Television series
The White Queen
Based on Philippa Gregory's novels, this BBC costume drama recasts the Wars of the Roses as a knife-fight between women. Kings scheme and clash on battlefields, but the real power plays happen in bedrooms and birthing rooms as three rivals manoeuvre their families toward the throne. Lush, soapy, unapologetically melodramatic — history as gossip, told with real teeth.
If you liked this
Wolf Hall2015
Same century of English power plays, but told with icy restraint instead of heaving bodices — Mark Rylance's Cromwell is one of the great small-screen performances, all calculation and quiet menace.
But The pace is glacial and the politics dense; if you came for romance and swordplay, this cerebral chess match may test your patience.

The White Princess2017no page yet
Picks up exactly where Elizabeth Woodville's story left off, following her daughter into the Tudor era — same lush production, same appetite for scheming women, more Gregory source material to burn through.
But It leans even harder into romance-novel melodrama, and some of the earlier cast's chemistry is missed.
The Hollow Crown2012no page yet
Shakespeare's own version of these wars, with Benedict Cumberbatch's Richard III as a genuine highlight — same battles, same betrayals, verse instead of soap-opera dialogue.
But Iambic pentameter isn't for everyone, and it trades juicy gossip for tragic grandeur.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Richard III1955
Same Wars of the Roses, same Richard of Gloucester, but told sixty years earlier as Shakespeare's tragedy rather than Gregory's soap opera — the era that started it all, seen from the other side.
Olivier's Richard is one of cinema's great villains, a masterclass in charm curdling into menace, and the film shows exactly how this dynastic bloodbath became legend.
But Black-and-white, theatrical, and stagey by design — it demands patience for Shakespearean verse over modern pacing.

More like this (8)
The Tudors2007
Moves a generation forward into Henry VIII's court but keeps the formula — gorgeous costumes, ruthless women, beds as battlefields — with even more sex and scandal thrown in.
But Historical accuracy takes a back seat to spectacle; purists will wince at the liberties taken.

Versailles2015
Swap England for the Sun King's France — same recipe of court intrigue, sexual politics, and ambition dressed in velvet, just with more explicit content and a different crown at stake.
But It's French royal history rather than English, so none of the same characters or stakes carry over.

Reign2013
A trashier, teen-drama cousin — Mary Queen of Scots reimagined with modern pop music and soapy melodrama, for anyone who wants the intrigue with the volume turned all the way up.
But It plays fast and loose with history for pure entertainment, and the tone is far campier.

Poldark2015
Different century, same BBC talent for turning class, romance, and ambition into gripping Sunday-night drama — if you loved the sweep and scheming, this scratches a similar itch.
But It's Cornwall in the 1780s, not medieval England, so the political stakes are lower and more domestic.

Victoria2016
A gentler cousin, following a young queen navigating power, marriage, and court politics — ideal if what you loved was the female perspective on royal history rather than the war.
But It's considerably softer and more romantic, with far less bloodshed and backstabbing.

The Spanish Princess2019no page yet
Completes the Gregory trilogy of adaptations, following Catherine of Aragon into Henry VIII's court — familiar faces, same producers, same appetite for royal women fighting for survival.
But By this point the formula shows its seams, and it's the weakest of the three linked series.
Empresses in the Palace2012
Same engine entirely — women trapped in a court, learning that survival means becoming as ruthless as the men around them — just relocated to Qing dynasty China and told in Mandarin.
A genuinely brutal, addictive portrait of women weaponising kindness, beauty, and patience to survive an imperial court that would otherwise destroy them.
But It's over seventy hour-long episodes in Mandarin with subtitles — a serious commitment, and the palace intrigue can get labyrinthine.

Succession2018
Take the crown out of it and you've got the same story — a family devouring itself over who inherits power, alliances made and broken in a single scene, ambition wearing a human face.
If what hooked you was watching families betray each other for a throne, Succession gives you the same knife-fights in boardrooms and helicopters instead of castles.
But No swords, no crowns, and the humour is much darker and more cynical — a real tonal leap from period drama.

People
Cast
Production
- Emma FrostAssociate Producer
- Charles PattinsonExecutive Producer
- Colin CallenderExecutive Producer
- Eurydice GyselExecutive Producer
- George FaberExecutive Producer
- Jan VrintsExecutive Producer
- John GriffinExecutive Producer
- Philippa GregoryExecutive Producer
- Polly HillExecutive Producer
- Gina CronkProducer