Best tv shows like A Woman of Substance
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A Woman of Substance charts the life of Emma Harte, from kitchen maid at the beginning of the 20th Century, to respected business woman and Grandmother in the 1980's. From humble beginnings Emma Harte starts her business with a small shop, but over the next twenty years she expands her stores and invests in the growing textile industry in Leeds. By the time of World War 2, Emma is the head of a major retail and manufacturing empire, but she has struggled all her life to find love. After an illegitimate daughter and two marriages, she finally meets the love of her life, Paul McGill, but their affair is cut short by a tragic accident, leaving Emma with his daughter. In the 1980's Emma faces one of her biggest tests - her children's attempt to remove her as head of her company, but Emma is far from the senile old woman they think she is - she is determined to stop them at all costs. Written by Stacey Mitchell.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 300 min
Plot tags: costume drama, romantic drama, historical drama, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, stylized, period drama
Best tv shows and movies like A Woman of Substance (1984):
Similar in 89%
Room at the Top (2012)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of John Braine's novel about a young man on the make in 1950s Yorkshire.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 365
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspenseful, contemplative, period drama
Similar in 90%
Hold the Dream (1986)
Plot Summary:
Hold the Dream is a British two-part miniseries made in 1986, based on the novel of the same name by Barbara Taylor Bradford. It is the second book in the Emma Harte series, following A Woman of Substance. Hold the Dream continues the story of Emma Harte, played by Deborah Kerr, with Jenny Seagrove, who played the young Emma taking over the part of Paula Fairley.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 397
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 195 min
Plot tags: family saga
Similar in 87%
Zoya (1995)
Plot Summary:
A young Russian countess escapes the 1917 revolution and, despite hardship, makes a new life for herself in America.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 686
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 171 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, period drama
Similar in 86%
Middlemarch (1994)
Plot Summary:
A BBC dramatization of George Eliot's classic novel about the lives and loves of a group of people living on the cusp of the Industrial Revolution in a small town named Middlemarch. These include young Doctor Lydgate, who arrives at Middlemarch hospital full of idealism and determined to do good works; Dorothea Brooke, who becomes attracted to the scholarly Edward Casaubon and then finds herself trapped in an ill-fated marriage; and Will Ladislaw, a young lad who awakens Dorothea's repressed passion and thereby changes the course of her life.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 375 min
Plot tags: costume drama, period piece, historical drama, romantic drama, clever, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, stylized
Similar in 82%
The Crimson Petal and the White (2011)
Plot Summary:
Follow Sugar into the underbelly of Victorian London seething with vitality, sexuality, ambition and emotion.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 274 min
Plot tags: costume drama, historical drama, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, sexual, psychological thriller, rough, grim
Similar in 79%
The Moth (1997)
Plot Summary:
This 1940s drama presents a story of class conflict and its influence on romance. Robert Bradley leaves the shipyards to work in his uncle's furniture business but soon finds himself at odds with the old man. So he becomes a servant for the destructive Thormans, and falls for the lady of the house, Sarah. But in 1913 this upstairs/downstairs romance can only lead to disaster.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 686
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 152 min
Plot tags: costume drama, sexy, historical drama, serious, realistic, period drama, tragic, hot
Similar in 81%
The Duchess of Duke Street (1976)
Plot Summary:
The Duchess Of Duke Street is a BBC television drama series set in London between 1900 and 1925. It was created by John Hawkesworth, the former producer of the highly successful ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. It starred Gemma Jones as Louisa Leyton/Trotter, the eponymous "Duchess" who works her way up from servant to renowned cook to proprietrix of the upper-class Bentinck Hotel in Duke Street, St. James's, in London. The story is loosely based on the real-life career of Rosa Lewis, the "Duchess of Jermyn Street", who ran the Cavendish Hotel in London. When the show first aired, there were many people who still remembered her, as she lived until 1952. According to census returns, she was born in Leyton, Essex, to a watchmaker. In the series, Louisa's family name is Leyton, and her father is a clock-maker. The programme lasted for two series totalling 31 episodes, shown between 1976 and 1977. It was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series in 1980. The theme music was composed by Alexander Faris.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: costume drama, historical drama, sincere, realistic, stylized, semi serious, period drama
Similar in 76%
The Black Velvet Gown (1991)
Plot Summary:
In the 1830's in northern England, Riah Millican, a widow with three children, takes a job as housekeeper to a reclusive former teacher, Percival Miller. Miller makes Riah the gift of a black velvet gown, and even educates her children. But when Riah discovers the reason behind Miller's gifts, she vows to leave his house, but Miller has a hold on her, even after his death, when he leaves his house to her on the condition that she never marry. Riah's daughter, Biddy, grows up and becomes a laundress in a large house where her education keeps her from fitting in and makes her a target. But it also catches the eye of a son of the house, and with Miller's legacies, Biddy may yet find her way to happiness.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 647
