20 Period TV Shows to Watch This Summer - Day 77

I've compiled a list of 20 very engrossing TV shows from 20 different regions and time periods in the world to watch this summer.
If you’re like me and you wish to learn about history from different parts of the world while engaging yourself in the stories of that time, then this is the list for you!

Note that there are many more TV shows that are regarding England or the US, but wanting to do justice to other parts of the world, I've limited one show to one region of the world, with the exception of England because there are just too many good shows based on England, so I chose two, with utter hardship.

1. Pachinko (2022)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: South Korea, Japan, US
Time Period: Between 1910 and 1989 - During the Japanese occupation of Korea and World War II.
Language: Korean, Japanese, English
Where to watch it: Apple TV+
Story: Based on the New York Times bestseller, this sweeping saga chronicles the hopes and dreams of a Korean immigrant family across four generations as they leave their homeland in an indomitable quest to survive and thrive. (Source: IMDb)

2. Peaky Blinders (2013 - 2022)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: England
Time Period: 20th century - After the First World War
Language: English
Where to watch it: Netflix
Story: A gangster family epic set in 1900s England, centering on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby. (Source: IMDb)

3. Chernobyl (2019)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: Ukraine, Russia
Time Period: 20th century - During the Soviet Rule
Language: English
Where to watch it: HBO, Hulu
Story: In April 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics becomes one of the world's worst man-made catastrophes. (Source: IMDb)

4. Narcos (2015-2017)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: Colombia, US
Time Period: 20th century - During the rise of Pablo Escobar
Language: English, Spanish
Where to watch it: Netflix
Story: A chronicled look at the criminal exploits of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, as well as the many other drug kingpins who plagued the country through the years. (Source: IMDb)

5. Vikings (2013-2022)

(Credits - The History Channel)

Region: Sweden and Norway
Time Period: 793 AD onwards (8th century) - During the Viking Age
Language: English
Where to watch it: Netflix / Amazon Prime / The History Channel
Story: Vikings transports us to the brutal and mysterious world of Ragnar Lothbrok, a Viking warrior and farmer who yearns to explore - and raid - the distant shores across the ocean. (Source: IMDb)

6. Downtown Abbey (2010-2015)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: England
Time Period: 20th century - During World War I, the Spanish Influenza pandemic, and a time of rapid social and economic changes.
Language: English
Where to watch it: Netflix
Story: A chronicle of the lives of the British aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early twentieth century. (Source: IMDb)

7. Alias Grace (2017)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: Canada
Time Period: 19th century - During the years following the spread of radical ideas and a failed rebellion against British rule.
Language: English
Where to watch it: Netflix
Story: In 19th-century Canada, a psychiatrist weighs whether a murderess should be pardoned due to insanity. (Source: IMDb)

8. The Gilded age (2022)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: United States
Time Period: 19th century - During the Gilded Age, an era of rapid economic growth in the Northern & Western United States.
Language: English
Where to watch it: HBO
Story: A wide-eyed young scion of a conservative family embarks on a mission to infiltrate the wealthy neighboring clan dominated by ruthless railroad tycoon George Russell, his rakish son, Larry, and his ambitious wife, Bertha. (Source: IMDb)

9. Medici: The Magnificent (2016-2019)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: Italy
Time Period: 15th century - During the Italian Renaissance
Language: English
Where to watch it: Netflix
Story: A political family drama set in Florence in the early fifteenth century. Cosimo de Medici finds himself at the helm of his banking dynasty when his father, Giovanni, dies suddenly. (Source: IMDb)

10. Dirilis: Ertugul (2014-2019)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: Turkey
Time Period: 13th century - During the Ottoman Empire
Language: Turkish
Where to watch it: Netflix / TRT 1
Story: The heroic story of Ertugrul Ghazi, the father of Osman (Uthman) who founded the Ottoman Empire. (Source: IMDb)

11. Cable Girls (2017-2020)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: Spain
Time Period: 20th century - During a tumultuous time in Spanish history in the 1920s, when female workers moved to office spaces.
Language: Spanish
Where to watch it: Netflix
Story: Set in the 1920s, this is the story of four women from different backgrounds newly hired as operators for a phone company. (Source: IMDb)

12. Versailles (2015-2018)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: France
Time Period: 17th century - During the reign of Louis XIV
Language: English
Where to watch it: Netflix
Story: In 1667, 28-year-old all-powerful king of France, Louis XIV, decides to build the greatest palace in the world - Versailles. But drained budget, affairs and political intrigues complicate things. (Source: IMDb)

13. Deutschland 89 (2020)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: Germany
Time Period: 20th century - During the Cold War
Language: German
Where to watch it: Amazon Prime
Story: Martin Rauch experiences the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 during his activities as an East German spy. (Source: IMDb)

14. Ryomaden (2010)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: Japan
Time Period: 19th century - During Japan's Tokugawa shogunate, the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868, and its demise.
Language: Japanese
Where to watch it: Amazon Prime
Story: The story focuses on the life of Sakamoto Ryoma, who lived from 1835 to 1867. He was an important leader in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa Bakufu, eventually bringing about the Meiji Restoration. (Source: IMDb)

15. Dirty Lines (2022)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: Netherlands
Time Period: 20th century - in 1980s Amsterdam
Language: Dutch
Where to watch it: Netflix
Story: In 1980s Amsterdam, a family starts the first-ever phone sex line but being in the business of sexual desires leads them to question their own. (Source: IMDb)

16. Rome (2005-2007)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: Roman Empire
Time Period: 1st century BC - During Rome's transition from Republic to Empire.
Language: English
Where to watch it: Netflix, Hulu
Story: A down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic. (Source: IMDb)

17. Grahan (2021)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: India
Time Period: 20th century - During the anti-Sikh riots
Language: Hindi
Where to watch it: Hotstar
Story: It's 1984 - a tender love story succumbs to the anti-Sikh riots. It's 2016 - IPS officer Amrita Singh uncovers a secret connecting that past to her present. (Source: IMDb)

18. Self-Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (2020)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: United States (but an African American story)
Time Period: 19th & 20th centuries - Depicting the lives of middle-class and elite members of African American society in this time period.
Language: English
Where to watch it: Netflix
Story: The inspiring story of trailblazing African American entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker who built a haircare empire that made her America's first female self-made millionaire. (Source: IMDb)

19. A besúgó (2022)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: Hungary
Time Period: 20th century - During communist Hungary
Language: Hungarian
Where to watch it: HBO Max
Story: In Communist Hungary in 1985, Geri is eager to start his first year of college. But his plans are interrupted when the State Security blackmails him into spying on Zsolt Száva, a radical pro-democracy leader. (Source: IMDb)

20. The Rise of Phoenixes (2018)

(Credits - IMDb)

Region: Ancient China
Time Period: 11th century
Language: Chinese
Where to watch it: Netflix
Story: The story of power, desire, lust and love among people of different kingdoms in ancient China. No matter who you are, you have to rise from the mud to become The Great Phoenix. (Source: IMDb)