Best historical shows on Netflix (2023)
If you'd like to immerse in past eras and imagine yourself as a viking, a spy of the Cold War epoch, an empress, or a female lawyer in the 19th century, all this becomes possible on Netflix. Here we bring you our selection of best historical series and period dramas you can watch on the streaming platform.
Seven Kings Must Die
April 14 will be a must-visit Netflix day for fans of The Last Kingdom series. There will be a premiere of the film Seven Kings Must Die, a sequel to the show; in it, we will find out how the adventures of Untried of Bebbanburg (Alexander Dreymon) ended. Like the TV series, the film is based on "The Saxon Stories" by Bernard Cornwell and was directed by Edward Bazalgette, who directed the previous 4 seasons and the two seasons of The Witcher. So far, there have been few leaks about the plot, and we only know that in the final chapter, we will witness the final big confrontation between the Saxons and the conquerors. It was the Battle of Brunanburh that became an important event in the history of England and in which seven kings participated (hence the title of the movie). In it, the king Athelstan defeated his enemies and united the lands of the island. Judging by the trailer, the filmmakers tried to show us the battle on an epic scale. We are waiting for the premiere and for now, you can watch the series' five seasons if you have not seen them yet.
Women at war
1914, the beginning of the First World War. In a small village in the east of France, very close to the front, four women of very different destinies meet: a feminist nurse, a Parisian prostitute, a prosperous factory owner, and an abbess of a requisitioned monastery turned into a hospital for wounded soldiers. This new Franco-Belgian mini-series explores how a woman's strengths emerge in difficult situations.
The law according to Lidia Poët
This is another Netflix new series about a very extraordinary woman and her struggling path to social acceptance at a time when women were relegated to housewives or low-paid jobs. It is based on the life story of Lidia Poët, who was the first Italian woman lawyer and even wrote a dissertation on suffrage and other women's rights. Matilda De Angelis is charming as the main character, smart, bold, and sexy. You will enjoy her adventures in the beautiful scenery of 19th-century Italy.
The Crown
The Crown has become one of cinema's most expensive TV shows. And this is not surprising because it is dedicated to the life story of one of the most charismatic queens of Great Britain, Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away in September 2022. Five seasons cover the period from Elizabeth's wedding to the Duke of Edinburgh in 1947 until 1997. It is likely that in 2023 the final season of The Crown will be released, which will show the circumstances around the death of Princess Diana, whose role will be played by Elizabeth Debicki, and Imelda Staunton will play the role of the Queen.
Vikings: Valhalla, Season 2
Many fans of the historical genre liked the first seasons of Vikings for their severity, minimalism, and, of course, the charismatic images of Ragnar Lodbrok and other main characters. 100 years have passed since the events of The Vikings, and now the main motives of the narrative are the confrontation between the Christian and pagan sides and traveling to Constantinople. And as usual, the battle will continue over who will own the Kattegat... Watch the second season of Vikings: Valhalla and think whether it is possible to step into the same river twice and repeat the previous success.
MH370: The Plane That Disappeared
On March 8, 2014, a Boeing 777 with 239 people on board took off from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. After 40 minutes of flight, the pilot contacted the Malaysian controllers for the last time, and the plane disappeared. A long search for an aircraft did not bring any results, and the incident with the flight MH370 became one of the most inexplicable and mysterious tragedies in the history of aviation. The mini-documentary series details today's various versions regarding the aircraft's fate. It will premiere on Netflix on March 8, the 9th anniversary of the plane's disappearance.
Transatlantic
The 2023 British TV series Transatlantic tells the true story of journalist Varian Fry, who finds himself in France at the time of its occupation by Hitler's troops. Together with the American Mary Jayne Gold, he organized a special organization that began to help Jews escape Nazi persecution and escape to the United States. Fry became the first American to be named "Righteous Among the Nations" for his selfless work. This series will be available to watch on the platform from April 7th.
All Quiet on the Western Front
This German war drama is a movie, not a TV series, but we included it in our review due to its anti-war content. The cruel and absurd nature of the war is shown here very harshly. Based on the novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque, the film won Oscars this year for Best Foreign Film and Best Cinematography.
Anikulapo
In recent years, the cinema of African countries has attracted increasing interest, contributing to the appearance of products from Africa on Netflix. This mystical series is filmed in Nigeria and takes us to 18th-century West Africa. Rumors spread throughout the kingdom of Oyo about a mysterious wanderer who heals diseases and even brings the dead back from the other world. The people called him Anikulapo ("the one who bribed death"). The doctor becomes famous everywhere and is even made the court physician of the king. His passion for the ruler's wife becomes fatal, which puts his life in mortal danger... African landscapes and costumes are stunning here.
KLEO
In this German series, we will find many details and the atmosphere of the last years of the German Democratic Republic and the era of the fall of the Berlin Wall. After the collapse of the communist regime, a former East German spy Kleo Straub (Jella Haase), is released from prison and decides to find out who and why framed and betrayed her. A terrible revenge awaits her opponents, as the girl was specially trained to be a killer. The series has received quite a lot of success among the platform's viewers, and there has been news of a sequel.
The Empress
This is one of the brightest premieres on Netflix this fall. This German period drama tells the story of the legendary Austrian Empress Elisabeth (nicknamed Sissi) and her love for Kaiser Franz Joseph. Having unexpectedly married the Kaiser, the freedom-loving and independent young woman finds herself in the "golden cage" of the imperial palace, where she is confronted by her mother-in-law Sophia and the intrigues of the kingsmen. Here you will find a lot of beautiful costumes and interiors and see what the everyday life of the court of the Austro-Hungarian emperors was like. The young actress Devrim Lingnau, who starred in the role of Sissi, was born in Germany to a German father and a Turkish mother. If you remember the classic Sissi film starring Romy Schneider, you might be interested in comparing the two in this role.