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: serious, costume drama, historical drama, realistic, period drama
Similar in 79%
The Forsyte Saga (1967)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation from John Galsworthy's novels.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: family saga, costume drama, stylized, spiritual, historical drama, touching, epic, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 83%
Howards End (2017)
Plot Summary:
The social and class divisions in early 20th century England through the intersection of three families - the wealthy Wilcoxes, the gentle and idealistic Schlegels and the lower-middle class Basts.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 240 min
Plot tags: costume drama, psychological, sentimental, romantic, captivating, period piece, historical drama, sincere, touching, disturbing
Similar in 78%
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 83%
The Glass Virgin (1995)
Plot Summary:
Set in 1870s England, the story tells of Annabella Lagrange and the terrible secret her wealthy parents have kept from her. When she finally learns the truth, she runs away and eventually finds solace in the company of her family's former groom, a young Irishman with the very Spanish name of Manuel Mendoza. Together they travel the Northumbria countryside from job to job in his horse and caravan, Annabella trapped in limbo between her upper class upbringing which has rejected her, and the working class who are sometimes suspicious of her, only Manuel understanding her situation.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 756
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: costume drama, romantic drama, serious, realistic, sexual, sexy, period drama
Similar in 84%
Mansfield Park (1983)
Plot Summary:
Drama series based on the novel by Jane Austen. Mansfield Park is the magnificient country residence of Sir Thomas Bertram and his family. It is here that their poor relation Fanny Price is brought up. Never allowed to forget her good fortune, Fanny is ignored by her cousins, with the exception of Edmund, who alone treats her with care and affection. But will she ever be able to win a valued place in the household and the heart of the man of her dreams?.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 261 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, witty, spiritual, costume drama, romantic drama, period drama
Similar in 75%
Falling for a Dancer (1998)
Plot Summary:
Romantic drama set in rural Ireland of the 1930s. The story begins when 19-year-old Elizabeth has a brief fling with an actor and falls pregnant. Community pressure forces her to marry a dull middle-aged man, but maybe there is hope on the horizon.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 716
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 200 min
Plot tags: sentimental, thought provoking, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 83%
Brideshead Revisited (1981)
Plot Summary:
In this eleven parts British television serial, Charles Ryder's involvement with members of the aristocratic Marchmain/Flyte family is followed throughout the years between the two World Wars.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 659 min
Plot tags: costume drama, spiritual, avant garde, sitcom, historical drama, psychological, tense, sincere, clever, touching
Similar in 84%
Lady Chatterley (1993)
Plot Summary:
Lady Constance Chatterley is married to the handicapped Sir Clifford Chatterley, who was wounded in the First World War. When they move to his family's estate, Constance meets their tough-yet-quiet groundskeeper, Oliver Mellors. Soon, she discovers that the source of her unhappiness is from not being fulfilled in love, and in turning to the arms of Mellors, she has a sexual awakening that will change her thoughts forever.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 205 min
Plot tags: erotic, costume drama, serious, sexual, sensual, historical drama, psychological, atmospheric, realistic, stylized
Similar in 77%
Lady Chatterley's Lover (2015)
Plot Summary:
An early-20th-century tale of love across class boundaries which tells the legendary and romantic story of Lady Chatterley’s affair with her gamekeeper. Jed Mercurio’s adaptation of DH Lawrence’s classic.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, erotic, costume drama, sentimental, captivating, disturbing, period piece, romantic drama, historical drama
Similar in 78%
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (2008)
Plot Summary:
Forced by poverty to seek support, the innocent Tess Durbeyfield seeks the help of the D'Urbervilles.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 240 min
Plot tags: sincere, costume drama, clever, period piece, realistic, historical drama, historical romance, talky, fairy tale, period drama
Similar in 76%
The Forsyte Saga (2002)
Plot Summary:
In 2002, the first two books and the first interlude of John Galsworthy's trilogy The Forsyte Saga were adapted by Granada Television for the ITV network. Additional funding for this production was provided by American PBS station WGBH, the 1967 BBC version having been a success on PBS in the early 1970s.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 276 min
Plot tags: period piece, family saga, realistic, costume drama, serious, saga, historical drama, touching, stylized, romantic drama
Similar in 77%
The Way We Live Now (2001)
Plot Summary:
The Way We Live Now is a 2001 four-part television adaptation of the Anthony Trollope novel The Way We Live Now. The serial was first broadcast on the BBC and was directed by David Yates, written by Andrew Davies and produced by Nigel Stafford-Clark. David Suchet starred as Auguste Melmotte, with Shirley Henderson as his daughter Marie, Matthew Macfadyen as Sir Felix Carbury, Cillian Murphy as Paul Montague and Miranda Otto as Mrs Hurtle.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 300 min
Plot tags: period piece, serious, costume drama, realistic, captivating, historical drama, witty, biting, romantic drama, suspense
Similar in 81%
Vanity Fair (1998)
Plot Summary:
