What is a period drama

Last updated 20 August 2026

A period drama is a movie, TV series or mini series set in the past. At PeriodDramaHub I've set a loose rule of pre-1970s.

The Backdrop / Setting

The story may take you back in history, where the costumes, social etiquette and lifestyle are vastly different to how we live today. Or it might take you somewhere invented entirely — a world that never existed, but one that still belongs to the past.

Here are a few titles, and why they fit PDH.

• Bridgerton — set in a reimagined Regency era. High society and romance at the heart of the story.
• Pride & Prejudice — an adaptation of Jane Austen's famous novel, set in the Regency era.
• The Buccaneers — set during the 1870s Gilded Age, with a modern twist.
• Braveheart — follows the historical story of William Wallace.
• House of the Dragon — the backdrop is a reimagined medieval world of kings, queens, knights and dragons. Era: Fantasy Realm.
• Outlander — spans many different eras, with real historical events woven into the story and a fantasy element too, since its main character time travels.
• The Wheel of Time and The Lord of the Rings — backdrops set in the past, but in a reimagined world.
• Titanic — based on a tragic historical event, set at the end of the Edwardian era, 1912.

This database is full of stories from our own history, reimagined history and eras, myths and legends, famous people, cultures, romances and heroes — all with one theme. They are set in the past, in a world long gone.

My rules (loose)

I've set a loose rule to include period dramas set in the 1970s or earlier. The 1970s predate a lot of the technology we have today, which is part of what makes a setting feel like another world.

That line moves with time. As the database grows I'll include stories set in the 1980s and 1990s, and I'm more than happy to add period dramas from those decades if someone asks me to. It's just not where I'm looking first.

Eras

I love a Regency drama, an Edwardian one, anything medieval — but there was never a way to search for them by era, and finding titles I hadn't already seen was near impossible. So I started collecting them myself, and adding the eras by hand.

I've started with a set of eras spanning different regions and periods. They've been carefully chosen to capture as many titles as I can, without ending up with so many that they're impossible to choose from. Where a title doesn't fall into one of them, it's given a century instead.

Eras are a guide only. A drama can carry more than one — across a film, or across a whole series.

How I apply them

I research the story and look first for key settings, historical events and figures, then apply the era as accurately as I can.

I use AI to help with the research, and to flag eras that look wrong. The judgement is mine, and the mistakes are too.

Eras added by readers

Where a title has no era yet, I welcome readers to add one. At this stage it's open to all; in time it will be for account holders only. A reader's era appears on the site straight away, and I correct anything I spot that looks wrong.

That will loosen as the site grows. The intention is for account holders to correct and refine these themselves — a database of this kind gets better the more people are allowed to argue with it.

Will I add more eras?

Likely yes, and some regions will expand. But I also want to keep the list short enough that you can still find your next obsession without wading through it.

Lydia · PeriodDramaHub