Finished watching ‘East of Eden’? Here are 11 more period dramas to binge

Forget aristocratic ballrooms and royal courts. Ponies takes us to 1970s Moscow, where Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson play two embassy wives who are recruited by the CIA after their husbands die under mysterious circumstances. Dismissed as “persons of no interest”, the women find themselves navigating Cold War conspiracies and learning to play a dangerous game of espionage. The show flew under the radar this year, which is a shame because watching two seemingly ordinary women outwitting the CIA is genuinely entertaining. Clarke’s eyebrows deserve a supporting-character credit of their own, and I’m still taking the show’s cancellation rather personally.

Imagine a group of wealthy American girls arriving in London with money, opinions, and very little patience for British aristocratic conventions. Based on Edith Wharton's unfinished novel, The Buccaneers follows five young women navigating society, marriage, and independence in the 1870s. The elaborate gowns and grand estates are lovely, but the show is also interested in what happens when women refuse to play by the rules. Christina Hendricks and Leighton Meester add star power to the ensemble, and, thankfully, a third season is on the way.

If you haven’t been able to get enough of Florence Pugh in East of Eden, here’s another period drama to add to your watchlist. In The Wonder, Pugh plays an English nurse sent to an Irish village to investigate a young girl who supposedly hasn’t eaten for months and is still perfectly healthy. Based on Emma Donoghue’s novel, the film unfolds into a tense mystery about religion, family secrets, and the stories people choose to believe. Pugh is excellent as a woman trying to make sense of a community determined to protect its beliefs, while the muted Victorian costumes and haunting landscapes make the whole thing even more unsettling.

While you wait for the next season of The Pitt and find yourself in the mood for another period drama, The Knick is well worth a watch. Set in a New York hospital in 1900, the series follows a brilliant but troubled surgeon, played by Clive Owen, as he pushes the boundaries of medicine in an era when even routine operations could be fatal. Alongside its fascinating (and very body horror-coded) surgical procedures, the show explores racism, addiction, and the ethics of medical progress. It ran for just two seasons, making it an excellent weekend binge, provided you have the stomach for some seriously graphic operating-room scenes.

Elle Fanning stars as Catherine the Great in this gloriously irreverent take on the Russian empress’s rise to power. She arrives at court as a young bride expecting a grand romance, only to discover that her husband, Peter III, is spectacularly awful. What follows involves palace coups, political manoeuvring, murder, and some truly extravagant costumes. Nicholas Hoult is equally entertaining as Peter, and the show’s sharp humour has already earned it multiple Emmy nominations.

Based on Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, this adaptation follows an imaginative orphan who finds a home with siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert in the Canadian countryside. Amybeth McNulty brings plenty of heart to Anne, whose big imagination and outspoken nature get her into trouble as often as they win people over. Beyond its lovely countryside and old-fashioned dresses, the series tackles bullying, racism, gender inequality, and belonging. Fans were devastated when Netflix cancelled it after three seasons, and the campaign to bring it back became almost as memorable as the show itself.

Anya Taylor-Joy became a global star playing Beth Harmon, a chess prodigy who rises through a male-dominated competitive circuit while struggling with addiction and loneliness. Adapted from Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel, the miniseries makes chess tournaments surprisingly tense, even for viewers who couldn’t tell a bishop from a rook. Beth’s wardrobe evolves alongside her ambitions, moving from modest outfits to sharp, geometric looks that have since become iconic. With its retro interiors, carefully constructed matches, and compelling central performance, this is one period drama that even non-chess players can get hooked on.

Brie Larson plays Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant scientist whose career is derailed by the sexism of 1950s America. When she unexpectedly becomes the host of a television cooking show, Zott uses the opportunity to teach housewives a little chemistry along with their dinner recipes. Adapted from Bonnie Garmus’s bestselling novel, the series combines gorgeous mid-century kitchens and immaculate dresses with a story about women’s ambitions, grief, and the struggle to be taken seriously.

One of those shows that keeps popping up on lists of the greatest television series of the 21st century, Mad Men follows Don Draper and his colleagues at a Manhattan advertising agency through the changing social landscape of 1960s America. Jon Hamm leads a stellar cast, with Elisabeth Moss and Christina Hendricks delivering equally memorable performances. Between the sharp suits, fitted dresses, and mid-century interiors, there’s plenty to admire visually, while the office politics, sexism, and carefully maintained secrets make for compelling viewing.

Cillian Murphy stars as Tommy Shelby, the calculating head of a Birmingham gang trying to turn its criminal operation into a powerful empire in the aftermath of the First World War. With razor-sharp tailoring, flat caps, and plenty of political scheming, Peaky Blinders has become as much a fashion reference as a gripping crime drama. Once you’ve made your way through all six seasons, there’s also Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, the feature film that continues Tommy’s story, so you can stay in the Shelby family’s world a little longer.

Obviously, Bridgerton is the most predictable pick on any period-drama list, but there’s a reason it keeps coming up. Shondaland’s adaptation of Julia Quinn’s novels has practically set the tone for modern costume dramas, from its candy-coloured gowns and elaborate ballroom scenes to its pop songs reimagined as orchestral covers. Following the Bridgerton siblings through London’s marriage market, the show mixes romance and scandal with a generous dose of social intrigue. And if you’ve already binged all the seasons, Queen Charlotte offers another glimpse into the royal world behind all that Regency-era glamour. And we hear that another spin-off based on the Bridgerton matriarch is on the way.