The Pillars of the Earth

Series Similar to The Pillars of the Earth

If you enjoyed The Pillars of the Earth, these series share similar themes, tone, and quality. Each recommendation is scored on genre overlap, tonal match, and critical acclaim.

1. Poldark

   2015 · Drama, Romance · ended93% match

   Recommended for similar Romance profile, highly rated (8.3).

   Britain is in the grip of a chilling recession... falling wages, rising prices, civil unrest - only the bankers are smiling. It's 1783 and Ross Poldark returns from the American War of Independence to his beloved Cornwall to find his world in ruins: his father dead, the family mine long since closed, his house wrecked and his sweetheart pledged to marry his cousin. But Ross finds that hope and love can be found when you are least expecting it in the wild but beautiful Cornish landscape.

2. Wolf Hall

   2015 · Drama, History · ended93% match

   Recommended for similar History profile.

   Historical drama chronicling the rise of Thomas Cromwell, the son of a humble blacksmith who became King Henry VIII's chief minister, as he navigated the corridors of power in the Tudor court.

3. War & Peace

   2016 · Drama, Romance, History · ended92% match

   Recommended for similar Romance / History profile, highly rated (8).

   In a new adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's timeless novel, three young people experience life, love and loss against the epic backdrop of Russia's wars with Napoleon.

4. The Borgias

   2011 · Drama, Romance, History · ended91% match

   Recommended for similar Romance / History profile.

   This expansive drama series stars Oscar winner Jeremy Irons in his Golden Globe-nominated role as Pope Alexander VI, the cunning, manipulative patriarch of the infamous Borgia dynasty, who builds an empire by bribing, buying and muscling his way into the papacy.

5. The Hollow Crown

   2012 · Drama, History · ended91% match

   Recommended for similar History profile, highly rated (8).

   The Hollow Crown brings together four filmed adaptations of Shakespeare's History Plays - Richard II, Henry IV parts 1 and 2, and Henry V. Starting in the year 1399, this continuous story of monarchy follows events during sixteen years of dynastic and political power play. Kings, with their families and followers, are threatened by rebellion and conflict. The story takes us from the Royal Court at Westminster to battlefields in England and France. These rich films are woven with the finest of Shakespeare's poetry and are filmed in the architecture and landscape of the period.

6. World Without End

   2012 · Drama, Romance, History · ended91% match

   Recommended for similar Romance / History profile.

   A paid assassin is sent to murder a king. A mysterious knight flees to the countryside, hotly pursued by the Queen's men. Two teenagers witness an incident in the woods that will change the course of a nation. Ken Follett's worldwide bestseller, World Without End, comes to life as a monumental eight-hour event series.

7. The Paradise

   2012 · Drama, Romance, History · ended91% match

   Recommended for similar Romance / History profile.

   An intoxicating love story set in England's first department store in the 1870s.

8. The Dovekeepers

   2015 · Drama, Romance, History · ended90% match

   Recommended for similar Romance / History profile, highly rated (8).

   Based on Alice Hoffman's historical novel about the Siege of Masada, the miniseries focuses on four extraordinary women whose lives intersect in a fight for survival at the siege of Masada. Set in ancient Israel, "The Dovekeepers" is based on the true events at Masada in 70 C.E. After being forced out of their home in Jerusalem by the Romans, 900 Jews were ensconced in a fortress at Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert. Besieged at Masada, the Jews held out for months against the vast Roman armies. The project will recount the events from the perspective of a few extraordinary women who arrive at Masada with unique backstories, but a common bond for survival. Additionally, these women, who work together daily as dovekeepers, are all concealing substantial secrets.

9. Les Misérables

   2018 · Drama, Romance, History · ended88% match

   Recommended for similar Romance / History profile.

   Based on Victor Hugo's XIX century classic, Les Misérables will go back to the original novel and delve deep into the many layers of Hugo's story, revelling in Jean Valjean and Javert's cat-and-mouse relationship, against the epic backdrop of France at a time of civil unrest. With a striking intensity and relevance to us today, the novel is testimony to the struggles of France's underclass and how far they must go to survive. The six part television adaptation of the renowned book will vividly and faithfully bring to life the vibrant and engaging characters, the spectacular and authentic imagery and, above all, the incredible yet accessible story that was Hugo's lifework.

10. Reign

    2013 · Drama, Romance, History · ended88% match

    Recommended for similar Romance / History profile.

    Hidden between the lines of the history books is the story of Mary Stuart, the young woman the world would come to know as Mary, Queen of Scots. Queen of Scotland since she was six days old, the teenage Mary is already a headstrong monarch - beautiful, passionate, and poised at the very beginning of her tumultuous rise to power. Arriving in France with four close friends as her ladies-in-waiting, Mary has been sent to secure Scotland's strategic alliance by formalizing her arranged engagement to the French king's dashing son, Prince Francis. But the match isn't signed and sealed, it depends more on politics, religion and secret agendas than affairs of the heart. With danger and sexual intrigue around every dark castle corner, Mary rallies her ladies-in-waiting and steels herself, ready to rule the new land and balance the demands of her country and her heart.