I will say, it felt like 2025 was somewhat bereft of period dramas– it feels like we usually get far more. (I wish that networks and streamers would see that we are dedicated watchers and will rewatch!) Still, there were still some standout shows that I thought carried 2025. These are my favourite 2025 period dramas!
My Favourite 2025 Period Dramas
I gravitated towards series this year over films. Other than the Downton Abbey finale film, there weren’t many “you have to watch me” period drama films. I will be honest, I am somewhat surprised that we did not get any Jane Austen film adaptations in 2025 with the 250th anniversary of her birth but she was at least represented in a television series this year, and another in 2026!
Note, as always: I look at period dramas as creative endeavours first, not documentaries relaying fact. Producers, writers, costumers, etc get to be creative. I would rather a period drama be inaccurate and get people interested in the period, place, or person, than be a textbook on screen.
Miss Austen
Based on Gill Hornby’s novel of the same name, Miss Austen was a four-part mini-series following Cassandra Austen, Jane’s older sister. I will admit, I was neither here nor there for the novel (it was very slow-moving for me), but I really enjoyed the show. I thought Keeley Hawes’ portrayal of Cassandra to be thoughtful and moving, as well as Patsy Ferran’s younger Jane. I am very much looking forward to the follow-up season, whenever it will be airing! (From my understanding, the second season based on Miss Austen Regrets started filming in the latter half of 2025. Perhaps in 2026!)
House of Guinness
I know that this was a contentious choice, but I really enjoyed House of Guinness and I am sad that we are not getting a second season. (Given that it aired in Sept 2025 and we’ve heard nothing thus far, I’m not getting my hopes up but I would love to be wrong.) The Guinness family was a major player in nineteenth and early twentieth century Dublin, and as someone who did their MA in Irish history in Dublin, I was happy to see them on the screen. Politics, family drama, romance, labour disputes, it is all in the mix of the House of Guinness.
My only tiny qualm is that I would have loved to see it actually filmed in Dublin, it is an iconic city!
The Gilded Age, Season 3
As always, I adore The Gilded Age, and the third season was no exception. We are back in Bertha Russell’s New York, and this increasingly-complex social network crossed the Atlantic to include the British aristocracy with Gladys’ marriage. (I think that viewers were very heavy-handed in their interpretations swearing up and down that Gladys was a stand-in for Consuelo Vanderbilt- once again, writers and creators get to create their own story in their period drama…) I love that Jullian Fellowes is slowly expanding this world, and I am excited to see what comes in season 4!
Outrageous
Another debatable inclusion for some, but I also loved Outrageous. Just like the Guinnesses, the Mitfords were a fascinating society family in the first half of the twentieth century. (And yes, Diana Mitford did marry Bryan Guinness of that Guinness family.) The production had a smaller budget as a BritBox production, but I think they did a great job of bringing Nancy, Diana, Pamela, Unity, Jessica, and Deborah to life. Nancy is one of my favourite authors, and Bessie Carter’s Nancy was brilliant! (The other actors for the sisters were also great, but Carter has become one of my favourites.) This is another period drama that has been left hanging but there has been no confirmation of another season.
What are your favourite 2025 period dramas?
Cheers,
The Historian
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