British Period Pieces on Netflix
Last updated April 19, 2024
Elizabeth R
1971 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsThis Emmy Award-winning miniseries depicts -- with deft attention to historical detail and style -- the extraordinary life of Queen Elizabeth I. Also known as the Virgin Queen, she challenged the status quo and survived plots to overthrow her.
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Bleak House
1985 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsThis production of Charles Dickens's classic is set at the Court of Chancery, where the Jarndyce v. Jarndyce case has dragged on for years. As new evidence is brought to light, a long line of innocent victims are ground down by the legal process.
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The Bounty
1984 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsAfter a month of battling sea squalls and the cruel reign of Capt. William Bligh, the HMS Bounty's crew at last finds respite on Tahiti. But the imperious Bligh soon wants to set sail, and first mate Fletcher Christian leads a full-blown revolt.
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The Buccaneers
1995 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsFour sisters shunned as "new money" by elitist New York society travel to London to look for husbands, where they're courted by numerous suitors. But as old and new worlds clash, something has to give.
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Middlemarch
1994 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsAdapted from George Eliot's novel, this BBC miniseries tells the story of virtuous Dr. Lydgate (Douglas Hodge), who heads up Middlemarch's hospital, and well-do-to Dorothea (Juliet Aubrey), who's determined to help the needy.
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To the Ends of the Earth
2005 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsWithin the confines of a cramped vessel bound for Australia, a naïve young aristocrat learns how to navigate the waters of every social class. But along the way, he must deal with a hostile captain and the constant threat of attack.
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An Ideal Husband
1999 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsWhen a member of Parliament (Jeremy Northam) learns that his career and marriage will suffer scandal unless he submits to a blackmailer (Julianne Moore), he turns his fate over to lifelong bachelor Lord Goring (Rupert Everett), "the idlest man in London." Brimming with witticisms and great performances (including those from Cate Blanchett and Minnie Driver), this big-screen adaptation of Oscar Wilde's stage play sparkles like vintage champagne.
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He Knew He Was Right
2004 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsLouis Trevelyan's refusal to trust his wife, Emily, destroys their marriage and drives him to insanity. He forces her out of their house, hires a seedy private detective to spy on her and kidnaps their son -- with devastating consequences.
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He Knew He Was Right
2004 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsLouis Trevelyan's refusal to trust his wife, Emily, destroys their marriage and drives him to insanity. He forces her out of their house, hires a seedy private detective to spy on her and kidnaps their son -- with devastating consequences.
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Middlemarch
1994 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsAdapted from George Eliot's novel, this BBC miniseries tells the story of virtuous Dr. Lydgate (Douglas Hodge), who heads up Middlemarch's hospital, and well-do-to Dorothea (Juliet Aubrey), who's determined to help the needy. Along the way, the dreams of these two altruists are derailed by bad marriages and selfish people, yet they also play a part in their own demise. Will this deserving pair find happiness in the twisty-turny conclusion?
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Quills
2000 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsThe Marquis de Sade was a provocateur so addicted to words that he used his own blood to write salacious stories while locked away in an asylum. A doctor tries to prevent the Marquis from writing, but a worker is lured into taking his dictation.
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Vatel
2000 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsAn upcoming visit from Louis XIV could bring great political and financial reward to a poor, gout-stricken prince, who entrusts his meticulous and versatile steward, Vatel, to plan three days of festivities for the king's stay.
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The Buccaneers
1995 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsThis top-notch adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel tells the story of sisters Nan and Virginia St. George (Carla Gugino and Alison Elliott) and their friends Lizzy Elmsworth (Rya Kihlstedt) and Conchita Closson (Mira Sorvino). Shunned as "new money" by elitist New York society, the foursome travels to London to look for husbands, where they soon find themselves courted by numerous suitors. But as old and new worlds clash, something has to give.
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Emma
1996 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsThis adaptation of Jane Austen's novel about misguided matchmaking takes a comic look at the romantic meddling of Emma Woodhouse. Emma spends her time arranging friends' romances, never noticing that her own true love is right beneath her nose.
