Best Historical Drama Movies & TV Shows

Rise of the Conqueror

In the 14th-century, as the Silk Road crumbles and rival factions tear the land apart, fearless warrior Timur emerges from exile. Stripped of everything, he fights to unite the fractured kingdoms, using strategy and sheer will to carve an empire from chaos. Undefeated in battle and widely regarded as one of history’s greatest military leaders and tacticians, not to mention one of its most brutal, Timur would found the Timurid Empire, which ruled over modern-day Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia.

Run time: 119m Release: 2026-04-09

Stars: Arazou Baker Aziz Beyshenaliev Christian Mortensen Dulguun Odkhuu Joshua Jo Mahesh Jadu Maruf Otajonov Paul Marlon Sanzhar Madi Yulduz Rajabova

Hell on Wheels

9 / 10

The epic story of post-Civil War America, focusing on Cullen Bohannon, a Confederate soldier who sets out to exact revenge on the Union soldiers who killed his wife. His journey takes him west to Hell on Wheels, a dangerous, raucous, lawless melting pot of a town that travels with and services the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, an engineering feat unprecedented for its time.

Stars: Angela Zhou Anson Mount Byron Mann Christopher Heyerdahl Colm Meaney Phil Burke Robin McLeavy Tim Guinee

The Borgias

8 / 10

Set in 15th century Italy at the height of the Renaissance, The Borgias chronicles the corrupt rise of patriarch Rodrigo Borgia to the papacy, where he proceeds to commit every sin in the book to amass and retain power, influence and enormous wealth for himself and his family.

Stars: François Arnaud Holliday Grainger Jeremy Irons Sean Harris Sebastian de Souza Thure Lindhardt

The Tudors

8 / 10

The Tudors is a history-based drama series following the young, vibrant King Henry VIII, a competitive and lustful monarch who navigates the intrigues of the English court and the human heart with equal vigor and justifiable suspicion.

Stars: Anthony Brophy David O'Hara Henry Cavill Jonathan Rhys Meyers Laoise Murray Lothaire Bluteau Max Brown Sarah Bolger Tamzin Merchant Torrance Coombs

Band of Brothers

9 / 10

Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as their journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men from paratrooper training in Georgia through the end of the war. As an elite rifle company parachuting into Normandy early on D-Day morning, participants in the Battle of the Bulge, and witness to the horrors of war, the men of Easy knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear - and became the stuff of legend. Based on Stephen E. Ambrose's acclaimed book of the same name.

Stars: Damian Lewis Donnie Wahlberg James Madio Kirk Acevedo Michael Cudlitz Neal McDonough Rick Gomez Ron Livingston Scott Grimes Tom Hardy

Vikings

9 / 10

The adventures of Ragnar Lothbrok, the greatest hero of his age. The series tells the sagas of Ragnar's band of Viking brothers and his family, as he rises to become King of the Viking tribes. As well as being a fearless warrior, Ragnar embodies the Norse traditions of devotion to the gods. Legend has it that he was a direct descendant of Odin, the god of war and warriors.

Stars: Alex Høgh Andersen Danila Kozlovsky Georgia Hirst Jordan Patrick Smith Marco Ilsø Peter Franzén

Two Prosecutors

In 1937, amidst Stalin's Great Terror, a newly appointed prosecutor for the USSR is made aware of alleged corruption in the Secret Police, and takes it upon himself to investigate.

Run time: 118m Release: 2025-10-03

Stars: Aleksandr Filippenko Aleksandr Kuznetsov Anatoliy Belyy Andris Keišs Ivgeny Terletsky Orests Paško Valentin Novopolskij Vytautas Kaniušonis

Nickel Boys

Chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.

Run time: 140m Release: 2024-10-25

Stars: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Brandon Wilson Daveed Diggs Ethan Herisse Fred Hechinger Gralen Bryant Banks Hamish Linklater Luke Tennie Sara Osi Scott Sunny Mabrey

The Crown

The gripping, decades-spanning inside story of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who shaped Britain's post-war destiny. The Crown tells the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world – Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street – and the intrigues, love lives and machinations behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century. Two houses, two courts, one Crown.

Stars: Claudia Harrison Dominic West Imelda Staunton Jonathan Pryce Lesley Manville Marcia Warren

Shōgun

In Japan in the year 1600, at the dawn of a century-defining civil war, Lord Yoshii Toranaga is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him, when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village.

Stars: Anna Sawai Cosmo Jarvis Fumi Nikaido Hiroyuki Sanada Tadanobu Asano Takehiro Hira Tommy Bastow

The Last Kingdom

9 / 10

A show of heroic deeds and epic battles with a thematic depth that embraces politics, religion, warfare, courage, love, loyalty and our universal search for identity. Combining real historical figures and events with fictional characters, it is the story of how a people combined their strength under one of the most iconic kings of history in order to reclaim their land for themselves and build a place they call home.

Stars: Alexander Dreymon Arnas Fedaravičius Eliza Butterworth Harry Gilby James Northcote Mark Rowley Phia Saban Ruby Hartley Stefanie Martini Timothy Innes

Peaky Blinders

9 / 10

A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby, who means to move up in the world.

Stars: Cillian Murphy Natasha O'Keeffe Paul Anderson Sophie Rundle

Schindler’s List

The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.

Run time: 195m Tagline: Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire. Release: 1993-12-15

Stars: Béatrice Macola Ben Kingsley Caroline Goodall Embeth Davidtz Jonathan Sagall Liam Neeson Malgorzata Gebel Mark Ivanir Ralph Fiennes Shmuel Levy