If wishes were horses, I’m sure that through my imaginations, Season 3 of The Bridgertons would have developed and all the superpowers required for a movie to self-release. If wishes were horses.
But they are not and the fun has to continue. So being an upright citizen of this land, I took it upon myself to curate a list of 5 equally as tantalising period drama that would rock your world like The Bridgertons did- complete with the romps, feminism, wit, love triangles, scandals, rivalries, politics, classism and out-of-the-world love confessions.
Are you ready?
5. The Crown
From ages past, the Royal Family has been held in some kind of aloof, no hair -out-of-place manner. The Crown, however , succeeds at creating a fictional representation of the monarchy that overturns that perception with intrigue. It deftly chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth from the 1940s to the more modern times and hooks you right from start to every point in the movie.
TMI? I hope not. Michelle Obama is also watching and enjoying The Crown.
Starring: Claire Foy, Matt Smith, Olivia Colman, Olivia Staunton.
4. Harlots
In The Bridgertons, Lady Danbury and Eloise were crusaders of freedom in their own way. So were the old ladies of Harlots whose stories delve into the importance of controlling your own purse strings and what it took as women of the 18th century to achieve that feat.
Harlot is 5 seasons in and streams exclusively on Hulu.
Starring: Samantha Morton, Lesley Manville, Jessica Brown.
3. Anne with an E
For Anne with an E, the Pollyanna orphaned girl character that was adapted from Anne of the Green Gables, life has been hard throughout. First she is suddenly orphaned, next she is mistakenly shipped to her elderly relatives’ and finds herself floundering through being accepted and finding her place in a strange environment. She however remains optimistic through it all and even ends up influencing a change in the lives of the people around her. Anne with an E is a sprawling tale so sincerely gorgeous that you’d find yourself fighting a sniffle two. It was 3 seasons in before it got axed off by Netflix.
Starring: Amybeth McNulty, Lucas Jade Zumann,Geraldine James, Dalila Bella.
2. Cable Girls
Cable Girls is a 2017 Spanish period drama series on Netflix that follows the lives of four women working as switchboard operators in a telephone company in the 1920s- when patriarchy reigned supreme and women only experienced equality on Eke market days.
The five-season show is one of the few movies that excels the Bechdel test and it prominently features multiple female characters and explores their friendships, aspirations, and challenges in a male-dominated society.
Starring: Nadia De Santiago, Ana Polvorosa, Maggie Civantos, Angela Cremonte, Nico Romero.
- Sanditon Season 1-3
Last on my list is Sanditon, a movie I now consider a rival bonnet for The Bridgerton- a new season just always “miraculously” drops at the arrival of any new Bridgerton spin-off. Anyways, the real tea. Sanditon is based on the posthumously completed manuscript of Jane Austen- she was only 13 chapters in when she passed. The rest was developed and adapted by Andrew Davies.
Sanditon tells the story of Charlotte(bombastic side eye*) who ups and leaves her rural home to be in Sanditon and like any madam worth her salt in a retro era, she begins to stir the pot in the new land in no time.
Starring: Rose Williams, Theo James, Leo Suter, Sophie Winkleman, Charlotte Spencer.
Perhaps you are a romantic but you think people who watch prolonged series have no life, you can check this list of one-off movies that every hopeless romantics can rewatch.
