Best tv shows like Emmerdale
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The lives of several families in the Yorkshire Dales revolve around a farm and the nearby village. With murders, affairs, lies, deceit, laughter and tears, it's all there in the village.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: soap opera, captivating, serious, realistic, melancholic, controversial
Best tv shows and movies like Emmerdale (1972):
Similar in 76%
All My Children (1970)
Plot Summary:
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC for 41 years, from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network since April 29, 2013 via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and iTunes. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia which is modeled on the actual Philadelphia suburb of Rosemont. The original series featured Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most popular characters. The title of the series refers to the bonds of humanity. All My Children was the first new network daytime drama to debut in the 1970s. Originally owned by Creative Horizons, Inc., the company created by Nixon and her husband, Bob, the show was sold to ABC in January 1975. The series started at a half-hour in per-installment length, then was expanded to a full hour on April 25, 1977. Earlier, the show had experimented with the full-hour format for one week starting on June 30, 1975, after which Ryan's Hope premiered. From 1970 to 1990, All My Children was recorded at ABC's TV18 at 101 West 67th St, now a 50-story apartment tower. From March 1990 to December 2009, it was taped at ABC's television studio TV23 at 320 West 66th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. In December 2009, the locale for taping the series moved from the costly New York City to California. The show was then produced in Stages 1 and 2 at the Andrita Studios in Los Angeles, California, and is now produced at the Connecticut Film Center in Stamford, Connecticut. All My Children started taping in high definition on January 4, 2010 and began airing in high definition on February 3, 2010. All My Children became the third soap opera to be produced and broadcast in high definition.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: soap opera, sentimental, serious, emotional, realistic, saga
Similar in 75%
EastEnders (1985)
Plot Summary:
The everyday lives of working-class residents of Albert Square, a traditional Victorian square of terrace houses surrounding a park in the East End of London's Walford borough.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: soap opera, captivating, serious, realistic, queer cinema
Similar in 79%
Good Times, Bad Times (1990)
Plot Summary:
Goede tijden, slechte tijden, also known as GTST, is the longest-running Dutch soap opera, which began on 1 October 1990 on RTL4. The programme was the first daily soap in the Netherlands. The soap is produced by Joop van den Ende and to date over 4,000 episodes have been broadcast. It was inspired by the Australian soap The Restless Years, although it started following its own course during the third season. GTST is broadcast Monday to Friday at 20:00. Around 1.5 million viewers watch each episode. It is the highest rated soap opera in the Netherlands. The soap mainly revolves around the lives of the families Alberts, Sanders, De Jong, Van Houten and Bouwhuis. It all takes place in the fictional town of Meerdijk. Like any other soap, marriage, divorce, kidnapping and business are a few of the ingredients of GTST, although in recent years, GTST has become known for writing and producing more controversial storylines. GTST is also known for having a summer break each year, ending a season sometime in June with a cliffhanger, only to resume three months later in September. Although the early cliffhangers often revolved around family drama, later cliffhangers have often revolved around disasters and unexpected twists.
IMDB Rating: 3.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: soap opera, sentimental, serious, realistic, saga
Similar in 78%
Forbidden Love (1995)
Plot Summary:
Verbotene Liebe is a German television soap opera created by Reg Watson for Das Erste. The show is set primarily in the German city of Düsseldorf although, at times, the city of Cologne and the Spanish island of Majorca have figured prominently in the show's story lines. First broadcast on 2 January 1995, Verbotene Liebe was originally broadcast in 24-minute episodes, five times a week. It expanded to 45-minute episodes on 21 June 2011 and trimmed back to 40-minute episodes on 23 January 2012 to accommodate an adjusted time-slot. In 2006, Pay-TV network Passion began broadcasting episodes of the show from the beginning. Verbotene Liebe was initially based on original story and character outlines from the Australian soap opera Sons and Daughters, before evolving into a show of its own as the series progressed. The show originally focused on two core families: the wealthy Anstetten family and the middle-class Brandner family. More specifically, it dealt with the story of Jan Brandner and Julia von Anstetten, two strangers whose fascination for each other leads them to fall in love, neither of them cognizant of the fact that they are twins separated by their parents. It is this story of forbidden love that gave the series its title. As cast members left the show, many characters were written out of the storyline, and new ones were added. Sometimes this included whole families. Writers attempted to phase out the dwindling Brandner family by introducing a new middle-class family, the Prozeskis, as foils for the wealthy Anstettens, but the Brandners proved to be too popular with fans, and the Prozeskis left as quickly as they came. Currently, much of the drama centers around the Wolf family and the aristocratic Lahnstein family.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 684
