Have you ever wanted to go back in time? Have you ever wanted to relive history? Have you ever wanted to live in a different era?
Well, now’s your chance.
The period drama is an up and coming genre of television that is vastly underrated. Remember about seven years ago when "Downton Abbe"y started taking over the world? You couldn’t go anywhere without hearing people rave about the show on the radio or online. Maybe you heard, or thought, that the show was boring and for old people, but I was only seventeen when I got hooked. And after it ended, I tried looking for anything that would help fill that void.
Period dramas are great for many reasons: the costumes, the depiction of the lavish lifestyles of the rich or royal, usually juxtaposed with the life of the workers, actual historical context looped in with the scandals. What doesn’t a period drama offer? Always focused on scandals we’re used to today like murder and affairs, somehow these shows make them seem more classy and glamorous when the people involved are dressed in dazzling floor-length gowns and tuxedoes.
"Downton Abbey" definitely started it all for me. Set in the 1920s, I fell in love with the era of jazz music and prohibition. Flappers were feisty and interesting and the men were always clean-cut and well-dressed. When the show ended, I didn’t want to return to the real world, the 2010's life littered with technology and limited human connection. Eventually, I stumbled upon other period dramas: "Reign," "Peaky Blinders," "Victoria," and "The Grand Hotel" (which is in Spanish but sitting through the subtitles is worth it).
Though all these shows are unique, they all share the basic tenets that make a show a period drama: drama, drama, drama. If you think life is hard now, wait until you see some of the messed up things people in the early 1900s had to endure. And since the setting and time period is so different from life nowadays, sometimes people criticize these shows for not being relatable.
Yet, the writers of these shows are smart, and they know how to make characters relatable. And there are so many period dramas taking over entertainment now, there’s definitely a show out there for you. You feel like, as a young adult, you’ve got too many responsibilities in life? Sounds a lot like a girl of eighteen having to be in charge of ruling a whole country, right? Then "Victoria" is the show for you.
Still think period dramas are too emotional or boring? "Peaky Blinders" may be more your alley. With all seasons on Netflix (the fourth one airing on December 21st), you’ll want to binge this period drama. Following the life of a gang in Birmingham, the show is heavy, bloody, and accompanied by a hard rock playlist. Did I ever think a show about a gang of soldiers from World War I who have to begin dealing with the revolution would become one of my favorite shows ever? No, but trust me--it’s worth it.
And still, there are others out there waiting to be watched. If you're tired of the usual shows about technology influencing our world and want an escape from agonizing reality that is the present, watch a period drama. I promise you, you’ll be sucked into a whole other world, another era that’ll make you want to be a flapper in the 20s or the lord of a grand estate. And you’ll never want to come back to 2017.
