Best tv shows like Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years
Last updated March 2024
Looking for tv shows like Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years? Leverage your knowledge to lead others toward tv series and films you've watched previously that may also preoccupy them. Support increasing the cohort of people bringing up videos among each other. We appreciate your contribution!
Plot Summary:
Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years is an 8-part 1981 drama serial based on the life of Winston Churchill, and particularly his years in enforced exile from political position during the 1920s and 30s. It was written and directed by Ferdinand Fairfax and Churchill was played by Robert Hardy. Hardy's brilliant performance as Churchill won critical acclaim and a BAFTA award in 1982. He reprised the role in The Sittaford Mystery, Bomber Harris and War and Remembrance and at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the end of World War II in 1995 when he quoted a number of Churchill's wartime speeches in character.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 330
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: historical drama, period drama
Best tv shows and movies like Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981):
Similar in 85%
Jenny's War (1985)
Plot Summary:
This fact-based story follows a woman who launches a rescue of her Royal Air Force pilot son, who was shot down over Germany in 1941. Getting no help from the underground, she sets up her own rescue mission.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 163
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 198 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
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 90%
Number 10 (1983)
Plot Summary:
Drama series about the private lives of seven British prime ministers who lived in Number 10 Downing Street between the 1780s and the 1920s: William Pitt the Younger, the Duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley), Benjamin Disraeli, William Ewart Gladstone, David Lloyd-George, Herbert Henry Asquith and James Ramsay MacDonald.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 49
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: historical drama, period piece, costume drama, period drama
Similar in 80%
Rebellion (2016)
Plot Summary:
Rebellion is a five part serial drama about the birth of modern Ireland. The story is told from the perspectives of a group of fictional characters who live through the political events of the 1916 Easter Rising.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Ireland
Duration: 258 min
Plot tags: historical drama, political, period piece, period drama
Similar in 87%
Mosley (1998)
Plot Summary:
Mosley was a 1998 television serial produced for Channel 4 based on British fascist Oswald Mosley's life in the period between the two world wars. The series was directed by Robert Knights, from a screenplay by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, both better known for their television comedy series. It was based on the books Rules of the Game and Beyond the Pale by Nicholas Mosley, Mosley's son. The series was released on VHS and DVD.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 149
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags:
Similar in 89%
Secret Army (1977)
Plot Summary:
World War II drama about covert organisation Lifeline helping allied airmen escape after being shot down in occupied Europe, working with the Resistance and hiding from the Gestapo.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: costume drama, period drama
Similar in 85%
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 79%
Inside the Third Reich (1982)
Plot Summary:
A dramatization of the life of Albert Speer, Hitler's young architect and onetime confidant, and his meteoric rise into the Nazi hierarchy. Based upon Speer's own monograph of the same title.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 678
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 240 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 76%
De Gaulle (2020)
Plot Summary:
Explores the life of General De Gaulle, from the Appeal of June 18, 1940, to his departure from power in 1969. A dive into the military and political career of De Gaulle and an inside portrait of his private life.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 167
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: France
Duration: 297 min
Plot tags: political drama
Similar in 78%
Mussolini: The Untold Story (1985)
Plot Summary:
George C. Scott, Lee Grant, Virginia Madsen, Raul Julia, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Gabriel Byrne star in this Emmy-nominated program about the rise and fall of Italy's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Recounting his life with his wife, children and mistress, this biography (based on the recollections of Mussolini's eldest son, Vittorio) chronicles Il Duce's tyranny as he plunges Italy into the dark days of World War II.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 626
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: Yugoslavia, USA
Duration: 410 min
Plot tags: family saga, historical drama, political 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 87%
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 89%
Churchill and the Generals (1979)
Plot Summary:
The complicated relationship between Winston Churchill and the leaders of the British army during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 91
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: historical drama
Similar in 76%
Aristocrats (1999)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story, Aristocrats draws back the curtain on an 18th century English family near the summit of society, revealing a tapestry of romance, prejudice, infidelity, and revolution.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK, Ireland, USA
Duration: 300 min
Plot tags: period piece, captivating, serious, historical drama, realistic, stylized, costume drama, romantic drama, historical romance, period drama
Similar in 88%
I, Claudius (1976)
Plot Summary:
Tracing the lives of several Roman emperors, this is an epic of ruthless ambition, shocking debauchery and murderous intrigue set in one of history's most fascinating eras. Bearing witness to the saga is Claudius, whose stutter and limp have marked him a fool - yet whom prophecies have foretold will one day rule Rome.
