Best tv shows like The Diplomat
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
In the midst of an international crisis, a career diplomat lands in a high-profile job she’s unsuited for, with tectonic implications for her marriage and her political future.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 53000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: political thriller, political drama
Best tv shows and movies like The Diplomat (2023):
Similar in 88%
The Lithium Conspiracy (2012)
Plot Summary:
In the 21th century getting hold of natural resources of emerging countries, is no matter of war--it is a matter of complex financial actions. And the power of governments behind the events has been replaced by the power of holding companies. Nowadays you don't conquer a country. You buy it. "Short story of long betrayals" is again set in the Republic of Queimada, where in the "Salar de Queimada" (a salt lake) lies 50% of lithium in the whole world. Not surprisingly, there is an international interest in its fate and a breathless fight to seize it.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 92
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: exotic
Similar in 85%
The Diplomat (2023)
Plot Summary:
The six-part series follows Laura Simmonds and her Barcelona Consul colleague and friend Alba Ortiz as they fight to protect British nationals who find themselves in trouble in the Catalan city.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: political thriller
Similar in 80%
Ingobernable (2017)
Plot Summary:
The First Lady of Mexico has big plans to improve conditions for the country. As she starts to lose faith in her husband, President Diego Nava, she finds herself at a crossroad where she will need to find a way to deal with a great challenge.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Mexico
Duration: 40 min
Plot tags: erotic, psychological, thought provoking, captivating, sensual, political thriller
Similar in 77%
Thin Ice (2020)
Plot Summary:
The series takes place in Greenland and revolves around a climate meeting for the Arctic Council, which is in the process of agreeing on a new and historic climate agreement that prohibits all environmentally harmful oil drilling in the area. Lena Endre plays the role of Sweden's Foreign Minister Elsa, whose political adviser Viktor (Alexander Karim) suddenly disappears during a visit to a research vessel.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Sweden, Iceland, France
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, detective
Similar in 79%
Act of Will (1989)
Plot Summary:
Act of Will is a 1989 mini-series directed by Don Sharp. It the third mini series based on a Barbara Taylor Bradford novel he had directed and was an early lead role for Elizabeth Hurley.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 168
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 240 min
Plot tags: family saga, period drama
Similar in 83%
Windmills of the Gods (1988)
Plot Summary:
When Mary Ashley is approached to become ambassador of the United States of America in Romania she does not take the offer because her husband does not want to give up his well-going doctor's office. Shortly afterward Dr. Edward Ashley gets killed in a car accident. After this Mary Ashley reconsiders the offer and finally accepts. Arrived in Romania she is confronted with a complex plot in which the American President's current plans to improve relations between the US and communist countries shall be sabotaged.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 407
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 187 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 89%
Roadkill (2020)
Plot Summary:
Politician Peter Laurence's private life is falling apart. Shamelessly untroubled by guilt or remorse, he seeks to further his own agenda whilst others plot to bring him down. Can he out-run his own secrets to win the ultimate prize?.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 227 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, political, detective, thrilling
Similar in 78%
Swimming with Sharks (2022)
Plot Summary:
When Lou Simms starts her internship at Fountain Pictures she seems like a naïve Hollywood newcomer, awestruck by the studio’s notorious CEO, Joyce Holt. In truth, Lou has done extensive research on Joyce and landing this internship was no happy accident. As Lou’s obsession grows, she will do anything to get close to her idol.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 87%
Inhuman Resources (2020)
Plot Summary:
Alain Delambre, unemployed and 57, is lured by an attractive job opening. But things get ugly when he realizes he’s a pawn in a cruel corporate game.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, intellectual
Similar in 77%
Echo 3 (2022)
Plot Summary:
When brilliant scientist Amber Chesborough vanishes along the Colombia-Venezuela border, her brother and her husband—both elite U.S. Army commandos—struggle to find her amid a guerilla war, discovering that the woman they love might have a secret.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 49 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 81%
Designated Survivor: 60 Days (2019)
Plot Summary:
An explosion at the National Assembly kills everyone in the cabinet, leaving Park Mu-jin, the Minister of Environment, to become the next president. Park Mu-jin is a scientist-turned-politician who has no ambitions in politics, but as the acting president for 60 days, he is compelled to investigate the truth behind the attack. Based on the popular American series, Designated Survivor.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags: political thriller, tense, captivating, suspenseful, political, political drama
Similar in 90%
The Night Agent (2023)
Plot Summary:
