Thanks to the global pandemic, binge-watching is everyone’s new cardio, right? Netflix added a bajillion new subscribers this year as we all went into lockdown, and folks subscribed to every possible streaming service from Amazon Prime to Disney+ to who knows what in an effort to fill the gnawing void of boredom.
Well, let’s compare what historical TV series we’ve been filling up the time with! Maybe you’ve re-watched some old faves. Or you finally got around to that show everyone was talking about. Perhaps you’re indulging in some trashy stuff because why the hell not? The good, the bad, the snarky — share the deets!
This was already a long-ass list, so we limited it to TV shows since 2000, not miniseries or docuseries, that are currently available on some major streaming service in the U.S., legally, even if you have to pay for it.
And hey, if you need more to binge, look for these on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO Max, Showtime, Starz, Apple TV, BritBox, Acorn, PBS Passport, or IMDbTV! Search the blog to see if we have reviews.
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Tell us why you’re bingeing these shows! Are there others, maybe older shows, that you’re also watching?
I did try to watch Harlots, but I couldn’t do it. I rewatched Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.
Also The Hollow Crown
Summer of Rockets, The Great, Belgravia, Sanditon and Vanity Fair plus a few others
I feel very out of the loop. I’ve been watching all the Jane Austen adaptations I can find. Also “Dr. Thorne” was good.
I enjoyed Dr. Thorne.
I’m re-watching World On Fire to see if there’s anything worthwhile I missed! Ho hum late 1930s wear tho! I’ve also been watching The Plot Against America on HBO Max.
None of these. Have done Youtube for Lady Hamilton, Mistress to the King, Bequest to the Nation (another Hamilton story) Brontes of Haworth, Portrait of Dorian Gray, The American, Wings of a Dove and many more…am between pay channels right now.
Bequest to the Nation–isn’t that a great one. Glenda Jackson’s performance as Lady Hamilton was just as stunning and believable as her performance as Elizabeth I. A lot of the dialogue was based on Nelson’s letters (he wanted them burned, but Emma was too sentimental to fall in with his wishes).
I don’t have the knowledge to weigh in on the costumes, but I thought it was unusually well done for a historical movie, even if they altered the chronology a bit.
The two fall-backs I have been watching when things seem to be too much are Jeeves and Wooster, (Fry & Laurie), and The Nero Wolfe Mysteries, (Hutton & Chaykin).
Jeeves and Wooster is an absolute delight, I’ve been reading and listening to a LOT of PG Wodehouse! The Blandings series is a hoot and I want to watch the series next.
Agent Carter. I didn’t catch it the first time round on NBC. I bundled Disney+ to watch Hamilton, still haven’t watched it, and did Agent Carter instead.
Loved Agent Carter. I have both seasons, s1 on DVD and s2 on bluray
I’ve only watched a few of the series above during the pandemic, though I have seen several other shows during “normal” times. After binge watching Penny Dreadful, that got me on a horror kick, so I’m almost through Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House–not a Frock Flick, but a few of the ghosts are in “old-timey” costumes. I’m also watching the 2010s re-boot of Beauty and the Beast and The Flash–neither of those are Frock Flicks–but Beauty… features Max Brown (Thomas Barrow’s GORGEOUS love interest in Downton Abbey: The Motion Picture) and The Flash features superhero costumes.
FrockFlicks-wise, I’m getting into the Halloween mood–so I plan to watch any and all Vincent Prince films on my streaming services. Plus, I just found an audiobook of Vincent Price reading the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, so I’ll definitely check that out. This blog is partly to “blame” for my current Vincent Price kick because one of your posts featured a screencap from Dragonwyck starring Vincent Price. Last month, I watched that movie on YouTube–it was awesome and VP was SOO handsome–and have been jonsing for VP content ever since!
I’ve seen a bunch of these show, but I can’t say I’ve binged them during the plague. I have been enjoying Lovecraft Country, Umbrella Academy Season 2, and the Tudor Monastery Farm.
Oh, I love Tudor Monastery Farm!! All of the “farm” series are wonderful, and Ruth Goodman is my spirit animal. I think “Tales from the Green Valley” might be my favorite.
I agree about all the “farm” shows being lovely. I also enjoy Lucy Worsely’s documentaries, although not everyone does. Still, Tudor Christmas, British Love, and Queen Anne Secrets were neat, and accessible to my elementary-school-aged daughter who…sadly has little patience for costume drama.
I discovered Upstart Crow from you! Yay! I’ve watched most of the rest, although I have a hard time with foreign language ones. I’m usually sewing while binging, so I can’t read subtitles at the same time. Not on the list but I just did a watch along for Black Sails. Very violent, but, well, pirates. So to be expected. Some nice costuming. Not particularly accurate, but pretty.
