Television series

Britannia

Name: Britannia
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, History
Released: 2018
Cast: Mackenzie Crook, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Eleanor Worthington-Cox, David Morrissey, Julian Rhind-Tutt

A hallucinogenic, deliriously weird take on the Roman invasion of Britain, where legionaries clash with tribes ruled by warrior queens and druids who genuinely commune with something. Mackenzie Crook's unhinged shaman anchors a show that's part historical epic, part fever dream, all swagger. Gory, funny, occasionally baffling — for people who want their history with the leash off.

TVMaze rating

7.2

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Same tribal-versus-empire energy, same appetite for blood-soaked spectacle and pagan mysticism, stretched across a much bigger canvas and a longer commitment.

But It plays its mysticism straighter and its politics more soberly — less anarchic, more soap-operatic saga.

Rome2005

If you want the Roman side of the story told with real grit and none of the acid-trip flourishes, this is the grown-up, filthy, brilliant version.

But No druids, no magic, no chaos — it's dense political drama, and it demands patience Britannia never asks for.

The Last Kingdom2015

Britain again, centuries later, with the same clash of cultures and identity caught between worlds, but played with more emotional straightforwardness.

But It's earnest where Britannia is gleefully weird — don't expect any hallucinations or druidic theatrics here.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Excalibur1981

It's the film that basically invented Britannia's register: Celtic Britain as a psychedelic, spirit-haunted landscape where magic is treated as fact, not metaphor.

John Boorman's Arthurian epic drenched in mist, madness, and druidic dread — the same mythic, hallucinatory vision of ancient Britain, decades before Britannia got there.

But The acting is deliberately operatic and the pacing is odd by modern standards — it's a fever dream, not a plot machine.

Barbaren2020

Germanic tribes resisting Roman conquest, with the same underdog fury and forest-dwelling defiance, told at a tighter, punchier pace.

But Much more conventional in tone — no mysticism, no oddball comic beats, just straight tribal-war drama.

Spartacus2010

For the same lurid, over-the-top brutality and pulpy Roman-empire spectacle, cranked even higher and dripping with style.

But It's pure exploitation swagger with none of Britannia's strange spiritual undercurrent.

Marco Polo2014no page yet

Another lavish historical epic that leans into mysticism and court intrigue with the same unapologetic maximalism.

But Slower, more ornate, and set in a completely different empire — the vibe is closer to court drama than tribal warfare.

Black Sails2014no page yet

Genre history with the same wild, anachronistic energy — pirates instead of druids, but the same sense of myth colliding with grubby reality.

But High seas, not muddy forests — the setting shift is total, even if the spirit rhymes.

Vikingane2016

If Britannia's absurdist comic streak is your favourite part, this leans all the way into parody while keeping the historical detail oddly accurate.

But It's a straight-up comedy — the stakes and dread that ground Britannia's madness are mostly gone.

Taboo2017

Tom Hardy channelling something dark and half-mystical through a colonial-era plot, with the same sense that history and hallucination are bleeding together.

But Grimier, slower-burning, and much more claustrophobic — less tribal spectacle, more one man's fever.

The Wicker Man1973

Same bedrock obsession — pre-Christian British paganism as something genuinely alive and dangerous — but reworked as folk horror instead of historical fantasy.

A cop investigates a pagan island community and discovers just how far old British religion will go — chilling, ritualistic, and quietly hilarious in places.

But It's horror, not action, and its power is slow-building dread rather than spectacle or gore.

Detectorists2014

Crook doing the polar opposite of his manic druid: same actor, same fascination with English soil and old magic, but traded chaos for stillness and shouting for a shy smile.

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But There is no violence, no mysticism, no stakes at all beyond friendship and buried coins — total tonal whiplash from Britannia.