12 Period Dramas To Watch if You Loved 'East of Eden'
Lose yourself in another era with these tales of romance and rivalry.
Easily one of the most talked-about shows released this October, East of Eden has already left something of a void in many viewers' lives.
Based on John Steinbeck's novel of the same name, the gripping multigenerational period drama starring Florence Pugh may only be seven episodes, but there are several other series worth a spot on your queue if you're craving something similar.
From tales of romance and rivalry to revenge and resilience, read on for our top picks for what to watch if you loved East of Eden.
1. Bridgerton
Where can I watch it? Netflix
A series that needs little introduction, Netflix's Bridgerton is an obvious watch (or re-watch) option if you're in the market for another family period drama but prefer less grit, more romance and a generous dose of scandal. There are four seasons to devour (and four more en route), with each one following the love story of a different Bridgerton sibling, underpinned by a classic romance genre trope, like enemies-to-lovers, for maximum satisfaction.
2. The Buccaneers
Where can I watch it? Apple TV+
Inspired by Edith Wharton's unfinished novel of the same name, this historical drama sees the worlds of American and British high society collide. Centring upon five young women denied a place in New York's upper echelons for being nouveau riche, the quintet head across the Atlantic to London, where they must try to secure wealthy British husbands – and titles – though traversing the strict English high society isn't exactly a walk in Hyde Park.
3. The Club
Where can I watch it? Netflix
Set in cosmopolitan 1950s Istanbul, this two-season period drama revolves around Matilda, an ex-convict and mother working in one of the city's most prominent nightclubs. While trying to help and reconnect with her estranged, rebellious daughter, Raşel, the pair also must hide their Jewish identity to protect themselves amid the 1955 Istanbul pogrom (a series of state-sponsored mob attacks primarily targeting the Greek minority, as well as Armenians and Jews).
4. The English
Where can I watch it? Prime Video and BBC iPlayer
A great tale of revenge, this stunningly filmed Western starring Emily Blunt is well worth adding to your list. In it, Blunt plays Lady Cornelia Locke, an English aristocrat who arrives in the American West to kill the man who murdered her son. Teaming up with Eli Whipp, a retired Pawnee scout out to claim his rightful ancestral land, the pair travel through the brutal frontier, their fated alliance revealing more than a shared mission in common.
5. The Gilded Age
Where can I watch it? NOW and Sky
Think: Gossip Girl, but make it 19th century. Okay, that is admittedly a bit simplistic, but the commonalities are solid: Manhattan high society, blue-blooded families vs. new-money elite and scandals aplenty. Created by Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey, it follows a young orphaned woman who moves to New York to live with her wealthy aunts, played by the brilliant Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon, only to find herself caught in the soaring social tensions between old and new money.
6. The House of the Spirits (2026)
Where can I watch it? Prime Video
Produced by Evan Longoria and adapted from bestselling author Isabel Allende's debut novel, The House of the Spirits is a truly heart-wrenching epic, exploring magic, love and political turbulence. Inspired by Allende's own family history, it tells the story of three generations of women in the Trueba family, focusing on a tyrannical patriarch and his granddaughter in an extremely conservative South American country – which is unnamed in the show but based on Chile – beginning in the 1970s.
7. Like Water for Chocolate (2024)
Where can I watch it? HBO Max and NOW
A story of star-crossed love set amid the Mexican Revolution, Like Water for Chocolate is based on Laura Esquivel's eponymous 1989 bestseller – a book widely regarded as one of the best Spanish-language novels of the 20th century. It centres around Tita (Azul Guaita), who, forbidden from being with her childhood sweetheart Pedro, pours her emotions into her cooking, which begins to have a magical effect on those who eat it.
8. Pachinko
Where can I watch it? On Apple TV+
A multi-award-winning series based on Min Jin Lee's bestselling novel of the same name, Pachinko is an intergenerational epic that spans two seasons. Told through a non-linear timeline that spans 1915 to 1989, the story follows four generations of a Korean family as they leave Japanese-occupied Korea for Osaka, navigating discrimination, displacement, and dreams of a better life.
9. The Miniaturist
Where can I watch it? Prime Video and Apple Tv
Like East of Eden, this book-to-screen series slowly unveils the darker side of a family, but in The Miniaturist, that family is very well-to-do, and the story takes place in 17th-century Netherlands. Anya Taylor-Joy stars as the main character, Petronella "Nella" Oortman, who marries the wealthy merchant Johannes Brandt to help pay off her family's debts. Gifted a dollhouse by her husband, Nella seeks out a mysterious local miniaturist to decorate it. Soon, pieces of dollhouse furniture arrive without being ordered, each with a note bearing an eerily accurate prediction about the Brandt family and their secretive household.
10. A Suitable Boy
Where can I watch it? BBC iPlayer and Netflix
Fun fact: A Suitable Boy made history as the BBC's first historical drama with no white characters. Adapted from Vikram Seth's bestselling 1993 novel of the same name, the six-part series is set in 1951, amid a freshly independent and post-partition India, where Lata, a Hindu 19-year-old, faces pressure from her widowed mother to find a husband. When she falls for Kabir, a Muslim boy, her mother forbids the relationship. From here, a tale of four families and multiple generations unfolds, exploring tradition, religion and parental expectations in a rapidly changing India.
11. War and Peace (2016)
Where can I watch it? BBC iPlayer
A BBC drama based on Leo Tolstoy's epic novel, War and Peace is a timeless tale about the intertwined lives of three young aristocrats during Imperial Russia. Beginning in 1805, the six-part saga follows five noble families as the Russian conflict with Napoleon reaches its peak, narrowing in on Pierre Bezukhov, the socially awkward son of Russia's richest man who wants to change the world; Natasha Rostova, a spirited young woman who longs for true love; and Andrei Bolkonsky, a gallant lad frustrated with the superficiality of high society.
12. When Life Gives You Tangerines
Where can I watch it? Netflix
Named the best Korean drama of 2025 by Time magazine, When Life Gives You Tangerines is a romantic slice-of-life epic spanning four decades, beginning in the 1960s. Depicted through a non-linear narrative, it tells the story of Ae-sun, a poor girl with dreams of becoming a celebrated poet, and Gwan-sik, a steadfast young man who loves her, as their love weathers many difficult seasons of life.
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