Charitie at war. It’s brilliant
sheepishly none! these times are weird, and I am weird, and I don’t do tons of binging.. I have been watching fairly wholesome/interesting reality shows when I watch stuff, and I’m not a huge binger. Several of these are on my list. I did watch The Godfather though, finally, but that’s mostly men so less interesting costume content.
“Ratched” has expressive costumes, decor and very campy
Yeah the costumes and visuals in Ratched are beautiful and the creepy campy origin story is perfect for Halloween season.
I recently acquired the complete series of Christy, a series made in the 90s about a young school teacher who moves from the city to the rural Appalachian community and must adjust whilst getting stuck in a love triangle during the early 1900s, on dvd and plan to watch it all this coming week.
I found the series, Eureka, on Amazon Prime (5 seasons/12 episodes each) and am in love again. I remember watching these back in 2006 but don’t remember much of it obviously because most is unfamiliar to me. Great laughs too. Just what I needed.
Val
I am so glad that you listed Norsemen! Apparently, since it is filmed in location at working reconstructed farms, it is far, far, far more authentic than Vikings. (Note, there are some animal skulls in display that seem uncomfortable to modern eyes)
Of course, it is a send-up of Vikings along with a funny conversation between oh-so-decent modern Scandinavia compared with the Viking Age.
If you liked Lillyhammer, then you will like Norsemen. The same people show up.
Let’s see…Endeavour, Call the Midwife, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Harlots, lots of Met Opera streams, Sanditon (ugh!), Beecham House (double ugh!) Newsies! Windham Children, My Mother and Other Strangers. Of course Miss Fisher is always welcome.
I couldn’t do Plot Against America, or World on Fire, as those are no longer a safe distance away.
These lists and comments are wonderful.
More binge reading than watching here. Still, “The Crown” has provided some relief, as well as fabulous frocks. I tried my best with “Vikings,” because my daughter told me to, but I can’t stand Michael Hirst productions, however many hot young men (her preference) and shield maidens (mine) show up.
Maybe you would like Norsemen? There is a funny thread throughout the show of mocking Viking’s more absurd plot points. Silje Torp is so interesting to look at, understands the tone of the series, and she played a Lagertha analogue.
Elise, thanks for the advice. Being Swedish, Norwegian and Icelandic on my dad’s side, I’d like to enjoy something ancient and Nordic–just not one of Hirst’s tacky products.
Just remember, it’s a comedy.
Exactly, MoHub! It’s an irreverent comedy…that still is more historically accurate than Vikings! I am glad that you posted, because I feel like my suggestion needed more context.
Nova did a wonderful series, and I wish so much I could find it! Ostensibly, it was about their seafaring, but more showed how the Viking culture and diet adapted from Denmark, to Norway, to Greenland, to Iceland, and then to Newfoundland–which they reached 30 minutes ahead of schedule.
So, what did you think? Not a traditional costume drama, of course, but interesting, eh?
Have started watching Endeavour which takes place in the 1960s. Tried rewatching the old Partners in Crime, but after the first ep gave up on it. It just doesn’t hold up. Re-watched the old Campion series and it does hold up. Not a show but a movie, that I can’t recommend enough, An Inspector Calls.
Poirot with David Suchet and many awesome guests.
I’ve been rewatching Anne with an E very slowly because I am still very sad it was cancelled and honestly I cry every episode, and Mr Sunshine as well but I remember how it ends and I WILL cry… I’m realising I’ve been crying over tv a lot lately.
I just finished Mr. Sunshine, I didn’t want it to end. I really cried though I wasn’t surprised by the way it worked out.
I will try thieves of the woods: my mom is flemish and I never learned the language but I will enjoy to hear the accent.
“Emma” was in the Cinema during the Corona-crisis and we saw it in the Cinema. There were only 4 or 5 other persons in the room. But it was nice to see a Frock Flick again on Screen. (We had to buy Online tickets and the distances to the other viewers were very large.)
It’s very gratifying to at least see something in the Cinema while all concerts are cancelled. :-(
I would love to finally watch something more breathtaking from the cinematic point of view like Master and Commander.
I love Cinemas and I think that we should save Cinemas because I love the atmosphere there. I don’t like to watch great productions on a Laptop. I would love it to see “My Name is nobody” and other great classics on Screen (I saw “Once Upon a Time in the West” on Screen – what an Impression! The audience was completely fascinated to see the landscape etc.).
Thank you for including Charité! The series as a whole, but especially the second season is a must-watch!!
Rewatching Elizabeth R for the first time since I borrowed it on VHS from the library, planning a seasonal rewatch of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. And does playing Red Dead Redemption 2 for the first time count?
I’m so glad you included Mr. Sunshine, I could not stop watching it and didn’t want it to end. (Completely obsessed with Korean Dramas right now after seeing Parasite!!) I don’t know anything about Korean history but those costumes were faaabulous. And I don’t know anything about the time period and I would really like to know if the American military wore such flattering uniforms!