IMDB Rating: 8.8
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 669 min
Plot tags: costume drama, political thriller, historical drama, clever, epic, spiritual, political, controversial, mind blowing, dark comedy
Similar in 86%
The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
Plot Summary:
The account of keepers of the Warsaw Zoo, Jan and Antonina Zabinski, who helped save hundreds of people and animals during the Nazi invasion.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 46000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: Czech Republic, UK, USA
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: factual, rough, tense, suspense, sad, suspenseful, disturbing, costume drama, thought provoking, touching
Similar in 78%
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 81%
The Crown (2016)
Plot Summary:
The gripping, decades-spanning inside story of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who shaped Britain's post-war destiny. The Crown tells the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world – Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street – and the intrigues, love lives and machinations behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century. Two houses, two courts, one Crown.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 242000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 58 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, suspense, clever, costume drama, historical drama, disturbing, period piece, political, exciting
Similar in 77%
Darkest Hour (2017)
Plot Summary:
A thrilling and inspiring true story begins on the eve of World War II as, within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation. As the unstoppable Nazi forces roll across Western Europe and the threat of invasion is imminent, and with an unprepared public, a skeptical King, and his own party plotting against him, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour, rally a nation, and attempt to change the course of world history.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 216000
Genere: Biography, Drama, War
Country: UK, USA, China
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: period piece, political, inspirational, serious, suspense, realistic, exciting, harsh, motivational, tense
Similar in 83%
Churchill (2017)
Plot Summary:
A ticking-clock thriller following Winston Churchill in the 24 hours before D-Day.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: educational, factual, disturbing, political, independent film, extraordinary
Similar in 87%
World on Fire (2019)
Plot Summary:
The story of World War II told through the intertwining fates of ordinary people from all sides of this global conflict as they grapple with the effect of the war on their everyday lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 57 min
Plot tags: psychological, thought provoking, captivating, suspense, disturbing, retro, period piece, costume drama, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 84%
World War II: When Lions Roared (1994)
Plot Summary:
Based upon the actual cables between Washington, London and Moscow during the Second World War, this TV-movie examines the relationship between the leaders of these countries throughout the conflict. Franklin D. Roosevelt (John Lithgow), Winston Churchill (Bob Hoskins) and Joseph Stalin (Michael Caine), spring to life as real but imperfect people who nevertheless are great leaders fighting a great war.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 622
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 194 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, clever, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, contemplative, talky
Similar in 83%
The Diary of Anne Frank (2009)
Plot Summary:
Called the most accurate adaptation of Anne Frank’s moving diary, the film chronicles the Frank family as they flee from the Nazis in Amsterdam. Hiding behind a bookcase in a secret annex with random bombs exploding, Anne faces friction with her family, a desire for independence and the first stirrings of young love. It’s a remarkable record of a young woman’s first-hand observations of the Holocaust.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, serious, realistic, historical drama, bleak, captivating, period drama
Similar in 85%
Ike: The War Years (1979)
Plot Summary:
Ike is a 1979 television miniseries about the life of Dwight D. Eisenhower. The screenplay by Melville Shavelson was based on Kay Summersby's 1948 memoir Eisenhower Was My Boss and her 1975 autobiography, Past Forgetting: My Love Affair. Directed by Boris Sagal and Melville Shavelson, the production starred Robert Duvall as Eisenhower and Lee Remick as Kay Summersby. Film editors John Woodcock and Bill Lenny won an Eddie Award for their work and the series garnered five Emmy Award nominations.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 456
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 291 min
Plot tags: exciting, sincere, serious, realistic, saga
Similar in 79%
Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003)
Plot Summary:
A unique slant, profiling the life of Adolf Hitler as a child and his rise through the ranks of the National German Workers' Party prior to World War II.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 186 min
Plot tags: serious, bleak, captivating, realistic, disturbing, political, factual, suspense, rough, suspenseful
Similar in 79%
A Small Light (2023)
Plot Summary:
Twentysomething Miep Gies didn't hesitate when her boss Otto Frank came to her and asked her to hide his family from the Nazis during World War II. For the next two years, Miep, her husband Jan, and the other helpers watched over the eight souls in hiding in the Secret Annex. And it was Miep who found Anne’s Diary and kept it safe so Otto, the only one of the eight who survived, could later share it with the world as one of the most powerful accounts of the Holocaust.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: historical drama
Similar in 81%
Into the Storm (2009)
Plot Summary:
This powerful follow-up to “The Gathering Storm” follows Churchill from 1940 to 1945 as he guided his beleaguered nation through the crucible of the war years--even as his marriage was encountering its own struggles.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, political, historical drama, historically accurate, gloomy, period drama, political drama
Similar in 79%
Castles in the Sky (2014)
Plot Summary:
It is the mid-1930s and the storm clouds of WWII were forming in Germany. This films charts the work of Robert Watson Watt - the pioneer of Radar - and his hand-picked team of eccentric yet brilliant meteorologists as they struggle to turn the concept of Radar into a workable reality. Hamstrung by a tiny budget, seemingly insurmountable technical problems and even a spy in the camp, Watson Watt also has to deal with marital problems as he chases his dream. By 1939, Watson Watt and his team have developed the world's first Radar system along the south east coast of England. A system that, in 1940, proved pivotal in winning the Battle of Britain.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: clever, serious, captivating, realistic, contemplative, stylized
Similar in 88%
The Gathering Storm (2002)
Plot Summary:
A love story offering an intimate look inside the marriage of Winston and Clementine Churchill during a particularly troubled, though little-known, moment in their lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, talky, political, historical drama, historically accurate, contemplative, gloomy, pre war
Similar in 89%
Oppenheimer (1980)
Plot Summary:
Biography of the American physicist who led the U.S. effort to develop the atomic bomb during World War II, only to find himself suspected as a security risk in the 1950s because of his increasing ambivalence about the effect of his life's work.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 653
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 420 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing