Dive into a world of hidden historical gems! We're exploring period TV shows that deserve more attention, from Regency romance to Cold War sci-fi. These underrated series offer fresh perspectives on different eras, blending historical accuracy with compelling storytelling.
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00:00Welcome to MissMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for some current, historically
00:10based TV series that deserve more love. We're focusing on shows that are still airing or
00:15have recently finished their runs, keeping it current while keeping it period.
00:20His Majesty named you heir to the crown.
00:25Long live Queen Jelen.
00:32Doesn't it make your spirits soar?
00:35Tom, I can't expect Charlotte to be as excited by a glimpse of salt water as you are.
00:39Stuff and nonsense, I'll wager that within a few days she'll be as keen as mustard on it.
00:44Indeed Mrs Parker, I'm eager to see everything.
00:47In Regency-era England, young Charlotte Hayward holidays in a seaside town undergoing a major
00:53change. Famed TV writer Andrew Davies has a daunting task here. Sanditon was Jane Austen's
00:58last novel, and it was largely unfinished when she died in 1817. Using the completed
01:03chapters, Davies had to imagine the rest of the story in a way that honoured the characters
01:07and the beloved author's tone.
01:09That sounds stimulating.
01:12Yes, well, I suppose it is. But, uh, the normal rules of conduct tend to be relaxed and sometimes
01:20altogether flouted.
01:22The result didn't please some Austen purists. However, the show ran for three solid seasons.
01:27Even if it has a more modern sensibility, Sanditon honours Austen's work with its eye for social
01:32commentary and great acting.
01:34I know young ladies are not expected to have opinions, Lady Denham, but I think that Miss
01:41Lamb is quite right to value her independence. Just as you do yours.
01:46Number 9. Mary and George
01:48Julianne Moore and Red, White and Royal Blue star Nicholas Galatzin lead this scandalous
01:53miniseries set during the reign of King James I of England.
01:58Are you pleased with me?
02:00As a snake, as Eve ate her dark fruit.
02:05If we tread right, George, you'll be yours. Mine. Ours.
02:12Mary and George Villiers are a devious mother and son duo hungry for power.
02:17George adds the King to his growing list of conquests, currying favour and position for his family in the process.
02:23You shall have more titles, land, compensation.
02:29I plan a trip to Scotland.
02:32Come with me as my closest aide.
02:37And now, at this hour, take my chamber. I need you.
02:44Dripping with sex and political intrigue, Mary and George is not exactly married to the historical record.
02:50Instead, it presents a fresh, irreverent look at court life.
02:54As well as the lengths that people will go for social capital and prestige.
02:59The winds of change will blow.
03:02And if you are ready to proudly wear a false face, blood will fall.
03:09But not yours.
03:11Number 8. The Empress
03:30Beginning in the year 1853, this German Netflix series tells the story of how Bavarian Duchess Elisabeth von Wittelsbach
03:37became the Empress of Austria in the aftermath of a revolution.
03:41Marrying Emperor Franz Josef, she suddenly has to manage the duties and limitations of her new role.
03:47Because you're the Empress, you're above him.
03:50And that's exactly why we all hate each other, because we don't behave like humans.
03:53We don't talk, we don't look, we don't touch. What's that supposed to mean?
03:57What do you want to do? Distribute bread?
03:59I'm sorry, Elisabeth, but it's a bit more complicated than that.
04:02The Empress smashed records when it premiered on Netflix in 2022.
04:06Two years later, it premiered a second season.
04:08The show has earned praise for its adherence to historical facts,
04:11while still managing to be as entertaining and dramatic as any of its less accurate counterparts.
04:17I wouldn't have thought that.
04:20That I would send my sister there.
04:23That she would become a real Habsburg.
04:287. All Creatures Great and Small
04:30Alright, let's see what you're made of, shall we?
04:34Let's put forward.
04:40Though not the first adaptation of James Herriot's book series,
04:44it came out during the COVID-19 pandemic and was praised as a necessary,
04:48heartwarming salve during dark times.
04:51All Creatures Great and Small follows three vets working in Yorkshire in the 1930s.
04:56The original author was a real-life veterinarian,
04:58inspired to write about his profession, even appearing as a character in the work.
05:03Excuse me, this is Derby, isn't it?
05:07Derby? No, you want bus for Derby.
05:10The bus for Derby.
05:13You don't half talk, funny.
05:15While it is a period piece, it's much more understated than your average historical drama,
05:19set along more modest everyday spaces,
05:21it's been hailed as a necessary source of escape for its viewers.
05:25These gentlemen will look after you.
05:27You alright finding your own way home?
05:29It's good.
05:33Now, bless us, that was another.
05:36Then we'll get to this pig of mine.
05:386. Acapulco
05:40This story is about me, but it's also about a place that changed everything.
05:47And this is better than Shanghai because...
05:50Wrong attitude.
05:52Based on the 2017 comedy How to Be a Latin Lover,
05:55Eugenio Derbez reprises his role as Maximo Gallardo,
05:59telling the story of how he came to work at an opulent Acapulco resort.
06:03Set mostly during the 1980s, Acapulco is a tale of how young Maximo
06:08infiltrated the intriguing and excessive world of jet-setting vacationers.
06:12It takes a look at a setting rarely seen on TV.
06:15People come here to take a break from their lives,
06:17not to have their lives splashed all over the Enquirer.
06:19So sure, I can tell you why there was a bloodstain right there
06:23that would have landed multiple parties in La Prision.
06:26But I won't. Know why?
06:28Discretion!
06:30Good, let's proceed.
06:31The reviews for the show are miles better than its source material,
06:34but many viewers didn't even find out about it until its second or third season.
