Best Netflix and HBO period series

You have just received a visit from a strange character. It offers you the possibility; you think he is crazy, to travel back in time and visit the past. The only condition? That you can’t interact with anything, be a spectator. Almost a ghost. What time would you travel to? We offer you some answers to this question, with some of the best Netflix and HBO period series, as we did with the recommendations based on The Crown, so that you know more about times past.

If you have agreed to join us on this curious journey, let us show you the best examples of both platforms, both from Netflix and HBO, and we will take you along dramatic paths, of violent action, of impossible loves and, why not say it, of series as neat as the outfits of the time.

Enjoy the best vintage series with this list of recommendations

Whether you want action and violent arguments, such as Vikings or Peaky Blinders, or if you prefer the most lavish times, such as The Bridgertons, we have the series, both on Netflix and HBO, ideal for you.

• The Crown
• Vikings
• The Bridgertons
• Anne with an E
• Outlander
• Peaky Blinders
• The White Princess
• The Knick
• Versailles
• Castamar’s cook
• A game of gentlemen
• Alias ​​Grace
• Britannia
• The ministry of time
• Isabel

The Crown

Welcome to one of the crown jewels on Netflix, which we recommend less than we should, and which tells the recent history of the British royal family, but believe us, you will not be bored with the English way of life. Quite the opposite. From the first season, which addresses the wedding of Queen Elizabeth and the consecration of Winston Churchill as Prime Minister, to the last released season, where the arrival of Lady Di to the royal family breaks the strict schemes of the monarchy, you will have hours of entertainment and digital joy to soak up the recent history of our most particular neighbors.

• Year: 2016
• Seasons: 4
• Episodes available: 40
• Approximate duration: 60 minutes

Vikings

Created by a period series expert such as Michael Hirst, responsible for The Tudors and Camelot, Vikings is a brutal alternative to Game of Thrones that will put you in direct contact with the power struggles and raw violence of the Viking tribes of 1000 years ago. Shot with the utmost historical rigor, it delves into the adventures of a rebellious young hero and his family: action, blood, and many allusions to Odin.

• The year 2013
• Seasons: 6
• Episodes available: 89
• Approximate duration: 44 minutes

The Bridgertons

Some period series incorporate their own licenses, with soundtracks, costumes, and attitudes far from their time, but that shows us a different past than any of us has in mind. This most interesting and irreverent romantic drama we’ve come across is one of Netflix’s modern-day hits. In case you do not know the story, based on the novels by Julia Quinn, we will enter fully into the aristocracy of London from the Regency period, and we will meet young people who enter fully into the game of arranged marriages, with a high dose of sensuality In each chapter.

• Year: 2020
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes available: 8
• Approximate duration: 60 minutes

Anne with an E

With this series, we invoke the spirit of female protagonism, which in this case is represented through the interpretation of actress Amybeth McNulty in a story that takes us to Canada in the 19th century. An orphan, the protagonist of the story, will have to make her way into a society unknown to her, with a new home and a new school, while using all her weapons: intelligence, imagination, and ability to solve problems.

• Year: 2017
• Seasons: 3
• Episodes available: 27
• Approximate duration: 45 minutes

Outlander

This epic tale follows in the footsteps of Claire Randall, a combat nurse who, for some reason, is transported through space-time until the mid-18th century. Based on a series of romantic and fantasy novels, it delves into Claire’s relationship with two male characters, a romance through time with touches of fantasy and time. If you enjoy the vintage series but don’t feel like watching the same old stuff, I think this could be a great choice for you.

• The year 2014
• Seasons: 6
• Episodes available: 42
• Approximate duration: 65 minutes

Peaky Blinders

The wonderful work created by Steven Knight is our next bet. This series, which will allow you to see a portion of the islands at the beginning of the 20th century, will drag you through the tumultuous life of one of the most stubborn and savage families in Birmingham, half gypsies, half English, who will use all the resources at your fingertips, often referred to as Fists and Pistols, to help you climb in the society of the time. The performances are more than superb, and its female leads have nothing to fear from their fellow professionals.

