The Gilded Age is another offering from Julian Fellowes, the renowned creator of the very popular costume drama Downton Abbey. Like its predecessor, this series is very much about a pivotal period in history when the old rules are changing and those who are at the top of the social hierarchy are trying to figure out just what to do with the changing tides of history.
Fortunately for fans of The Gilded Age, there are plenty of similar shows to check out.
Downton Abbey (2010-2015)
Stream On Amazon Prime
Those who enjoy the many pleasures of The Gilded Age will also find much to enjoy in Downton Abbey.
Focusing as it does on the intertwined fates of both the upstairs nobles and the downstairs domestic staff at the titular estate, it’s a show that leans into its identity as a costume drama, with sumptuous furnishings, exquisite clothes, and of course its sweeping musical score. It’s also full of some great characters, which means that it’s a drama that is also about the lives of individual people caught up in the maelstrom of modernity.
Brideshead Revisited (1981)
Stream On Amazon
Starring Jeremy Irons (in one of his best roles) and Anthony Andrews, Brideshead Revisited is widely regarded as one of the best costume dramas ever made.
Like many other stories of this kind, Brideshead is very much about the tumultuous period of the 1920s to the 1940s, when British society and the world at large were changing. At the same time, it is also a drama very much focused on the romances of Irons’ character, as well as his friendship with a Catholic family.
Belgravia (2020)
Stream On EPIX
Even though he is most famous for creating Downton Abbey, Fellowes has also created several other series, including Belgravia.
Set in the fashionable district of London, the story focuses on a pair of families whose fates and fortune become increasingly intertwined. It is structured very much like a Victorian novel, with lots of changes of fortune, marriages that are nearly derailed, and a surprise happy ending. It is, in short, exactly the type of period melodrama that Fellowes in particular excels at creating.
Bridgerton (2020- )
Stream On Netflix
A great part of the appeal of a series like The Gilded Age is its emphasis on costume and on emotion. Both of those are very much on offer in Bridgerton, one of the better Netflix series to have appeared in the last several years. The first season focuses on the fraught and at times volatile romance between Daphne Bridgerton and the prickly Duke Simon Basset.
There’s an undeniable chemistry between the two romantic leads, and the series uses their romance to shine a light o the repressive social regime of the era.
The Tudors
Stream On Netflix (2007- 2010)
Showtime has been responsible for many great original shows, and The Tudors deserves to be seen as one of them.
Like The Gilded Age, which looks at a pivotal period in American history, The Tudors examines a similarly fraught moment in the history of England, when the love life of its monarch, Henry VIII, had a tremendous impact both on his kingdom and on the fortunes of England as a whole. It’s a powerful and at times soapy costume drama that still has the power to entertain.
Outlander (2014- )
Stream On Netflix
Even though it doesn’t have quite as many high-profile series as its competitors, there’s no question that Outlander has become one of the best Starz originals.
Focusing on a World War II nurse who is transported back into 18th century Scotland, it’s a powerful romantic story that demonstrates the ability of love to transcend time. Those who enjoy the way that The Gilded Age transports viewers back to an earlier period of American history will also adore this series.
Victoria (2016-2019)
Stream On Amazon Prime
Queen Victoria is renowned as one of the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarchs, so it makes sense that she would receive the television series treatment. The series Victoria focuses in large part on her youth as she struggles to live up to the many expectations that people have of her as queen.
Just as The Gilded Age shows the many forces at work in New York society during the last few decades of the 19th century, so Victoria shows the upheaval of a slightly earlier period of history.
The Great (2020)
Stream On Hulu
There are many irreverent history series like The Great, but the show also does some things that really set it apart. In particular, its biting sense of humor, not to mention the powerful dynamic between the leads–Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult–ensures that it has an appeal that is all its own.
What’s more, despite the fact that it takes some liberties with historical facts, it is very much like The Gilded Age in that it aims to show some particular truths about this period in history and the people who lived it.
The White Princess (2017)
Stream On Hulu
Jodie Comer has been in many great movies and TV shows, but her role as Elizabeth of York in The White Princess is one of the best.
Like the characters of The Gilded Age, Elizabeth finds herself caught at the center of profound political change, as a new regime takes charge of England and she is forced to make terrible choices between her love for her family and her hope for the future. It’s a powerful drama that demonstrates the fraught position that female monarchs often face in a world that is dominated by men.
The Crown (2016-)
Stream On Netflix
The Crown is another series that is rightly regarded as one of the best that Netflix has ever made, and its central character, Queen Elizabeth, remains one of Olivia Colman’s best roles.
Like the work of Julian Fellowes, this story is very much about the advent of modernity, and how the shifting tides of the 20th century have come to have a profound impact not just on the individual royals, but also on the institution of the Crown itself. As a result, it provides a remarkably intimate and piercing view of one of the most important organizations in the United Kingdom.