Best tv shows like Great Expectations
Last updated March 2024
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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
Best tv shows and movies like Great Expectations (2023):
Similar in 82%
Ellis Island (1984)
Plot Summary:
The lives and struggles of some of the countless immigrants who arrived on Ellis Island during the 19th century in search of the American Dream.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 283
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 420 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
The Charterhouse of Parma (1982)
Plot Summary:
Stendhal's epic tale of a young French officer in the Napoleonic wars, and his aunt - a duchess of legendary beauty and resourcefulness.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 64
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Italy, France, West Germany
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
Iron Road (2009)
Plot Summary:
A poor but feisty Chinese woman, disguised as a boy, joins the railroad crew in the Rocky Mountains to search for her long-lost father, and falls in love with the son of the railroad tycoon.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 555
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, China
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: multicultural, period piece, period drama
Similar in 87%
Studs Lonigan (1979)
Plot Summary:
Story of the Irish-American Lonigan family between 1918 and 1930. The story centers on young Studs who is growing into adulthood in a city full of temptations.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 94
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 360 min
Plot tags: period drama
Similar in 79%
Under Capricorn (1983)
Plot Summary:
Australian adaptation of the Helen Simpson novel previously filmed by Alfred Hitchcock.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 56
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Australia
Duration: 198 min
Plot tags: period piece, costume drama, period drama
Similar in 75%
Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill (1974)
Plot Summary:
Lee Remick stars as Jennie Jerome, born in the United States in 1845, who eventually became Lady Randolph Churchill, and gave birth to Sir Winston Churchill in this seven-part, seven-hour biographical mini-series.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 180
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: period drama
Similar in 88%
Teresa Raquin (1980)
Plot Summary:
In order to be together, lovers Therese and Laurent plot to kill Therese's husband, Camille, but find themselves haunted by their deeds and Madame Raquin's silent judgment.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 226
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 173 min
Plot tags: period piece, period drama
Similar in 75%
Against the Wind (1978)
Plot Summary:
Mary Mulvane, an 18 year old Irish girl, is transported to New South Wales for seven years for doing little else than protecting her own property. She must endure the horror of transport to Australia, and years of anxiety as a convict. Mary, her friends and her family fight out their battle against a lively historical backdrop - Irelands 1798 Rebellion. Australia's Castle Hill Rebellion of 1804 and the 1808 Rum Rebellion.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 928
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Australia
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 88%
The Secret (2000)
Plot Summary:
A tale of suspense and intrigue set in 19th century Tyneside, 'The Secret' is based on Catherine Cookson's only thriller novel. Freddie Musgrave's life is in turmoil when a letter implicates him in murder, things are further complicated by his feelings towards his bosses daughter, Belle, who is married to a madman.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 315
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: humorous, captivating, entertaining, historical drama, period piece, costume drama, period drama
Similar in 86%
Little Women (1970)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 105
Genere: Drama, Family, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 225 min
Plot tags: period piece, costume drama
Similar in 82%
Emily of New Moon (1998)
Plot Summary:
Emily of New Moon is a Canadian television series, which aired on CBC Television from 1998 to 2000. The series originally aired in the United States on the Cookie Jar Toons block on This TV and it is currently seen in Canada on the Viva, Bravo! and Vision TV cable channels. The series, produced by Salter Street Films, was based on the Emily of New Moon series of novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The series consisted of three seasons of thirteen episodes and one season of seven episodes, for a total of forty-six. The executive producers were Micheline Charest, Michael Donovan, and Ronald Weinberg. The series starred Martha MacIsaac as the titular orphan Emily Starr. Susan Clark and Sheila McCarthy played Emily's aunts Elizabeth and Laura, who had taken on the responsibility of raising Emily following her father's death, and Stephen McHattie played her cousin Jimmy. Susan Clark left the series after the first season when her character, Elizabeth, was killed off. Recurring cast included Chip Ciupka as Mr. Carpenter, Peter Donaldson as Ian Bowles, Richard Donat as Dr. Burnley, Kris Lemche as Perry Miller, John Neville as Uncle Malcolm, Jessica Pellerin as Ilse Burnley, Shawn Roberts as Teddy Kent, and Linda Thorson as Cousin Isabel.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 515
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, period drama
Similar in 76%
The Awakening Land (1978)
Plot Summary:
Frontierswoman Sayward Luckett's struggles in Ohio during the late 18th-century and early 19th-century.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 471
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 333 min
Plot tags: historical drama, vintage, period drama
Similar in 86%
The Dwelling Place (1994)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of Catherine Cookson's novel. Set in the 1830s, the film tells the story of 16-year-old Cissie Brodie after the death of parents, and the repossession of the family home. She finds a barren place to live and care for her younger brothers and sisters with the help of Matthew, a local carpenter, but her life becomes complicated when the aristocratic Fischel family take an unwelcome interest.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 405
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: period piece, period drama
Similar in 83%
Nicholas Nickleby (1977)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of the Dickens novel.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 155
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 330 min
Plot tags: period drama
