Dramatic or sentimental historical television series

Dto the deep Middle Ages to the Cold War, from the England of Henry VIII to the Italy of Tangentopoli: historical, dramatic or sentimental television series never fade away. Whether they are faithful stories or the result of many poetic licenses, it is a kind that it combines a touch of realism and the emotions of a world far from us.

Among the most loved there are Downton Abbey and its perfect cast locked in a complex universe of rules and social conventions, as well as the dramatizations on Sissi in The Empress and Livia Drusilla in Dominate, key figure of the Roman Empire. But by “historical television series” we also mean those historiographically closer to our time, for example the trilogy 1992, 1993, 1994. A format which, addressing the last thirty years, shows the face of an Italy that seems to have disappeared but which continues to feed on the same, same anxieties.

Dramatic or sentimental historical television series

Dominate (Sky and NOW)

A historical and biographical account of life of Livia Drusilla, wife of the Roman Emperor Augustus. In ancient Rome between civil wars and in the shadow of the Republic, a magnetic woman thirsty for revenge lives and fights. Kasia Smutniak is a convincing Livia Drusilla: guest star, the shining Isabella Rossellini.

The name of the Rose (RaiPlay)

The novel by Umberto Eco divided into 8 episodes that tell the story the historical medieval fresco of the Franciscan friar William of Baskerville (John Turturro) and his young Benedictine novice, Adso da Melk (Damian Hardung). The two will find themselves at the center of a series of mysterious crimes in an isolated abbey. A prestigious Italian-German production that sees the cast includes Rupert Everett and Fabrizio Bentivoglio.

The Doctors (RaiPlay, Prime Video)

Renaissance Florencepalace intrigues and conspiracies of the House of Medici. A historical dramaa grandiloquent fresco with a large budget that tells, between reality and fantasy, bitter power struggles in which every means is permissible. There’s no shortage of them moments with a high level of sensuality. There’s Dustin Hoffman, Brian Cox and the Italians Miriam Leone and Alessandro Preziosi.

The Tudors (Prime, Timvision)

The reign of Henry VIII in 16th century England and the progeny problems of a passionate and cruel king (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). A drama series whose perfect historical political background shows greater attention to the vicissitudes of a sovereign under the sheetsmore than on the throne. In the cast there are also two sidereal stars like Peter O’Toole and Max Von Sydow.

The Empress (Netflix)

A historical series like its protagonist, Empress Sissi. The story of his life set in the mid-nineteenth century is in a decidedly less romanticized way and above all devoid of that soft hagiography that that of the fifties with Romy Schneider lacks. Was it true love, the one with Franz? Yes, but the reason of state and the mournful events that punctuated their lives made it more real and with very interesting sociological nuances.

Brigands (Netflix)

The series Brigands describes in fictional form Southern Italy in the mid-nineteenth century the phenomenon of brigandage. A historical – and all too simplistic – vision that shows banditry not as a delinquent element but a popular movement against the invader. The wild landscapes and the customs of the women of Calabria are splendid, who play a leading role in the story.

The Lions of Sicily (Disney+)

An Italian production with an international scope, based on the novel by Stefania Auci, tells the true exploits of the Florio dynasty. Wealth as a measure of the world, revolutionary movements, fallen nobility are the historical background for the strong bond of love between Giulia (Miriam Leone) and Vincenzo (Michele Riondino).

The Gilded Age (Sky and NOW)

Class struggle in New York between the wealthy descendants of the Mayflower pilgrims and the nouveau riche of the late nineteenth century. At the turn of two centuries, the sweet and bitter life of two families: one tries to maintain the status quo, the other wants to enter the society that matters. In the background, the complicated lives of their servants. With the excellent Carrie Coon (Fargo, the series) and the superlative Christine Baranski (The Good Wife).

The Alienist (Netflix)

In the footsteps of a serial killer in late nineteenth-century New York. Due to a long series of ferocious crimes, whose victims are teenage males who prostitute themselves, the police ask Dr. Laszlo for help (Daniel Brühl). A professional who studies the human mind called The Alienist. A compelling story that shows the steps of science and the style of the timebetween high society balls and gruesome deviations at the expense of the less wealthy classes.

Downton Abbey (Sky and NOW, Prime Video)

The queen of historical dramas, Downton Abbey it’s one perfect reconstruction of the habits and customs of the early twentieth century Anglo-Saxon. It follows the events of an aristocratic family, the Earls of Grantham, and the equally compelling events of their servants. Between a fox hunt and a five o’clock tea, in six seasons he won all the category awards. We eagerly await the third and final cinematic episodewhich will arrive in theaters in September 2025. Paul Giamatti will also be in the cast.

The law of Lidia Poët (Netflix)

The true story of Lidia Poët from Turin, the first female lawyer in Italy. Net of poetic license it is one of the most feminist and modern characters among historical television series. Matilda De Angelis is Lidia, ready to fight for the right to vote, defend the weakest and flirt freely between a ball in evening dress and humor Bridgerton.

Mindhunter (Netflix)

Mindhunter it’s not just a perfect drama produced by David Fincher inserted into a historical fact but It is among the series most missed by fans. It deserved at least a third season. The journey to 1977 and into criminal minds in the company of Holden (Jonathan Groff) and Bill (Holt McCallany) is really compelling. The two FBI agents they interrogate psychopathic murderers and they lay the foundations of the serial killer profiler.

The Deuce – the way to porn (Sky and NOW)

Once again New Yorkits multifaceted history and the spectacular drama of the birth of pornographic cinema as we know it today. The Deuce it’s a trip in the late seventies in the decadent and vital reality of Times Square. A place where everything is excess: prostitution, drugs, sex, violence and crime. James Franco in the double role of two twins: one good and the other much less.

The Americans (Disney+, Prime Video)

The Cold War, the former Soviet Union, Reagan’s America are the backdrop to this drama series starring two KGB agents. Two Russian spies live in Washington in the mid-1980s they pretend to be Americans. To cover their true identity, they obey orders and, despite not loving each other, they get married and start a family.

But what was a mission becomes love. Actors Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell did as their protagonists: pretending on set to be a couple, they really fell in love.

1992,1993,1994 (Sky and NOW)

Born from an idea by Stefano Accorsi, is a series that explores a phase of little explored Italian history, that of Tangentopoli. A incandescent three-year period, from 1992 to 1994, by relevant political and social changes. The excellent arrests of the pool of magistrates headed by Antonio Di Pietro, the corruption of entrepreneurs and politicians, the birth of Forza Italia and Berlusconi’s television. The protagonists are Stefano Accorsi himself, Guido Caprino, Domenico Diele, Miriam Leone.

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