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To the Ends of the Earth
2005 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsDuring a long ocean voyage to Australia in 1812, naïve young aristocrat Edmund Talbot rubs fellow crew members the wrong way with his haughty manner. But within the cramped vessel, Talbot learns how to navigate the waters of every social class.
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Mansfield Park
1983 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsBrought up by her pessimistic uncle (Bernard Hepton), homely Fanny (Sylvestra Le Touzel) continuously endures rejection and snubbing from every person she comes in contact with at her uncle's estate. The only person who doesn't treat her terribly is her cousin Edmund (Nicholas Farrell). As Fanny grows into a lovely young lady, she finds herself torn between Edmund and a wealthy neighbor named Henry Crawford (Robert Burbage).
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Albert Nobbs
2011 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsHaving for decades disguised herself as a man while working as a butler in a posh 19th-century Dublin hotel, a woman calling herself Albert Nobbs reconsiders her charade when a handsome painter arrives on the scene.
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St. Ives
1998 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsDuring the Napoleonic Wars, the British capture French officer Jacques St. Ives and send him to Scotland as a prisoner. He falls in love with local beauty Flora, who's also being courted by the prison warden.
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1492: Conquest of Paradise
1992 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsPoised to benefit from wealth gained after the establishment of trade routes and colonies in far-flung lands, Spain's Queen Isabel (Sigourney Weaver) funds navigator Christopher Columbus's (Gérard Depardieu) historical voyage to the "New World." After traversing the sea with the &NFi;Santa María&NFi_;, &NFi;La Niña &NFi_;and &NFi;La Pinta&NFi_;, Columbus initiates contact between Europeans and indigenous Americans. Ridley Scott directs this sumptuously filmed adventure.
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Mansfield Park
1983 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsBrought up by her pessimistic uncle (Bernard Hepton), homely Fanny (Sylvestra Le Touzel) continuously endures rejection and snubbing from every person she comes in contact with at her uncle's estate. The only person who doesn't treat her terribly is her cousin Edmund (Nicholas Farrell). As Fanny grows into a lovely young lady, she finds herself torn between Edmund and a wealthy neighbor named Henry Crawford (Robert Burbage).
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Jude
1996 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsWith intensity and resolve, stonemason Jude Fawley (Christopher Eccleston) aspires to get a college education, but circumstances work against his bookish ambitions in director Michael Winterbottom's haunting adaptation of Thomas Hardy's final novel, &NFi;Jude the Obscure&NFi_;. Kate Winslet co-stars as the lovely liberated cousin Jude falls in love with, and Rachel Griffiths plays the farmer's daughter who tricks him into matrimony.
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Impromptu
1991 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsIn this critically acclaimed drama set amid the romance of 19th-century Europe, feminist author George Sand falls for Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, but a number of obstacles stand in their way -- including rivals, former lovers and duels.
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The Six Wives of Henry VIII
1970 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsStarring Keith Michell in an Emmy-winning turn as King Henry VIII, this BBC historical drama recounts the lusty monarch's reign from 1509-47 -- and the sometimes-bloody splits from his unlucky wives. Assuming the throne of the House of Tudor as a strapping lad of 17, Henry inherits his brother's widow -- the first in a succession of six women he would marry before injury, illness and obesity led to his demise in 1547.
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Victory
1996 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsAxel Heyst (Willem Dafoe) lives in the Dutch East Indies port of Surabaya, in a hotel owned by a racist German. An all-woman orchestra plays in the hotel each night, and the orchestra owner agrees to "sell" one of the girls, Alma (Irene Jacob), to the German. Heyst saves Alma from this terrible fate and they escape to a remote island, but the German sends the sinister Mr. Jones (Sam Neill) and his bandits to hunt them down.
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Caesar and Cleopatra
1945 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsIn this Oscar-nominated film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's play, the aging Caesar (Claude Rains) comes to Alexandria to tutor young Cleopatra (Vivien Leigh) in the ways of rule, allowing her to wrestle the throne away from her brother, Ptolemy. But as time progresses, Caesar's feelings for Cleopatra turn romantic and he vows to marry her. Stewart Granger co-stars in this epic drama directed by Gabriel Pascal.
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