Best tv shows like Lillie
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The story of Lillie Langtry.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 664
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: costume drama, historical drama, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, period drama
Best tv shows and movies like Lillie (1978):
Similar in 87%
The Tide of Life (1996)
Plot Summary:
Tide of Life follows the fortunes of young housekeeper, Emily Kennedy, as she learns about relationships with three very different men. Forced from home of her first employer, Sep McGilby after his plans to marry her come to tragic end, Emily finds work as housekeeper for farmer, Larry Birch. Another tragedy occurs, and when Nick Stuart inherits the farm owned by Birch's wife, Nick gives Emily a new future.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 440
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: costume drama, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, period drama
Similar in 78%
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%
Vanity Fair (1967)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel. The first colour production from the BBC.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 67
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: costume drama, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, period piece, period drama
Similar in 80%
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 86%
A Woman of Substance (1984)
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
Similar in 77%
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 86%
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 85%
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 79%
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 75%
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 85%
Wives and Daughters (1999)
Plot Summary:
Elizabeth Gaskell's enchanting tale of romance, scandal, and intrigue in a gossipy English town comes to Masterpiece Theatre in a lavish four-part production of Wives and Daughters, adapted by celebrated screenwriter Andrew Davies.Davies, who wrote the scripts for such Masterpiece Theatre classics as A Rather English Marriage, Moll Flanders, the House of Cards trilogy, and Middlemarch, found Wives and Daughters to be perfect costume-drama material. It posed a rather interesting problem: Gaskell died just before completing the book. She was obviously aiming at a happy ending, and Davies has supplied the lost denouement with surprise and style.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 301 min
Plot tags: uplifting, period piece, costume drama, serious, historical drama, romantic drama, psychological, romantic, clever, spooky
Similar in 89%
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996)
Plot Summary:
Based on a little known 1848 novel by Anne Bronte, Tara Fitzgerald stars as an enigmatic young woman who moves to 19th Century Yorkshire with a young son. Distancing herself from everyone in the village and their prying questions, she remains totally aloof until a charming neighbor farmer gets her to reveal her past through his persistence. Only then does she reveal she is hiding away from a womanizing, belittling husband.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 159 min
Plot tags: costume drama, period piece, historical drama, gothic, serious, realistic, period drama
Similar in 80%
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 84%
Jane Eyre (1983)
Plot Summary:
After living a miserable life with her aunt, orphaned Jane Eyre is sent to Lowood, a residential school for children of limited means. Jane takes the advice of her friend and over many years takes her studies seriously, eventually advertising for a position as a governess. She obtains a position in the home of Edward Rochester, where his ward, Adele, has recently come to live. She soon realizes that there is something odd in the house and she regularly sees shadowy figures in windows or hears voices. No one will admit to their being anyone else in the house, however. As she and her new employers develop a deep affection for one another, the secret of the Rochester household threatens to keep them apart.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 239 min
Plot tags: gothic, costume drama, sentimental, serious, period piece, historical drama, realistic, stylized, period drama
Similar in 89%
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 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%
The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970)
Plot Summary:
On his deathbed, King Henry VIII recalls how he wooed and wed his six wives - and disposed of five of them - in a bid to secure the succession to the throne with a male heir. Despite his many marriages and the crowded court, Henry remains essentially lonely.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 540 min
Plot tags: historical drama, fairy tale, spiritual, costume drama, atmospheric, serious, realistic, stylized, period drama
Similar in 87%
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 76%
The Buccaneers (1995)
Plot Summary:
Four American girls go to England to find husbands.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 212 min
Plot tags: period piece, costume drama, romantic drama, historical drama, spooky, clever, realistic, stylized, semi serious, witty
Similar in 77%
The Crown Prince (2006)
Plot Summary:
A great Empire, once famous for its enlightened traditions, is taken over by a ruthless political establishment. Religious fundamentalists and national separatists are tearing at the fabric of its liberal society. Under the influence of his conservative advisors, the Emperor fails to initiate the reforms that could save the Empire from annihilation. One man alone can avert the cataclysm to come. The year is 1888 and the 600-year-old Empire of Austria-Hungary is at a cross-road of history. Crown-Prince Rudolf, son of fabled Empress Sisi, the most beautiful woman of her time, is the man with the vision and the ability to lead his Empire into the 20th century. Yet his enemies, the all-powerful Prime Minister first and foremost, scheme to isolate Rudolf from his father and from access to power. Against the backdrop of one of the most dangerous, exciting and colorful periods in history, at the dawn of the modern age.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 453