This faithful BBC adaptation once again brings William Makepeace Thackeray's classic satirical novel to the screen. Becky Sharp (Natasha Little) is a beautiful, clever and poor girl determined to earn a higher place in society at any cost. The Napoleonic Wars provide a dramatic backdrop as Becky sets out to manipulate various characters -- from London ballrooms to the battlefields of Waterloo.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: costume drama, historical drama, sincere, serious, captivating, realistic, witty, stylized, period piece, period drama
Similar in 81%
Daniel Deronda (2002)
Plot Summary:
Daniel Deronda is a British television serial drama adapted by Andrew Davies from the George Eliot novel of the same name. The serial was directed by Tom Hooper, produced by Louis Marks, and was first broadcast in three parts on BBC One from 23 November to 7 December 2002. The serial starred Hugh Dancy as Daniel Deronda, Romola Garai as Gwendolen Harleth, Hugh Bonneville as Henleigh Grandcourt, and Jodhi May as Mirah Lapidoth. Co-production funding came from WGBH Boston. Louis Marks originally wanted to make a film adaptation of the novel but abandoned the project after a lengthy and fruitless casting process. The drama took a further five years to make it to television screens. Filming ran for 11 weeks from May to August on locations in England, Scotland and Malta. The serial was Marks' final television production before his death in 2010.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 210 min
Plot tags: costume drama, period piece, serious, captivating, realistic, heartbreaking, historical drama, romantic drama, historical romance, period drama
Similar in 88%
Wuthering Heights (2009)
Plot Summary:
Foundling Heathcliff is raised by the wealthy Earnshaws in Yorkshire but in later life launches a vendetta against the family.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, serious, gothic, period piece, romantic, costume drama, historical drama, sentimental, melancholic
Similar in 87%
Birdsong (2012)
Plot Summary:
As an English soldier fights in the horrific trenches of northern France, he is haunted by the memories of his forbidden love affair with a French woman.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: UK
Duration: 165 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, epic, serious, stylized, historical drama, romantic drama, period drama, masterpiece
Similar in 88%
The House of Eliott (1991)
Plot Summary:
The House of Eliott is a British television series produced and broadcast by the BBC in three series between 1991 and 1994. The series starred Stella Gonet and Louise Lombard as two sisters in 1920s London who establish a dressmaking business and eventually their own haute couture fashion house. It was created by Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins, who had previously devised Upstairs, Downstairs. The series was written by several writers including Jill Hyem, Peter Buckman, Deborah Cook and Ginnie Hole.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, costume drama, sincere, captivating, historical drama, period piece, period drama
Similar in 90%
Downton Abbey (2010)
Plot Summary:
A chronicle of the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era—with great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 220000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 3110 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, serious, costume drama, period piece, historical drama, stylized, dramatic, erotic, romantic
Similar in 76%
Poldark (2015)
Plot Summary:
Britain is in the grip of a chilling recession... falling wages, rising prices, civil unrest - only the bankers are smiling. It's 1783 and Ross Poldark returns from the American War of Independence to his beloved Cornwall to find his world in ruins: his father dead, the family mine long since closed, his house wrecked and his sweetheart pledged to marry his cousin. But Ross finds that hope and love can be found when you are least expecting it in the wild but beautiful Cornish landscape.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 35000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: captivating, family saga, realistic, saga, costume drama, historical drama, period piece, serious, crying, period drama
Similar in 89%
Sense and Sensibility (2008)
Plot Summary:
This is the acclaimed 2008 BBC adaptation of the famous Jane Austen novel. While it originally aired as a 3-part miniseries, this home video release includes a single uninterrupted version of the entire film.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 174 min
Plot tags: costume drama, period piece, historical drama, sincere, sweet, romantic drama, feel good, witty, emotional, atmospheric
Similar in 76%
North & South (2004)
Plot Summary:
North & South is a British television drama serial, produced by the BBC and originally broadcast in four episodes on BBC One in November and December 2004. It follows the story of Margaret Hale, a young woman from southern England who has to move to the North after her father decides to leave the clergy. The family struggles to adjust itself to the industrial town's customs, especially after meeting the Thorntons, a proud family of cotton mill owners who seem to despise their social inferiors. The story explores the issues of class and gender, as Margaret's sympathy for the town mill workers conflicts with her growing attraction to John Thornton. The serial is based on the 1855 Victorian novel North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. It was adapted for television by Sandy Welch and directed by Brian Percival.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 235 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, sincere, captivating, costume drama, period piece, romantic, historical drama, romantic drama, heartbreaking
Similar in 88%
Sense and Sensibility (1981)
Plot Summary:
Two sisters of opposing temperaments find love and some heartbreak in Jane Austen's 18th century classic.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 996
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 174 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, touching, feel good, emotional, realistic, witty, stylized, semi serious, period drama