and Prejudice, Spooks)
Often considered E.M. Forster’s masterpiece, Howards End is the story of two independent and unconventional sisters and the men in their lives seeking love and meaning as they navigate an ever-changing world.
Poldark and Victoria are fun to watch. I love Demelza in Poldark.
Oh thank you for sharing this. They sounds all so great. I will definitely check some of these.
I need to utilize Amazon Prime more often. If you are into period pieces Amazon has a plethora of options.
Thanks for this comprehensive list! All the entertainment feinds will go nuts! Much appreciated.
What a great list! I would really want to see The Durrells in Corfu with Keeley Hawes (Spooks, Wives and Daughters) at Amazon Prime. Nice! Thanks for sharing it.
To Walk Invisible has been on my watch list for a long time! Just read a graphic novel based on their life and I need to actually watch it! And several of these were new to me! I love a good period drama!
Great list!!
Jenna Coleman is so fantastic in Victoria. I haven’t seen Little Women with Angela Lansbury yet, that I’m putting that on my list for the next time I need a good show!
What a comprehensive list of Amazon prime period dramas. I’ve only watched Little Women and Downtown Abbey. Adding other series from your list.
These sound like some good choices. I definitely don’t watch enough amazon shows. I forget about them. I am really interested in the show about the Bronte sisters!
I didn’t know there was a show about the Bronte sisters. I’d surely like to see that one.
Whenever I get the time to relax and get immersed in a great story, I just love the available period dramas that we can view now. You have certainly included a wonderful selection here. Many hours of pleasure, getting into some fascinating times and stories. Hard to know which one to start with first!
This is a great list! Thanks! I am the only one in my family who enjoys watching period dramas and I am always looking for a new one to watch. This will come in handy!
You have provided a perfect binge watch list for me , Am a big Period drama fan ,going to see these for sure?
love these movies excellent!
Certainly terrific period dramas on Amazon Prime! My favorite is Les Miserables! 🙂
Even with access to all sorts of movies and stuff, I haven’t watch much at all. I do need to kick back and watch a few that are on my list.
Little Women and Les Miserables are two classics! I can’t wait to watch these again!
Thank you for this, me and the hubby will deffo be checking a few of these out x
I want to watch Les Miserables with Dominic West, Lilly Collins, David Oyelowo! I’ll definitely check it on Amazon Prime. Yahooooo!
Great list of the shows in Amazon. I have to start watching them, not getting the adequate time for it. But I have to find out some in between my schedule.
That’s awesome! I love Jenna Coleman!
I have seen some of those. I was really getting into Downton Abbey, until my favorite character died. Then I stopped watching it, haha.
I’m a fan of period dramas! I don’t think I’ve seen most of these though! I’ll have to check them out.
I have heard of most of these but haven’t seen them all. I plan to go through the list. These are all great things to watch!
I’m such a sucker for a good period drama! I recently (finally!) finished The Great and it was so good. I can’t wait for season two.
These suggestions are great. I am gonna check this out. Thanks for sharing.
Ooo this could not have been better timed, we are running low of things to watch so will check a few of these out x
I love all of these suggestions! I’ve always loved period movies. They have such a great vibe, and they can tell any story. I love the costumes and language. It’s an hour an a half of escaping into another time.
These sound lile nice shows, will check them out !
This is a great selection! Will go ahead and start with those I haven’t gotten the chance to watch yet. Thank you!
Hhhhmmmm…I think I will begin with “Little Women”. Sounds nice to me.
Is this version of Les Mis and Little Women any good? Which one’s your favorite?
I love period dramas! I watched Les Miserable when it first came out and really enjoyed it! I’m yet to watch the Poldark series but have heard great things.