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Germany
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: soap opera, art house, sentimental, serious, realistic, gay cinema
Similar in 89%
Ackley Bridge (2017)
Plot Summary:
A new academy school in a Yorkshire mill town merges the lives and cultures of the largely divided white and Asian community.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: emotional, psychological, talky, multicultural, comedy drama
Similar in 90%
The Brown Girls (2002)
Plot Summary:
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IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 23
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Israel
Duration: 480 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, stylized, realistic, saga
Similar in 75%
Dallas (1978)
Plot Summary:
The world's first mega-soap, and one of the most popular ever produced, Dallas had it all. Beautiful women, expensive cars, and men playing Monopoly with real buildings. Famous for one of the best cliffhangers in TV history, as the world asked "Who shot J.R.?" A slow-burner to begin with, Dallas hit its stride in the 2nd season, with long storylines and expert character development. Dallas ruled the airwaves in the 1980's.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: soap opera, serious, realistic, melancholic, uplifting, non-linear, family saga, retro, romantic drama, captivating
Similar in 85%
The Line of Beauty (2006)
Plot Summary:
Nick Guest comes to London to live with his college friend's family, the Feddens. A short stay becomes permanent, and Nick positions himself in the family's plentiful lives of parties and politics during the Thatcher years. Over the course of three episodes spanning four years in the mid-eighties, we follow Nick's two homosexual love affairs in a time of promiscuity and carelessness, until the AIDS crisis and a bout of scandal threaten life as he has come to know it.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 177 min
Plot tags: retro, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, saga, queer cinema
Similar in 90%
Thirtysomething (1987)
Plot Summary:
Thirtysomething is an American television drama about a group of baby boomers in their late thirties. It was created by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick for MGM/UA Television Group and The Bedford Falls Company, and aired on ABC. It premiered in the U.S. on September 29, 1987. It lasted four seasons, with the last of its 85 episodes airing on May 28, 1991. The title of the show was designed as thirtysomething by Kathie Broyles, who combined the words of the original title, Thirty Something. In 1997, "The Go Between" and "Samurai Ad Man" were ranked #22 on TV Guide′s 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2002, Thirtysomething was ranked #19 on TV Guide′s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and in 2013 TV Guide ranked it #10 in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, clever, touching, serious, realistic, talky, stylized, telenovela
Similar in 84%
Knots Landing (1979)
Plot Summary:
The domestic adventures, misdeeds and everyday interactions of five families living on a cul-de-sac in a small California community.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: soap opera, serious, realistic, telenovela
Similar in 83%
Neighbours (1985)
Plot Summary:
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera. It was first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems together. Seven decided to commission the show following the success of Watson's Sons and Daughters, which aired on the network. Although successful in Melbourne, Neighbours underperformed in the Sydney market and struggled for months before Seven cancelled it. The show was immediately bought by rival network Ten. After taking over production of the show, the new network had to build replica sets because Seven destroyed the originals to prevent its rival from obtaining them. Ten began screening Neighbours on 20 January 1986, taking off where the previous series left off and commencing with episode 171. Neighbours has since become the longest running drama series in Australian television and in 2005, it was inducted collectively into the Logie Hall of Fame. On 11 January 2011, Neighbours moved to Ten's new digital channel, Eleven. The show's storylines concern the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in Erinsborough, a fictional suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The series primarily centres around the residents of Ramsay Street, a short cul-de-sac, and its neighbouring areas, the Lassiters complex, which includes a bar, hotel, cafe, news office and park. Neighbours began with three families created by Watson – the Ramsays, the Robinsons and the Clarkes. Watson said that he wanted to show three families who are friends living in a small street. The Robinsons and the Ramsays had a long history and were involved in an ongoing rivalry. Pin Oak Court, in Vermont South, is the real cul-de-sac that has doubled for Ramsay Street since 1985. All of the houses featured are real and the residents allow Neighbours to shoot external scenes in their gardens. The interior scenes are filmed at the Global Television studios in Forest Hill.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: soap opera, sentimental, sincere, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 79%
Hollyoaks (1995)
Plot Summary:
The daily soap that follows the loves, lives and misdemeanours of a group of people living in the Chester village of Hollyoaks where anything could, and frequently does, happen.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: soap opera, sincere, realistic, serious, captivating, emotional
Similar in 75%
One Life to Live (1968)
Plot Summary:
One Life to Live is an American soap opera broadcast on television for more than 43 years on the ABC network, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes via The Online Network since April 29, 2013. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature ethnically and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social issues. One Life to Live was expanded from 30 minutes to 45 minutes on July 26, 1976, and then to an hour on January 16, 1978. One Life to Live heavily focuses on the members and relationships of the Lord family. Actress Erika Slezak began portraying original and central heroine Victoria "Viki" Lord on March 1971 and played the character continuously for the rest of the show's run on ABC Daytime, winning a record six Daytime Emmy Awards for the role. In 2002, the series won an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series. One Life to Live was the last American daytime soap opera taped in New York City, based outside the Los Angeles area, and is now the second American daytime soap opera taped at the Connecticut Film Center in Stamford, Connecticut.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: soap opera, sentimental, emotional, serious, sincere, saga, exciting
Similar in 87%
The Young and the Restless (1973)
Plot Summary:
The rivalries, romances, hopes and fears of the residents of the fictional Midwestern metropolis, Genoa City. The lives and loves of a wide variety of characters mingle through the generations, dominated by the Newman, Abbott, Baldwin and Winters families.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 37 min
Plot tags: soap opera, sentimental, realistic, serious, emotional, saga
Similar in 89%
The Bold and the Beautiful (1987)
Plot Summary:
Continuing drama combining romance and intrigue set against the glittering backdrop of Beverly Hills and the American fashion industry.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 19 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, serious, emotional, soap opera, sex comedy, romantic drama, saga, telenovela, masterpiece
Similar in 76%
Falcon Crest (1981)
Plot Summary:
Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced. The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy Gioberti/Channing family in the Californian wine industry. Jane Wyman starred as Angela Channing, the tyrannical matriarch of the Falcon Crest Winery, alongside Robert Foxworth as Chase Gioberti, Angela's nephew who returns to Falcon Crest following the death of his father. The series was set in the fictitious Tuscany Valley northeast of San Francisco.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: soap opera, realistic, serious, captivating, touching, sincere, melancholic, retro, saga, telenovela
Similar in 89%
Empire Falls (2005)
Plot Summary:
A decaying New England town is the backdrop for its unique citizens, lead by unassuming restaurant manager Miles Roby.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 197 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, touching, serious, sincere, captivating, realistic, witty, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Home and Away (1988)
Plot Summary:
Home and Away is set in the fictional town of Summer Bay, a coastal town in New South Wales, and follows the personal and professional lives of the people living in the area. The show initially focused on the Fletcher family, Pippa and Tom Fletcher and their five foster children Frank Morgan, Carly Morris, Steven Matheson, Lynn Davenport and Sally Keating, who would go on to become one of the show's longest-running characters. The show also originally and currently focuses on the Stewart family. During the early 2000s, the central storylines focused on the Sutherlands and later, the Hunters. Home and Away had proved popular when it premiered in 1988 and had risen to become a hit in Australia, and after only a few weeks, the show tackled its first major and disturbing storyline, the rape of Carly Morris; it was one of the first shows to feature such storylines during the early timeslot. H&A has tackled many adult-themed and controversial storylines; something rarely found in its restricted timeslot.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: soap opera, sentimental, serious, emotional, realistic, saga, telenovela
Similar in 75%
Providence (1999)
Plot Summary:
Providence is an American television drama series that aired on NBC starring Melina Kanakaredes. The show ran for five seasons from January 8, 1999 until December 20, 2002.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, medical drama, atmospheric
Similar in 79%
A Country Practice (1981)
Plot Summary:
A Country Practice was an Australian television drama series. At its inception, one of the longest-running of its kind, produced by James Davern of JNP Productions, who had wrote the pilot episode and entered a script contest for the network in 1979, coming third and winning a merit award. It ran on the Seven Network for 1,058 episodes from 18 November 1981 to 22 November 1993. It was produced in ATN-7's production facility at Epping, Sydney. After its lengthy run on the seven network it was picked up by network ten with a mainly new cast from April to November 1994 for 30 episodes, although the ten series was not as successful as its predecessor . The Channel Seven series was also filmed on location in Pitt Town, while, the Channel Ten series was filmed on location in Emerald, Victoria.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 673
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: medical drama, sincere, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
Melrose Place (1992)
Plot Summary:
Melrose Place is an American primetime soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999 for seven seasons. It follows the lives of a group of young adults living in a brownstone apartment complex on Melrose Place, in Los Angeles, California. The show was created by Darren Star for Fox and executive produced by Aaron Spelling for his company, Spelling Television. It is the second series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise. Season one and season two were broadcast on Wednesday at 9pm, after Beverly Hills, 90210. In 1994, for its third season premiere, the show moved to Monday at 8pm. The show had many cast changes during the run. Thomas Calabro was the only original cast member to remain on the series throughout its entire run. The show earned several Golden Globe nominations and placed #51 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sexy, soap opera, captivating, sexual, telenovela, campy
Similar in 75%
McLeod's Daughters (2001)
Plot Summary:
McLeod's Daughters is an Australian television series that began airing on the Nine Network on 8 August 2001. This Logie award winning drama series follows the lives of half sisters Claire and Tess McLeod as they embark on a mission: to run Drovers Run, a farm that has been in the McLeod family for generations. After being passed down from father to son, Drover's has now reunited Claire and Tess after 20 years. They now have to run a farm while balancing their lives, loves and losses.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: realistic, witty, sentimental, touching, serious, captivating, exciting, idiotic, telenovela
Similar in 77%
Playing the Field (1998)
Plot Summary:
The on-the-field trials and tribulations and the off-the-field lives, loves and infidelities of 'The Castlefield Blues', an under funded, badly managed ladies football team from South Yorkshire in the north of England whose loyalty to the team, the game and each other far exceeds their chances of ever winning the championship.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 343
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 90%
Sparkhouse (2002)
Plot Summary:
The relationship between childhood sweethearts, a farmer's daughter and boy from a rich family, turns tumultuous in this modern interpretation of Wuthering Heights.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 696
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, serious, melancholic, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Home Fires (2015)
Plot Summary:
The story of a group of inspirational women in a rural Cheshire community with the shadow of World War II casting a dark cloud over their lives. As the conflict takes hold and separates the women from their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers, the characters find themselves under increasing and extraordinary pressures in a rapidly fragmenting world. By banding together as the Great Paxford Women’s Institute, they help maintain the nation’s fabric in its darkest hour, and discover inner resources that will change their lives forever.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, serious, psychological, historical drama, touching, period piece, costume drama, period drama
Similar in 78%
The Village (2013)
Plot Summary:
The Village is a BBC TV series written by Peter Moffat. The drama is set in a Derbyshire village in the 20th century. The first series of what Moffat hopes will become a 42-hour TV drama was broadcast in spring 2013 and covered the years 1914 to 1920. A second series has been confirmed for 2014 which will continue the story into the 1920s. Future series would be set in the Second World War, post-war Austerity Britain, and so on. The Village tells the story of life in a Derbyshire village through the eyes of a central character, Bert Middleton. Bert has been portrayed as a boy by Bill Jones, as a teen by Alfie Stewart, and as an old man by David Ryall. John Simm plays Bert's father John Middleton, an alcoholic Peak District farmer, and Maxine Peake plays Bert's mother, Grace. Peake is a preferred actress of the writer, who has called her "the best actress of her generation", and she has featured in two previous Moffat series, Criminal Justice and Silk. Writer Peter Moffat has spoken of wanting to create 'a British Heimat', alluding to Edgar Reitz's epic German saga Heimat, which followed one extended family in a region of Rhineland from 1919 to 1982. Unlike Downton Abbey, this version of history is a working-class history—"domestics are expected to face the walls when the master walks by".
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, captivating, rough, costume drama, dark, grim, historical drama, stylized, epic
Similar in 81%
A Village Affair (1995)
Plot Summary:
Based on the bestselling novel by Joanna Trollope Recently returned to England from New York City, vivacious heiress Clodagh Unwin befriends a couple new to her village. The husband is entranced by the young aristocrat, but Clodagh has eyes for someone else: his wife, Alice. Alice has a gilded life--beautiful children, a handsome husband, and a stately home. Secretly, she’s depressed after the birth of her third child and unhappy in her marriage. Clodagh proves irresistible. But when tongues start wagging, the women learn that love might not be enough.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 582
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: emotional, serious, realistic, sincere, touching, melancholic, sensual, sexual, independent film, sexy
Similar in 77%
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 85%
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 79%
Lark Rise to Candleford (2008)
Plot Summary:
Set in the small hamlet of Lark Rise and the wealthier neighbouring market town, Candleford, the series chronicles the daily lives of farm-workers, craftsmen and gentry at the end of the 19th Century. Lark Rise to Candleford is a love letter to a vanished corner of rural England and a heart-warming drama series teeming with wit, wisdom and romance.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 53 min
Plot tags: costume drama, sincere, sentimental, period piece, realistic, historical drama, semi autobiographical, serious, stylized, period drama