10 Best Period Dramas to Watch While Waiting for Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2

After setting a record for views on Netflix after its premiere, Bridgerton has finally returned with a third season.

If you've already binged a new chapter in the life of an influential family and can't wait for the second part, then it's time to check out other historical shows that will help you pass this month.

1. Sanditon, 2019-2023

Based on Jane Austen's unfinished novel, this costume drama follows Charlotte as she moves to the small seaside village of Sanditon. Here she is destined to meet Sidney, a proud and cold young man.

The British series has plenty for Bridgerton fans – from dramatic twists to stunning costumes. An interesting fact is that after Bridgerton was released, Sanditon experienced a surge in popularity, which helped the show stay afloat.

2. The Buccaneers, 2023-...

Based on Edith Wharton's unfinished novel, this series takes viewers back to the 1870s. Freedom-loving New Yorkers invade English society on the eve of debutante season. Nan, Jinny, Mabel and Lizzy come to London to visit their friend Conchita, who has just become the wife of a nobleman whose cold family makes her homesick.

Girlfriends teach the British to laugh, dance, and not hide their feelings. The Buccaneers is often compared to Bridgerton. There are indeed points of intersection: both shows look at a bygone era through the prism of feminism and set to modern music. While the Netflix hit hasn't come out with the second part of its third season, the story of American women in the UK could be a more than worthy replacement.

3. Grand Hotel, 2011-2013

Julio travels to the town of Cantaloa, where the luxurious Grand Hotel is located, a place for the richest members of the Spanish aristocracy. His sister works there as a maid, but when Julio arrives, he is told that his sister has been fired for theft: no one knows where she disappeared to, and the girl has been out of contact for a month.

The whole story seems strange to Julio, and he gets a job as a waiter at the hotel to find out what really happened. At the same time, he meets Alicia, the daughter of the hotel owners, who is confronted by her mother with the fact that she is engaged to an old family friend, Diego.

4. The Pursuit of Love, 2021

In the three-episode miniseries, Lily James and Emily Beecham play cousins and best friends who discover the world together between the wars. Fate takes them to different places, both geographically and socially, but the girls maintain a close bond from year to year.

The action takes place about a hundred years after the events of Bridgerton, which does not prevent the two projects from finding common ground. It's still the same good old England, and the same aristocrats.

5. The Gilded Age, 2022-...

The series revolves around the daughter of a bankrupt general, Marian Brook. The young lady moves in with her aunts and enters New York's high society.

The HBO project, released after the premiere of Bridgerton, was doomed to be compared with the Netflix show. In fact, the two historical epics have a lot in common: from the interweaving of numerous story arcs to the eternal conflict of generations.

6. Gentleman Jack, 2019-2022

Gentleman Jack is a project about the daring 19th century businesswoman Anne Lister. The script is based on Lister's real diaries, some of which contain juicy details of her adventures.

The story, created by Sally Wainwright, begins in 1832 when Anne returns to the estate to mend her broken heart. There she discovers that her family's affairs are in decline and the former manager is seriously ill. Nicknamed "Gentleman Jack," the woman plunges not only into the problems of running a business, but also into a maelstrom of romantic adventures.

7. Belgravia, 2020

Based on the novel by Julian Fellowes, this historical drama tells the story of life in an aristocratic area of London in the 19th century.

The action begins with the famous ball given by the Duchess of Richmond in 1815, two days before the Battle of Waterloo. Among the guests are James and Anne Trenchard, whose young daughter Sophia attracts the attention of Edmund Bellasis, the son and heir of one of England's wealthiest families.

Unfortunately, almost immediately after the ball, most of the officers of the British army went to war, from which Edmund was not destined to return. After some time, Sophia also dies in childbirth. Twenty-six years later, the Trenchards and Bellasis return to Belgravia, where the events of the past suddenly find their way into the present.

8. Dickinson, 2019-2021

One of Bridgerton’s main topics of is the role of women in society. And if Daphne Bridgerton is the perfect embodiment of 19th century ideas about young ladies, then her younger sister Eloise is a true rebel who dreams of an education and a career.

Dickinson is the story of such a rebel: smart, free-thinking, and determined. And the plot is based on the biography of Emily Dickinson.

Emily writes poems in secret from her family. But when the opportunity arises to publish one of her works, she is tormented by how her parents will react. Another blow for Emily is that her brother has proposed to her best friend and plans to move to Detroit with her after the wedding.

9. War & Peace, 2016

The six-episode British miniseries is based on a script by Andrew Davies, who adapted the novel of the same name by Leo Tolstoy. At the beginning of the story, the main characters, young noblemen, believe that all roads are open to them, and minor difficulties only help to move more confidently towards their goal.

But soon Russia will enter the era of Napoleonic wars, which will lead the world to irreversible changes, and the fates of the characters will be more closely intertwined than they expected.

10. The Cook of Castamar, 2021

Even though Bridgerton is set in 19th-century London and the Spanish show is set in 18th-century Madrid, there are some similarities between the Netflix projects. At the very least, we see the return of giant wigs and extravagant gowns.

In The Cook of Castamar, the story begins with the daughter of a famous doctor who is left with nothing after the death of her father. The only thing the girl knows is how to cook delicious dishes. This leads her to Castamar Castle, where secret passions are the favorite hobbies of the country's rich.