If Period Dramas leave you breathless, then you’re on the edge of your seat waiting for the theatrical continuation of Downton Abbey. Corsets, manners, and discretion are the standard currency. While you wait for the film to premiere this September 20th, here are five other Period Dramas you can stream right now that will take you from the Regency Period through to the 1960s. It’s like time travel without the butterfly effect.

When you’re finished binging these titles, check out Part 2: our list of Period Horrors you can stream right now!

Pride and Prejudice

It's probably a law that all English actors take a tour through both William Shakespeare and Jane Austen to prove their chops. A 6-episode series that ran in 1995, it wasn't the first to tackle Pride and Prejudice on the small screen, but it was one of the most ambitious, winning multiple awards for acting but especially for costuming. It's a 19th Century tale of economics and romance and tenuous strings of decorum and propriety that bind them together.

Watch on

Cable Girls

This Spanish drama has slipped mostly under the radar of most American viewers, which is a shame. It's a compelling drama about the march of women seen through the eyes of four young ladies, made when the first telephone company opens in Madrid in the 1920s. It's a brand new modern world for these women who must now navigate money, relationships and a job in a world that's not quite ready for them. Debuting in 2017, there are currently 32 episodes of Cable Girls over 4 seasons.

Watch on

Upstairs, Downstairs

Without Upstairs, Downstairs, there would never have been a 'Downton Abbey' to speak of. The cornerstone of PBS' Masterpiece Theater literally forever, the long-running series focused on the lives of the moneyed Bellamys and the complicated lives of their servants between 1903 and 1930. Many of the plotlines became staples of modern British Period Drama, so a solid binge of its 68 episodes over 5 series (seasons, to us yanks) may feel familiar, but there's nothing dated about class politics.

Watch on

Foyle's War

During the chaos of WWII, Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen) investigates all manner of profiteering, violent crime, and murder in the quiet English countryside town of Hastings, Sussex, England. Historically accurate, Foyle's War ran 8 series and 28 episodes. Every episode is self-contained and runs 90-100 minutes. Foyle's War requires a subscription to Acorn via Amazon Prime.

Watch on

Call the Midwife

Following the post-war baby boom in the 1950s, an age where doctors were scarcer than hen's teeth in destitute neighborhoods, Call the Midwife centers around the midwives and nuns working out of an Anglican convent in a desperately poor area of London, helping mothers birth healthy babies and dealing with the socio-economic issues that not even a convent can shelter the ladies from. With 69 episodes over 8 series currently, the BBC has announced plans on keeping its actors in nappies through 2022 with two more series and Christmas specials.

Watch on
Articles by
MontiLee Stormer
Movie Reelist Contributor: MontiLee Stormer
MontiLee Stormer is a writer of horror, dark and urban fantasy. She’s also is a troublemaker, concocting acts of mayhem and despair for her own selfish pleasure. An avid movie watcher, she prefers horror but will see just about anything if you're buying. Poltergeist (1982) is her favorite movie and she actively hates The Shining (1980) due to its racism, misogyny, the butchering of the source material. She could host a TEDtalk on this single subject. Writing about herself in the third person is just a bonus.

Leave a comment...