Similar in 75%
Great Expectations (1981)
Plot Summary:
Mini-series based on the novel by Charles Dickens.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 174
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: period drama
Similar in 82%
David Copperfield (1974)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of the Dickens novel.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 105
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 300 min
Plot tags: historical drama, period drama
Similar in 80%
Oliver Twist (1999)
Plot Summary:
Based on Charles Dickens' novel, this adaptation traces the childhood of an orphan whose mother dies giving birth to him in an English work-house in the 1820s.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 829
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 386 min
Plot tags: costume drama, period piece, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 81%
The Barchester Chronicles (1982)
Plot Summary:
When a crusade against the Church of England's practice of self-enrichment misfires, scandal taints the cosy community of Barchester when their local church becomes the object of a scathing, investigative report.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 385 min
Plot tags: costume drama, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 87%
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 87%
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 84%
Mercy Street (2016)
Plot Summary:
Follows the lives of two volunteer nurses on opposing sides of the Civil War - New England abolitionist Mary Phinney and Confederate supporter Emma Green. Based on true stories and set in a Union hospital in the occupied Confederate city of Alexandria, viewers are taken beyond the battlefield and into the lives of Americans on the Civil War home front as they face the unprecedented challenges of one of the most turbulent times in our nation’s history.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 53 min
Plot tags: historical drama, psychological, tense, sincere, suspense, gothic, dark, period piece, costume drama, medical drama
Similar in 84%
Vanity Fair (2018)
Plot Summary:
An adaptation of the 1848 novel by William Makepeace Thackeray.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: stylized, atmospheric, costume drama, period piece, historical drama, witty, period drama
Similar in 88%
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 76%
Our Mutual Friend (1998)
Plot Summary:
Intertwining tales of love, greed, and secret identities in Charles Dickens's 1860s London.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 350 min
Plot tags: costume drama, period piece, historical drama, serious, captivating, realistic, period drama
Similar in 88%
Les Misérables (2000)
Plot Summary:
The scene is set during the French Restoration at the beginning of the 19th century. Jean Valjean, a galley slave who was sent to prison for stealing food, is now released after serving nineteen years. At first he only encounter mistrust and closed doors; only the saintly Bishop Bienvenu treats him kindly and takes him in. The bishop's truly Christian compassion and humanity not only restores Jean Valjean's faith in the good, but also smoothes his way back to an orderly life. As Monsieur Madeleine, Valjean is soon a wealthy industrialist and popular citizen, even becoming the mayor of a small provincial town.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: France, Italy, Spain, Germany, USA
Duration: 400 min
Plot tags: suspense, emotional, melancholic, touching, serious, costume drama, period piece, fairy tale, artsy, historical drama
Similar in 77%
Sisi (2021)
Plot Summary:
"Sisi" follows the extraordinary life of empress Elisabeth of Austria. Modern, honest, and authentic. Told from the perspective of her closest confidants, the series takes a new look at the empress' life and reveals a multi-layered woman.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Germany, Austria
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: psychological, disturbing, period piece, costume drama, period drama
Similar in 76%
Little Women (2017)
Plot Summary:
Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, the story follows sisters Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy March on their journey from childhood to adulthood. With the help of their mother, Marmee, and while their father is away at war, the girls navigate what it means to be a young woman: from sibling rivalry and first love, to loss and marriage.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA, Ireland
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: costume drama, sentimental, romantic, uplifting, touching, feel good, sweet, period piece, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 78%
Great Expectations (1989)
Plot Summary:
Phillip Pirrip, known as Pip, meets a convict or two in a graveyard and sets into motion a series of events that lead him from a comfortable life in his brother-in-law's forge to a mysterious inheritance and his acquaintance with the eerie Miss Havisham, her beautiful ward Estella, and the unusual lawyer Jaggers.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 456
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 303 min
Plot tags: historical drama, period drama
Similar in 83%
David Copperfield (1999)
Plot Summary:
Charles Dickens' haunting semi-autobiographical tale of a boy who is sent away by his stepfather after his mother dies but manages to triumph over incredible adversities.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 185 min
Plot tags: costume drama, atmospheric, uplifting, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, spiritual, period piece
Similar in 87%
Great Expectations (2011)
Plot Summary:
'Great Expectations' opens with Pip as a boy (played as an young man by newcomer Douglas Booth, 'The Pillars of the Earth') on the marshes near his home, where he encounters the desperate escapee Magwitch (Winstone). Pip is coerced into stealing a metal file to break Magwitch's chains, but the boy willingly snares a piece of meat pie to feed the famished man. So begins a classic coming-of-age story about innate kindness and learned indifference. Young Pip expects no more from life than to join his brother-in-law Joe at the blacksmith's forge. But fate intervenes when the neighboring rich eccentric Miss Havisham (Anderson) seeks Pip out as a playmate for her adopted daughter, Estella (Vanessa Kirby, 'The Hour'). This sets Pip on a course that sees him tested in many ways, not least in being thrown into a wish-fulfillment paradise for a young man, where he has the pleasures of London at his disposal and true love - and great expectations - in his future. Or so he thinks.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, historical drama, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, costume drama, period piece, gothic, stylized