• The year 2013
• Seasons: 5
• Episodes available: 30
• Approximate duration: 60 minutes

The White Princess

The royals, either fictional or based on real characters, have always been a breeding ground for great films and TV series. In this case, thanks to the magnificent interpretation of Jodie Comer, whom we know from Killing Eve, we will be able to approach a conflictive marriage that united Elizabeth of York and Henry VII, as a conclusion to the War of the Two Roses, but which started a power struggle for the throne. The HBO series is based on the novel by Philippa Gregory and offers us the female point of view of the contest.

• Year: 2017
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes available: 8
• Approximate duration: 55 minutes

The Knick

Steven Soderbergh and Clive Owen combine their natural talent for directing and acting, respectively, to offer us one of those special series, both for its little-used plot and its careful set-up, which we can enjoy on HBO. If you want to get closer to this story, you should know that we will follow John Thackery, a surgeon in a New York hospital at the beginning of the 20th century, whose methods defy everything established to date.

• The year 2014
• Seasons: 2
• Episodes available: 20
• Approximate duration: 50 minutes

Versailles

We continue this list of recommendations with a drama with a French accent, incorporated into the Netflix catalog thanks to its dizzying success since it has several reasons behind it. On this occasion, the action will place us in the 17th century, with the construction of the majestic Palace of Versailles, at the request of Louis XIV, and all the intrigues and problems that this work caused in the French court of the time.

• Year: 2015
• Seasons: 3
• Episodes available: 30
• Approximate duration: 50 minutes

Castamar’s cook

Spanish fiction has always enjoyed great success beyond our borders and, although not detract from other genres, is in the history where it can realize its full potential. On this occasion, we will visit the Madrid of 1750 in the company of a humble cook, a character played by the charismatic Michelle Jenner, who manages to attract the attention of a widowed duke. Her agoraphobia problem, however, will not make things easy for Clara.

• Year: 2021
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes available: 2
• Approximate duration: 60 minutes

A game of gentlemen

If you are interested in the recent past and, in addition, you are passionate or passionate about football, I think this series may be what you were looking for. This historical drama deals with the invention of one of the most popular sports in the world, in 19th century England, how it quickly rose in popularity, and how it changed the rules of a society divided into classes, which used football to integrate social strata unexpectedly.

• Year: 2020
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes available: 6
• Approximate duration: 45 minutes

Alias ​​Grace

Whether you like to know the customs of bygone eras, the aesthetics that are printed in this series of narratives based on true stories, Alias ​​Grace will fascinate you. Without giving you too much insight into the plot, this story focuses on a maid accused of murder and finding out if she is simply a scapegoat or is one of the first serial killers in modern history. Sensational Sarah Gadon’s performance, by the way.

• Year: 2017
• Seasons: 1
• Episodes available: 6
• Approximate duration: 45 minutes

Britannia

A collation of adventures and historical television series, although this last point should be debated calmly, it seems that some countries, we could include Spain among them, have in their centuries of history a lot of fabric to cut. We move, in the plot of the series, to English lands a few years before the birth of Jesus Christ. We set foot in the fresh grass of its hills; we crossed wide meadows in search of adventure, and, finally, we took a bath of Celtic mythology, with powerful wizards stalking the power of the kingdom.

• Year: 2017
• Seasons: 2
• Episodes available: 24
• Approximate duration: 40 minutes

The ministry of time

One of the most innovative, fun, entertaining, and imaginative Spanish series of the present Spanish, as well as a source of knowledge about our history, is now available on HBO Spain. On this occasion, in case you are one of those clueless who never heard about it, you should know that our Government, secretly, has used mysterious doors for centuries that connect different moments in history and that are used to prevent the past from being changed, affecting our future.

• Year: 2015
• Seasons: 4
• Episodes available: 42
• Approximate duration: 70 minutes

Isabel

If we have to talk about period series and we go back to our past, centuries back in time, our country is one of the richest in epic history, and a thousand and one intrigues. The plot of this television series, available on HBO, will revolve around the figure of Isabel la Católica, one of the most influential women in the history of Spain, and whom we can see from her earliest childhood, through her wedding with Fernando de Aragón, until the reconquest of Granada and the expulsion of the Jews. All this with the usual quality of the productions of our land.

• The year 2014
• Seasons: 3
• Episodes available: 39
• Approximate duration: 70 minutes