Best shows like The Crown

The Crown is without a doubt one of the most popular and successful dramas that Netflix has produced during its time making original shows. The big-budget programme from Peter Morgan that follows the reign of Queen Elizabeth II from when she becomes the monarch in the 1950s all the way through to the modern age has won huge numbers of fans across the world for its compelling storytelling and excellent casting.

Indeed, the show has taken the bold step of recasting all of the major characters, including the Queen herself, every two seasons, which brings a fresh and new angle to a show that has now run for many years.

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With Claire Foy, Olivia Colman and soon Imelda Staunton all playing the lead role, this is a programme of which viewers just can’t get enough. But there’s a problem…

What do you watch when you run out of episodes of The Crown to enjoy?

Well, that’s not a problem at all anymore, because we have trawled through the archives and used our expert TV knowledge to come up with a helpful list of great shows to watch which will give you a similarly royal vibe.

What is more, because we are a multimedia and modern outlet, we’ve not just written a list for you – we’ve made a fabulous video for you to enjoy too.

So whether you want to watch, read or both… we’ve got you covered.

If you are sitting comfortably, let us begin…

Downton Abbey

There could be few stories that are more quintessentially British than that of the reign of the Queen as told in The Crown, however if you’re looking for something that’s not far off, how about one of the biggest ever period dramas in Downton. There’s plenty of strong female characters, times changing and beautiful scenes of olden days British houses to enjoy in Downton. A massive hit on both sides of the pond, the antics of Lord and Lady Grantham and their family don’t stop with the TV series, there’s movies to enjoy too.

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The Royals

OK, this probably isn’t quite the same type of show, even if the theme is similar. The Royals is a glitzy drama from E! which focusses its attentions on a highly fictionalised royal family who are plagued by scandal and internal squabbles. Unlike The Crown, none of the characters in this show or events are inspired by real events, but it does offer a fun and at times frivolous story set in palaces with kings and queens and princesses. It’s worth looking out for a first class performance from Elizabeth Hurley at the heart of the show.

Victoria

Starring Jenna Coleman as a young Victoria, this show shares a good deal in form and substance with The Crown, but of course is focussed on a reign a few generations before. At the heart of the show is a female Queen in Britain who is young and trying to establish herself as an authority within her own court. It has more than its fair share of love and loss and plenty of politics in the mix, so if you like the ups and downs of the politicians who surround QE2 in The Crown, this show will deliver for you in all its period drama splendour.

The Tudors

Now if you go back far enough in the family tree you will find that the Tudors, so it’s fair to say this show already gets a vote for being about the royal family in England. This is undoubtedly a lot more steamy than The Crown and has more action in it, but the show is based in some ways in historical details and therefore feels like something a fan of the Crown may like if they’re interested in an origin story of sorts. Starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers , Natalie Dormer and Henry Cavill to name but a few in a very strong cast, this one worth that’s certainly worth a try.

The Queen’s Gambit

The story of a female American chess player in the middle of the 20th Century doesn’t immediately scream royalty, I’m sure we’ll all agree (but the word Queen is in the title). However, Netflix’s hugely well-received story starring the brilliant Anya Taylor-Joy is a fantastically well crafted period drama that pits a young woman against a male dominated world and sees her come out on top, whilst recognising the huge struggles that you went through along the way. There are certainly parallels with some of what we see in the early seasons of The Crown in this show – and even if you don’t see them yourself, you won’t regret watching this exceptional show.

The Great

More comic than dramatic, The Great is a series that has won armies of fans for its clever storytelling, wit and irreverence. Based very loosely (and the programme makers are happy to admit this) on the reign of Catherine the Great, Empress of all Russia, the show stars Elle Fanning as Catherine the Great as we watch her journey unfold from childhood as an outsider rising to be the most powerful woman in the empire. Although it’s not rooted in history quite to the same degree as elements of The Crown, if you like a story with regal connections and a satirical twist, this could be an offbeat option.

Gentleman Jack

Created by one of the best scriptwriters in British drama right now, Sally Wainwright, the creative force behind hits last Last tango in Halifax and Happy Valley, this series is set long before the events of The Crown and focusses on the life and times of industrialist Anne Lister, and is based on her diaries – much of which were written in code -and document her life as a secret lesbian in the early 1800s. It might not sound much like the Netflix series, but this is like The Crown a compelling story of a powerful woman in a world largely dominated by men making her mark on society.

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