Best tv shows like Clarissa
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Clarissa is a 1991 British period drama television miniseries starring Sean Bean, Saskia Wickham and Lynsey Baxter. It aired on the BBC in three hour-long episodes between 27 November and 11 December 1991. It was based on the 1749 novel Clarissa by Samuel Richardson.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 621
Genere: History
Country: UK
Duration: 156 min
Plot tags: costume drama, historical drama, period piece, period drama
Best tv shows and movies like Clarissa (1991):
Similar in 87%
La chambre des dames (1983)
Plot Summary:
French TV mini series.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 30
Genere: History
Country: France
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: period drama
Similar in 78%
The Mill on the Floss (1978)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of the George Eliot novel.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 167
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 240 min
Plot tags: historical drama, period piece, period drama
Similar in 86%
Great Expectations (2023)
Plot Summary:
The coming-of-age story of Pip, an orphan who yearns for a greater lot in life, until a twist of fate and the evil machinations of the mysterious and eccentric Miss Havisham shows him a dark world of possibilities. Under the great expectations placed upon him, Pip will have to work out the true cost of this new world and whether it will truly make him the man he wishes to be.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK, USA
Duration:
Plot tags: period piece, period drama
Similar in 90%
Life of a Mistress (2018)
Plot Summary:
Polina Lebedeva, daughter of the childless prince Alexei Petrovich Golovin, is the most enviable bride of the Yamburg district. During the ball in honor of her birthday, Alexei Petrovich dies of a heart attack. This grief is only the beginning of hard trials, destined for the girl.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 198
Genere: History
Country: Russia
Duration:
Plot tags: captivating
Similar in 79%
Toussaint Louverture (2012)
Plot Summary:
Toussaint opposes the Spanish army and joins the French troops. On Saint-Domingue he succeeds to push the English back. He proclames himself as the gouvernor of Saint-Domingue. To restore the economy he takes a bold descision. He calls for the workers to return to the plantages.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 108
Genere: History
Country: France
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: tense, thought provoking, captivating, historical drama
Similar in 79%
A Tale of Two Cities (1989)
Plot Summary:
A pair of lookalikes, one a former French aristocrat and the other an alcoholic English lawyer, fall in love with the same woman amongst the turmoil of the French Revolution.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 387
Genere: Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: UK, France
Duration: 188 min
Plot tags: historical drama, epic, fairy tale, period drama
Similar in 84%
Number 10 (1983)
Plot Summary:
Drama series about the private lives of seven British prime ministers who lived in Number 10 Downing Street between the 1780s and the 1920s: William Pitt the Younger, the Duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley), Benjamin Disraeli, William Ewart Gladstone, David Lloyd-George, Herbert Henry Asquith and James Ramsay MacDonald.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 49
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: historical drama, period piece, costume drama, period drama
Similar in 90%
Persuasion (1971)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of the Jane Austen novel.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 585
Genere: History, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 225 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, period drama
Similar in 79%
City of Vice (2008)
Plot Summary:
