Highlights
-
Shōgun
is brutally honest about medieval Japan, showcasing political intrigue and chilling action scenes. -
Barbarians, Vikings,
and
Marco Polo
offer similarly thrilling historical drama series to watch. -
House of Ninjas,
set in modern Japan, follows a family balancing ancient shinobi traditions with modern life.
Historical drama is a genre that enjoys consistent popularity, although some eras, cultures, and countries are more popular than others. The new hit series Shōgun, a brutally honest and realistic portrayal of the late medieval era in Japan, is a recent example.
Produced by Disney and currently available on both streaming services the entertainment giant curates, Disney+ and Star+, Shōgun is about political intrigue and chilling action scenes as much as stunning costuming and brilliant set pieces. For viewers interested in other TV series made in the same spirit and with the same budget and high-profile names, here are a few suggestions.
6 Barbarians (2020)
IMDb Rating: 7.2
- Production Company: Gaumont International Television
- Seasons: 2
- Streaming Service: Netflix
The title in the original German is Barbaren, and the whole show is spoken in both German and Classical Latin with English subtitles. It takes some historical and creative license, but it’s based on a series of actual events that took place near the Rhine River in 9 AD.
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest is the final episode of season one, in which a group of Germanic tribes destroyed several Roman legions after a few decades of occupation, coercion, and taxation. Each of the three main characters has their own personal ambitions in this ancient historical event.
Arminius was a child of the Barbarians, but he was taken by the invaders as a child and returned as a Roman officer. Thusnelda, his old friend from the days before the occupation, is the oldest child of the chief of the Cherusci tribe but has a falling out with her father. Folkwin, their mutual friend, ends up caught between them.
5 Vikings (2013)
IMDb Rating: 8.5
- Production Company: Take 5 Productions and others
- Seasons: 7
- Streaming Service: Amazon Prime
A series that was made in Canada and enjoyed a run of seven seasons, Vikings was so popular it was part of the zeitgeist that made those notorious ancient marauders trendy for several years. The story is based on a 12th-century Scandinavian saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, among other sources, a chieftain who started as a farmer and rose to prominence as a successful raider and eventually a king.
Ragnar’s adventures took him to Ireland, England, and other nearby regions, and the story continues into the 13th century with the further travels of his children. His sons went as far as the eastern reaches of the Mediterranean and even the shores of North America.
4 Marco Polo (2014)
IMDb Rating: 8.0
- Production Company: The Weinstein Company TV, Electus
- Seasons: 2
- Streaming Service: Netflix
The journey of Marco Polo is already a famous one that many people know as common knowledge, and this Netflix series is based on that true story. Marco Polo focuses on his early years as a traveler to China and, eventually, his early life in the court of Kublai Khan, the ruler of the Mongol Empire. Other historical figures like Empress Chabi, Khan’s favorite wife, and his sons Kaidu and Jingim, also make appearances.
The time frame is the late 11th or 12th century, in the decades before the rise of the Yuan Dynasty, and trade items from China were a valuable commodity in Europe. This is partly why Niccolò Polo, the father of Marco and a Venetian merchant, was persuaded to leave his son behind in exchange for access to such rare and valuable goods.
3 House Of Ninjas (2024)
IMDb Rating: 7.2
- Production Company: Netflix
- Seasons: 1
- Streaming Service: Netflix
Not strictly a historical drama, but one that uses the aesthetic of one even as it takes place in present-day Japan. House of Ninjas tells the story of the Tawara family, who honor the ancient shinobi traditions as they have for centuries. When the eldest son is killed during a mission, they abandon their ninja lifestyle, at least for a while, until the underworld draws them back.
Soichi Tawara is the family patriarch, and he returns to running a brewery after losing his son. His wife, daughter, and younger son continue their covert missions using the traditional shinobi code. These secret tasks include thefts and espionage as much as assassinations and rescues, so it has a lot of suspense and mystery along with a stark contrast between ancient and modern life.
2 Britannia (2018)
IMDb Rating: 6.9
- Production Company: Sky Atlantic, Amazon Prime, Epix
- Seasons: 3
- Streaming Service: Amazon Prime
Set in 43 AD, the same time the Romans invaded Britain for the second time, Britannia isn’t just the story of the invaders but also the local tribal people and their Druid leaders. General Aulus Plautius was a real politician and general who served Rome in the first century, and the conquest of Britain almost a century after Julius Caesar’s initial failure became his responsibility.
Other characters featured in the series are fictional but could have existed given the historical context, such as Cait of the Cantii tribe and Divis the exiled Druid. The story of Britannia isn’t just about resisting the occupiers, but also about the local tribes and leaders vying for power among themselves.
1 Faraway Downs (2023)
IMDb Rating: 6.9
- Production Company: Disney
- Seasons: 1
- Streaming Service: Star+
There was a movie released in 2008 with the same name, and both versions of Faraway Downs are based on the same story of an English aristocrat, Lady Sarah Ashley, who travels to Australia in 1939 to find her estranged husband. When he dies, she becomes the sole owner of a very valuable cattle ranch in the Outback, and she has to fight the harsh elements and corrupt local robber barons to keep it.
Sarah enlists the help of Drover, a worker on the ranch, and eventually, the two of them have a torrid romance while World War II and local political drama swirl around them. The whole story is told through the eyes of Nullah, a bi-racial child from an Indigenous background and a victim of the government’s “Stolen Generations” policy.