While monitoring an emergency line, a vigilant FBI agent answers a call that plunges him into a deadly conspiracy involving a mole at the White House.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 99000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: suspense, political, political drama
Similar in 76%
Undercover (2016)
Plot Summary:
Undercover follows Maya, the first black Director Of Public Prosecutions. Just as she is about to take up the post and her life comes under intense public scrutiny, she learns that that her husband Nick has been lying to her for years. Twenty years ago Nick was a fearless and dedicated undercover officer, infiltrating organisations considered a danger to society because of their political beliefs. Nick built himself a fake past and now with his wife unsuspecting and his conscience killing him – his secret identity may compromise the new Director of Public Prosecutions.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: tense, suspense, psychological, captivating, detective
Similar in 76%
Undercover (2021)
Plot Summary:
“Undercover” depicts the story of Han Jung Hyun, who has been hiding his identity for a long time, and Choi Yeon Soo, a human rights lawyer who becomes the first head of the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit to fight for justice.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 263
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 81%
Devils (2020)
Plot Summary:
After being implicated in a deadly scandal, a trader at a leading London bank fights to clear his name, but instead uncovers an intercontinental conspiracy masterminded by powerful forces operating in the shadows.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Italy, France, UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 84%
State of Affairs (2014)
Plot Summary:
Each day the President is faced with dozens of life and death decisions, and to prioritize the biggest international crises facing the country, one top CIA analyst - Charleston Tucker - assembles the President's Daily Briefing. This list of the most vital security issues facing the nation brings with it moral and political judgment calls for Charleston and her trusted group of brilliant analysts at the agency. Aside from the political minefields she has to walk, Charlie has a close personal relationship with the President because she was once engaged to her son before a tragic terrorist attack took his life. Charlie survived that attack and is now determined to bring the perpetrators to justice. Navigating a complex personal life and a pressure-cooker profession is, of course, a challenge, and Charlie sometimes engages in boundary-pushing behavior to avoid facing her grief. But when the clock strikes 2 a.m., she is all about her job - protecting her nation, serving her president and still trying to get to the bottom of her fiancé's murder that will reveal itself as a shocking mystery.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, political, compassionate, tv series pilot
Similar in 83%
The Agency (2001)
Plot Summary:
The Agency is a CBS television drama that followed the inner-workings of the CIA. The series was created by Michael Frost Beckner and was executive produced by Michael Frost Beckner, Shaun Cassidy Productions and Radiant Productions in association with Universal Network Television and CBS Productions. It aired from September 27, 2001 until May 17, 2003, lasting two seasons. It featured unprecedented filming from the actual CIA headquarters. The show was controversial regarding its exploration of current international affairs and its treatment of the ethical conflicts inherent in intelligence work. Beckner's pilot script, written in March 2001, posited a re-invented CIA tasked with a "War on Terror" after Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist organization plots a lethal attack on the west. The pilot was to premiere at CIA Headquarters on September 18, 2001 and set to air on CBS September 21, 2001, however, the actual 9/11 attacks convinced the network to hold the pilot and instead air a later episode. That first episode was aired later as the third episode of the first season. The September 11, 2001 terrorist events changed the way Americans viewed topical entertainment and "The Agency", at the time, was one of the most topical offering on network television. The producers of the series quickly responded to this new American perspective on world affairs, but CBS chose to cancel the show shortly after the second season's final episode.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, suspenseful, cerebral, exciting, serious
Similar in 79%
Allegiance (2015)
Plot Summary:
Alex O'Connor, a young idealistic CIA analyst specializing in Russian affairs, learns a shocking secret and his close-knit, affluent family is about to be split apart when it's revealed that his parents, Mark and Katya, are covert Russian spies deactivated decades ago. But today the Kremlin has re-enlisted them into service as they plan a terrorist operation inside the U.S. border that will bring America to its knees.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: tense, bleak, suspense, interesting
Similar in 76%
Commander in Chief (2005)
Plot Summary:
Commander in Chief is an American drama television series that focused on the fictional administration and family of Mackenzie Allen, the first female President of the United States, who ascends to the post from the Vice Presidency after the death of the sitting President from a sudden cerebral aneurysm. The series began broadcasting on ABC on Tuesday, September 27, 2005, at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, although most countries outside North America began screening the series in mid-2006. The show was #1 on Tuesday nights until FOX's American Idol started in January. The show was also the #1 new show of the season until CBS' Criminal Minds surpassed it. Its major competitor in the 9:00 p.m. timeslot was FOX's House, which aired after American Idol. The series was created by American director Rod Lurie, director of the films The Contender and Deterrence and may have been inspired by The West Wing, a popular political drama on rival NBC. The network replaced Lurie with Steven Bochco as show runner, but declining ratings brought about a hiatus, a timeslot change and ultimately cancellation.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sincere, clever, serious, realistic, political, talky, political drama