City of Vice is a British historical crime drama television series set in Georgian London and was first screened on 14 January 2008 on Channel 4. It is produced by Touchpaper Television part of the RDF Media Group. The series mixes fiction with fact following the fortunes of the famous novelist Henry Fielding and his brother John. Henry and John Fielding were magistrates of Westminster and the men who created the modern police force in Britain through the Bow Street Runners. The series was written by Clive Bradley and Peter Harness, whose scripts were nominated for a Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Best Series, 2008. It was directed by Justin Hardy and Dan Reed. The historical consultant was Hallie Rubenhold. The show uses authentic historical research to tell the story of the two men battling to create a police force, 75 years before Robert Peel founded the Metropolitan Police. Henry Fielding’s memoirs and contemporary sources such as the Old Bailey Sessions Papers have been used to provide historical accuracy to the series. The series uses innovative mapping sequences to follow the narrative and characters' progress, wherein John Rocque's map of 1746 is seen from above, becomes firstly 3D and ultimately merges with film sequences of the next scene to pick up the narrative tale.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 509
Genere: Crime, Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: captivating, serious, detective, historical drama, tense, suspense, period piece, rough, bleak, realistic
Similar in 77%
Gunpowder (2017)
Plot Summary:
England, 1603. Elizabeth I is dead and King James of Scotland has taken the throne. With the country at war with catholic Spain, English catholics are persecuted and priests caught saying mass are punished with death. Several attempts have already been made on the new king’s life. All so far have failed. But deep in the heart of the Warwickshire countryside a new plot is brewing. A plot that will become legend, and leave a mark on the country that will still be felt over 400 years later.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 59 min
Plot tags: factual, costume drama, historical drama, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, saga, period piece, period drama
Similar in 76%
Rag Nymph (1997)
Plot Summary:
Seperated from her prostitute mother as the woman flees on foot down the filthy mid-19th century streets of Newcastle from the police, ten year old Millie is taken under the wing of rag lady Aggie Winkovski and her crippled helper, Ben. Young Millie is a very well-brought up little girl, which Aggie questions and finds out that her mother had been a ladies maid before being forced into prostitution. Aggie ends up becoming Millie's guardian, protecting her from the local pimp, Boswell, who wants to have pretty Millie as part of his business, and we see Millie grow up to a happy, well educated young woman on Aggie's sparse finances; but is she still safe from the hands of Boswell and his customers?.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 565
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: costume drama, touching, serious, realistic, period drama
Similar in 81%
Oliver Twist (2007)
Plot Summary:
Oliver is born into poverty and misfortune - the son of an unmarried mother, who dies shortly after his birth. He is soon delivered to the workhouse, where the cruel Mr. Bumble oversees children tormented by starvation and suffering. When Oliver dares to ask for more gruel, he finds himself cast out and forced to make his own way in the world.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 176 min
Plot tags: costume drama, sentimental, touching, sincere, captivating, juvenile, historical drama, bleak, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 76%
The Great Fire (2014)
Plot Summary:
An insight into what happened on the night of 2 September 1666, the Great fire of London.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 758
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, period piece, costume drama, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 86%
Jamestown (2017)
Plot Summary:
The early 17th Century story of three courageous, dynamic women who leave their dark pasts behind in England, and make the journey of a lifetime across the ocean for a new life in America.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, suspense, realistic, costume drama, disturbing, historical drama, period piece, captivating, melancholic, period drama
Similar in 75%
Poldark (1975)
Plot Summary:
Period drama series about the brooding rivalry between former soldier Ross Poldark and local industrialist George Warleggan, and the two women in their lives. Based on the books by Winston Graham.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: costume drama, spiritual, historical drama, serious, captivating, realistic, saga, period drama
Similar in 80%
Dangerous Liaisons (2022)
Plot Summary:
A pair of scheming ex-lovers attempt to exploit others by using the power of seduction. TV adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos' classic 18th Century novel "Les Liaisons Dangereuses".
