Period TV Shows Set in Chronological Order

Hi everyone!! One of my first tv shows has always been period dramas. I love the sweeping costumes and beautiful romances that they portray but if you're like me, you also like to know the correct chronological order for the shows you watch.  So without further ado, I'm going to list all the period shows that I have watched or heard of and place them in correct order they appeared in history. Some of these are more historical than others so keep that in mind if you want to watch them!

Vikings (Begins in 793)

Medici: Masters of Florence (Begins in 1434)

The White Queen (Begins in 1464)

The White Princess (Begins in 1485)

The Borgias (Begins in 1492)

The Spanish Princess (Begins in 1501)

The Tudors (Begins in 1518)

The Serpent Queen (Set in 1533)

Reign (Begins in 1557)

*Less historical fiction than historical homage with the costumes and such*

The Musketeers (Begins in the 1630s)

Versailles (Begins in 1667)

Black Sails (Begins in the 1730s)

Outlander (Begins in 1743)

The Great (Begins in late 1700s)

TURN: Washington's Spies (Begins in 1776)

Poldark (Begins in 1783)

Bridgerton (Begins in 1813)

*Watch this one as more of a parallel historical fantasy*

Victoria (Begins in 1837)

The Paradise (Begins in 1875)

Murdoch Mysteries (Begins in 1895)

The Alienist (Begins in 1896)

Downton Abbey (Begins in 1912)

Peaky Blinders (Begins in 1918)

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (Set in the 1920s)

Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Begins in 1958)

Fun Facts:

Personally I would watch The White Queen, The White Princess, The Spanish Princess, and The Tudors back to back and then watch The Borgias afterwards cause those four shows take place over 3 different English royals and it makes more sense to watch the shows with characters we've already met and then jump over to Italy and what was happening there at the time. Many of the same characters are in all four shows though none of the actors except one reprise their roles.

The Borgias takes place three generations after Cosimo de Medici ruled Florence although the Medici are not really a huge part of The Borgias.

Reign is set just a few years after the Tudors in that the characters in Reign might have appeared in Tudors or were one or two generations of descendants from characters that appeared in the Tudors. Mary Tudor is mentioned and Elizabeth Tudor is a main character in the later seasons of Reign. Also Catherine de Medici is five generations descended from Cosimo de Medici.

I'd also recommend watching The Serpent Queen and Reign back to back given that Catherine de Medici who is the lead of The Serpent Queen is also a main character in Reign as Francis's mother.

Reign and Bridgerton are the least historically accurate on this list but are still fun to throw yourself into.

Versailles is set in the generation after the Musketeers in that King Louis XIV was the son of Anne of Austria and Louis XII from the Musketeers although no characters appear in both shows other than Louis XIV and Anne of Austria in a flashback (again not played by the same actors.)

Poldark begins right as the American Civil War comes to an end so it's a nice tie-in to TURN: Washington's Spies cause you can imagine that Ross was running around at the same time as our beloved American characters.

I hope you enjoyed this! It's fun to watch these shows chronologically cause you'll catch a lot of hints that tie these shows together! I always find myself wanting to know where a show falls in history so I can know what makes the characters who they are! If I missed any, let me know down below. I might have just forgotten them or I've never seen that show!

xoxo Allie