Similar in 82%
The Enemy Within (1994)
Plot Summary:
Colonel Casey discovers what appears to be plans by General Lloyd to use fake military excercises to assist Jack Giddings in his plans to remove President Foster from office. Colonel Casey, and President Foster must find evidence that there is a coup planned and stop it, before it takes place. Unfortunately, there isn't much time.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, realistic, political thriller
Similar in 80%
Madam Secretary (2014)
Plot Summary:
Former CIA agent Elizabeth Faulkner McCord is suddenly thrust into the position of US Secretary of State where she must quickly learn to drive international diplomacy, wrangle office politics and balance a complex family life.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, political, intelligent, political drama
Similar in 85%
The Politician's Husband (2013)
Plot Summary:
Aiden Hoynes is a senior cabinet minister who has always put his career before family, with the support of Freya, his devoted wife and mother to their two young children. But when Freya's own political career takes off and threatens to overshadow his, Aiden's life is thrown into chaos. As his political career comes to a standstill, and with his marriage turned upset down, Aiden takes increasing risks in his quest for power.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, tense, serious, political, psychological, clever, talky
Similar in 76%
State of Play (2003)
Plot Summary:
A thriller set in London, in which a politician's life becomes increasingly complex as his research assistant is found dead on the London Underground and, in a seemingly unrelated incident, a teenage pickpocket is shot dead.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 312 min
Plot tags: political thriller, political, realistic, tense, suspense, atmospheric, talky, serious, clever, twist ending
Similar in 90%
Anatomy of a Scandal (2022)
Plot Summary:
Anthology series centering on the personal and political scandals of Britain’s elite.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 35000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 268 min
Plot tags: psychological, sexual, captivating, suspense, disturbing, political, romantic, anthology, sexy, political drama
Similar in 80%
Riviera (2017)
Plot Summary:
After newlywed Georgina's billionaire husband Constantine is killed in a yacht explosion, she is shocked to discover the fortune and lifestyle he maintained was surrounded by violence, lies and murder. She soon must step out of her comfort zone to protect the family...and herself.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: disturbing, exciting, serious, captivating, emotional
Similar in 77%
The Man in the High Castle (2015)
Plot Summary:
Based on Philip K. Dick's award-winning novel, The Man in the High Castle explores what it would be like if the Allied Powers had lost WWII, and Japan and Germany ruled the United States.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 108000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, Canada
Duration: 2219 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, captivating, apocalyptic, intellectual, historical drama, exciting, retro, political
Similar in 83%
Scandal (2012)
Plot Summary:
Everyone has secrets and Olivia Pope has dedicated her life to protecting and defending the public images of the elite by keeping those secrets under wraps. Pope and her team are at the top of their game when it comes to getting the job done for their clients, but it becomes apparent that these "gladiators in suits," who specialize in fixing the lives of other people, have trouble fixing those closest at hand -- their own.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 79000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: political thriller, serious, political, realistic, clever, bleak, erotic, sexy, sad, soap opera
Similar in 81%
Designated Survivor (2016)
Plot Summary:
Tom Kirkman, a low-level cabinet member is suddenly appointed President of the United States after a catastrophic attack during the State of the Union kills everyone above him in the Presidential line of succession.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 102000
Genere: Action, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, political, tense, captivating, suspenseful, apocalyptic, political thriller, interesting, political drama
Similar in 84%
Seven Days in May (1964)
Plot Summary:
A U.S. Army general alerts the president of a planned military coup against him.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: political thriller, tense, political, black and white, suspense, suspenseful, atmospheric, intense, serious, realistic
Similar in 83%
The Americans (2013)
Plot Summary:
Set during the Cold War period in the 1980s, The Americans is the story of Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, two Soviet KGB officers posing as an American married couple in the suburbs of Washington D.C. and their neighbor, Stan Beeman, an FBI Counterintelligence agent.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 109000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, captivating, atmospheric, suspenseful, dramatic, sexy, neo noir, political, dark