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 967
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: costume drama, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 83%
Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978)
Plot Summary:
While still the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII meets the married American socialite, Wallis Simpson. Their relationship causes furor in the palace and in parliament, especially when King George V dies, Mrs. Simpson gets divorced, and King Edward announces his intentions to marry her.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 448
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 350 min
Plot tags: costume drama, historical drama, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, period drama
Similar in 75%
War & Peace (1972)
Plot Summary:
The classic BBC dramatisation of Tolstoy's epic story of love and loss set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars. Anthony Hopkins heads the cast as Pierre Bezuhov (a role for which he won the 1972 Best Actor BAFTA); Morag Hood is the impulsive and beautiful Natasha Rostova; Alan Dobie is the dour but heroic Andrei Bolkonsky; and David Swift is Napoleon, whose decision to invade Russia in 1812 has far-reaching consequences for Pierre and the Rostov and Bolkonsky families. The twenty-part serial was the vision of producer David Conroy whose principle aim was to transfer the rich characterisation and incident from Tolstoy's greatest novel to a television drama. Scripted by Jack Pulman and directed by John Davies, Conroy's War And Peace boasts superb acting, award-winning design (1972 Best Design BAFTA) and breathtaking battle sequences which were filmed in former Yugoslavia.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 716
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 890 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, costume drama, historical drama, exciting, intellectual, epic, serious, realistic, contemplative, period drama
Similar in 80%
Elisa di Rivombrosa (2003)
Plot Summary:
Set in Piemonte of Carlo Emanuele III, Elisa di Rivombrosa tells the love story between Count Fabrizio Ristori and the maid Elisa Scalzi, lady companion of countess Agnes, mother of Fabrizio. The couple will face many difficulties, intrigues of all kinds, a mockery of fate and various misfortunes.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 919
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: Italy
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, period drama
Similar in 75%
Our Zoo (2014)
Plot Summary:
“Our Zoo” follows the story of George, who being frustrated by memories of fighting in the great war and living with his extended family, wants to bring more beauty into the world. When he comes across a camel and monkey that are about to be abandoned, he embarks on a plan to set up a zoo.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 312 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, realistic, semi serious, costume drama, period drama
Similar in 85%
Marie Antoinette (2022)
Plot Summary:
Through a twenty-first century lens, the series explores the dark, manipulative and misogynistic world of Versailles. Travelling deep inside Marie Antoinette’s head throughout the series, discovering who she is through her internal voice that often contrasts with the dramatic situations she finds herself in.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: France
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: period piece, costume drama, period drama
Similar in 82%
The Adams Chronicles (1976)
Plot Summary:
Family Chronicles Drama, American.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 210
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: political, costume drama, epic, period drama
Similar in 83%
The Bastard (1978)
Plot Summary:
Phillipe Charboneau is the illegitimate son of an English duke. When he travels from France to England to claim his inheritance, he incurs the wrath of his father's family and is forced to flee to America, where he becomes involved in the events leading to the American Revolution.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 349
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 240 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 89%
The First Churchills (1969)
Plot Summary:
Based on Winston Churchill's biography of his ancestors.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 261
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: historical drama, epic, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, period drama
Similar in 84%
37 Days (2014)
Plot Summary:
The story of what happened in the few weeks immediately preceding World War I.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: History
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: political thriller, realistic, serious, captivating, period piece, period drama
Similar in 89%
Garrow's Law (2009)
Plot Summary:
The true tale of pioneering 18th century barrister William Garrow, who acted as counsel for the accused, introducing the concept of 'innocent until proved guilty' at London's Old Bailey.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, period piece, intellectual, dark, period drama
Similar in 90%
Aristocrats (1999)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story, Aristocrats draws back the curtain on an 18th century English family near the summit of society, revealing a tapestry of romance, prejudice, infidelity, and revolution.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK, Ireland, USA
Duration: 300 min
Plot tags: period piece, captivating, serious, historical drama, realistic, stylized, costume drama, romantic drama, historical romance, period drama
Similar in 76%
Sons of Liberty (2015)
Plot Summary:
The story of a group of very different men fighting in the American Colonies for freedom, and how they will shape the future for the United States of America.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 270 min
Plot tags: captivating, historical drama, exciting, serious, realistic, tense, suspenseful, political, period drama
Similar in 81%
Peter the Great (1986)
Plot Summary:
This is the story of Peter I, Tsar of Russia from 1682, and the constant struggle between him, his sister Sophia and the Streltsy, an important Russian military corp. The story depicts the efforts of Peter in transforming Russia in an "all European" country, importing scientists, costumes, technology and military tactics.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 793
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 371 min
Plot tags: historical drama, atmospheric, serious, captivating, realistic, period piece, costume drama, baroque, vintage, period drama
Similar in 76%
Wolf Hall (2015)
Plot Summary:
England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the King dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The Pope and most of Europe oppose him. Into this impass steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer, and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 360 min
Plot tags: historical drama, serious, captivating, period piece, costume drama, stylized, suspense, factual, political, educational