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Romance
Country: Austria, France, Germany, Italy
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: serious, atmospheric, realistic, exciting, suspenseful, sad, period piece, costume drama, epic, period drama
Similar in 76%
Edward the King (1975)
Plot Summary:
Edward the Seventh is a 1975 television drama series, made by ATV in 13 episodes. Based on the biography of Edward VII by Philip Magnus, it starred Timothy West as the elder Edward VII and Simon Gipps-Kent and Charles Sturridge as Edward in his youth, Annette Crosbie as Queen Victoria, Deborah Grant and Helen Ryan as Queen Alexandra, Robert Hardy as the Prince Consort, Alison Leggatt as the Duchess of Kent, and Felicity Kendal as Princess Vicky. It was directed by John Gorrie, who wrote episodes 7-10 with David Butler writing the remainder of the series. The series also featured John Gielgud as Benjamin Disraeli, Michael Hordern as William Ewart Gladstone, Harry Andrews as young Edward's tutor Colonel Bruce, Jane Lapotaire as Empress Marie of Russia, Christopher Neame as Kaiser Wilhelm II and, in one of his earliest roles, Charles Dance as Edward's eldest son Eddy, who died at the age of 28. Gielgud previously played Disraeli in the 1941 film The Prime Minister. The actresses playing Edward's mistresses include Moira Redmond as Alice Keppel and Carolyn Seymour as Daisy Greville. Francesca Annis was featured in two episodes as Lillie Langtry which led to Butler writing a full series about Mrs Langtry's life for Annis to star in, Lillie.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 539
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: costume drama, historical drama, epic, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, saga, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 84%
Elizabeth R (1971)
Plot Summary:
When Elizabeth Tudor comes to the throne, her (male) advisors know she has to marry. Doesn't she?.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: historical drama, costume drama, serious, realistic, stylized, factual, spiritual, period drama, vintage
Similar in 85%
Mr Selfridge (2013)
Plot Summary:
Mr. Selfridge recounts the real life story of the flamboyant and visionary American founder of Selfridge's, London's lavish department store. Set in 1909 London, when women were reveling in a new sense of freedom and modernity, it follows Harry Gordon Selfridge ('Mile a Minute Harry'), a man with a mission to make shopping as thrilling as sex. Pioneering and reckless, with an almost manic energy, Harry created a theater of retail where any topic or trend that was new, exciting, entertaining - or just eccentric - was showcased.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: stylized, captivating, costume drama, serious, realistic, period piece, dark drama, historical drama, period drama, vintage
Similar in 80%
The Paradise (2012)
Plot Summary:
An intoxicating love story set in England's first department store in the 1870s. The Paradise revolves around the lives of the people who live and work in the store, each bound in their own way by the power of the world they live in, and the pasts that follow them there. A love story, mystery, and social comedy all in one.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: captivating, costume drama, stylized, realistic, period piece, serious, intellectual, historical drama, historical romance, period drama
Similar in 82%
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 80%
The Virgin Queen (2005)
Plot Summary:
The Virgin Queen explores the full sweep of Elizabeth's life: from her days of fear as a potential victim of her sister's terror; through her great love affair with Robert Dudley; into her years of triumph over the Armada; and finally her old age and her last, enigmatic relationship with her young protégé, the Earl of Essex.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 237 min
Plot tags: serious, historical drama, factual, touching, political, period piece, costume drama, realistic, sincere, period drama
Similar in 80%
Victoria & Albert (2001)
Plot Summary:
The passionate love story that was Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's lengthy marriage. Beginning in 1837, the year of King William IV's death and 18-year-old Victoria's ascension to the throne, the series charts the tumultuous period in 19th Century England where Victoria comes to terms with the enormous duties that lay ahead of her, while also falling deeply in love with her beloved Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The marriage and birth of their nine children are featured, as is Albert's frustration by the inactivity he experienced in the early years of his role as Prince Consort.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 200 min
Plot tags: captivating, costume drama, sentimental, serious, realistic, factual, period piece, historical drama, epic, stylized
Similar in 86%
The Invisible Woman (2013)
Plot Summary:
In 1857, at the height of his fame and fortune, novelist and social critic Charles Dickens meets and falls in love with teenage stage actress Nelly Ternan. As she becomes the focus of his heart and mind, as well as his muse, painful secrecy is the price both must pay.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: costume drama, sentimental, serious, captivating, realistic, romantic, romantic drama, historical drama, crying, period piece
Similar in 77%
Victoria (2016)
Plot Summary:
The story of Queen Victoria, who came to the throne at a time of great economic turbulence and resurgent republicanism – and died 64 years later the head of the largest empire the world had ever seen, having revitalised the throne’s public image and become “grandmother of Europe”.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: costume drama, romantic, historical drama, realistic, touching, period piece, factual, serious, light, educational
Similar in 88%
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