06:38With a fourth season on the way, it's the perfect time to delve
06:41into the nostalgic, hilarious delights of Acapulco.
06:44One day, I'm gonna buy one of those mansions in the hills,
06:47and you're gonna buy the one next to me.
06:49And me, you, my mom, Sarah, your family, whatever custom you decide on,
06:54and Julia are all gonna live happily ever after.
06:57It's possible.
06:58Number 5, The Artful Dodger
07:00Show off. Jealous?
07:14Set in 1850s Australia, this Charles Dickens-inspired series
07:18sees Jack Dawkins, formerly the pickpocket known as the Artful Dodger,
07:22putting his quick fingers to more honest use as a surgeon,
07:25following a post-prison stint in the Royal Navy.
07:28However, his fresh start is complicated when his old mentor Fagin shows up,
07:32eager to draw him back into a life of ill repute.
07:35Come on, it's perfect. Cucumber sandwich or ten bit of surgery.
07:40Snatch the rubies. Happy days.
07:44You remember how they glistened, don't you?
07:48Like sun through summer wine, makes you almost want to taste them.
07:52With its engaging capers, interesting balance of historical detail,
07:55with a perspective that skews modern, and superb cast of performers,
08:00The Artful Dodger is an addictive adventure.
08:02Add in the simmering chemistry between Jack and Lady Belle Fox,
08:05a sharp-witted aristocrat with medical ambitions,
08:08and we will gladly empty our pockets to see the next chapter in this story.
08:12Oh yeah. They're in trouble. So much trouble.
08:21Number 4. The Terror
08:22I saw Mr. Collins' soul. I know that's what it was.
08:30And I watched that creature... ingest it.
08:39If you like a heavy dose of chills and thrills with your period dramas,
08:42look no further than AMC's anthology series, The Terror.
08:45The first season takes place on the frozen seas of the Arctic in the 1840s,
08:50while the second is set in a Japanese internment camp during the Second World War.
08:56You... Yuko-san...
09:01How did you...?
09:03Chester! Chester!
09:06Chester, you have to go!
09:10Both narratives are an experiment in historical terror,
09:13bred out of contemporary cultural attitudes and beliefs,
09:16adding an element of mythical evil to some of history's man-made horror stories.
09:20Although it only aired for two seasons so far, a third is set to premiere in 2025.
09:25Your demeanor should be all cheer, gentlemen.
09:29You understand, it's going to be tight, but that's what we signed up for.
09:34An adventure for queen and country.
09:36Number 3. For All Mankind
09:38Part period piece, part alternate history, this Apple TV Plus science fiction drama
09:43posits what might have happened if the Russians got the moon before the United States.
09:48I'm not sure what to say, perhaps there are no words.
09:52So, for now, we'll let you soak in this historic moment
09:58and reflect on what it means for our country and for the world.
10:05Beginning in 1969, each season jumps ahead a decade.
10:09For All Mankind is a beautifully made look into history, and a history that might have been.
10:14This show is equal parts space travel, politics, and Cold War-era paranoia.
10:19While it deviates from recorded history as a result,
10:22it's also steeped in the aesthetics and political atmospheres of the periods it's set in.
10:26If you have a secret, the Russians can use it to blackmail you.
10:31He'll be talking to you eventually, and he's going to be looking for ways to trip you up.
10:35Don't believe anything he tells you.
10:37The show has been praised for its Emmy-winning tie-ins, programming,
10:40but the series itself has been unfairly slept on.
10:43In 2024, it was renewed for a fifth season, and a spin-off was announced.
10:48When we look to the future, we see that things can't... they can get better.
10:55I do believe that.
10:57Number 2, Vikings Valhalla
10:59It was my father's ship. It's fast, tough, and now it's yours.
11:08A spin-off of History Channel's Vikings,
11:10this Netflix series continues the story over a century after the original show ended.
11:14Covering the concluding era of the Vikings' reign of influence and conquest in Europe,
11:19the show differentiated itself quickly by focusing more on battles and adventure storylines.
11:24However, the critical consensus is that it got much better as it went on.
11:28All of you, a hero's welcome awaits you in Constantinople,
11:33and rewards for your bravery.
11:36And you, Harald Sigurdsson, I am in your debt.
11:41By its third and final season, Valhalla's greatness may have become one of TV's best-kept secrets.
11:47Though it ended in 2024, its finale leaves room for the continuing story of Leif Erikson,
11:52Harald Sigurdsson, and the last of the Vikings.
11:56From this day forward, I will make this kingdom the most powerful on Earth,
12:02and I dare any Viking to challenge me!
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12:221. My Lady Jane
12:45Dramatising and poking fun at the mess that was Tudor England after Henry VIII's reign,
12:50My Lady Jane is an irreverent and fantastical retelling of the story of Lady Jane Grey.
12:56Finding herself installed as Queen of England for nine days,
12:59Jane Grey is thrown into a world of devious humans and oppressed shapeshifters.
13:03The highest-ranking Baratheon ability are here for the week.
13:07Stay. Help me convince them to support us.
13:10I'm not a diplomat.
13:12Well, victory is not solely won on the battlefield.
13:16Hearts and minds.
13:19Yeah, something like that.
13:20While it's definitely an innovative approach to period drama, it found a small and dedicated audience.
13:26Despite this, it was cancelled after airing eight episodes.
13:29Fans were outraged, starting a petition for Amazon to revive the show.
13:33Even Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin lent his support to the cause.
13:38There's no time like the present to see what all the fuss is about.
13:42Our kingdom needs unity.
13:44And a leader who is willing to fight for it.
13:48Did we miss your favorite under-the-radar historical series?
13:51Let us know in the comments.
14:00Do you agree with our picks?
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