If you, like us, were prompted to rewatch Netflix’s The Crown in light of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing, you might now be looking for something else in that vein (or perhaps that should be reign…). Whether you watch for the historical detail, the costumes, the acting, or the inside look at real people’s stories, we have something for you. These shows are all either available for GBH members to watch as part of GBH Passport online or streaming with the PBS app, or in one case, with the PBS MASTERPIECE subscription on Amazon.

Downton Abbey
Available with GBH Passport
Empires and fortunes rise and fall, but a strong family can endure anything — that’s the message at the center of both The Crown and Downton Abbey. From shorter hemlines to World War I, Downton Abbey’s aristocratic Crawley clan and their staff muddle through the sweeping social changes that define the years between 1912 and 1925, one bon mot from the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) at a time. Even the Windsor family couldn’t resist Downtonmania: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (William and Kate) are fans, and the queen reportedly loved watching the series and pointing out the historical inaccuracies.

Victoria
Available with GBH Passport
In spite of reigns more than 50 years apart, Queen Victoria and Elizabeth found themselves dueling for viewers when The Crown and Victoria both aired in 2017. Tonally, Victoria is the more lighthearted, romantic (and dare we say fun?) cousin, but both series shine in their emotional portrayals of young female monarchs striving to balance their commitment to duty while coming of age. There’s no better time to queue up Season 1 of Victoria and lose yourself in the series’ lavish set design, sumptuous costuming and that captivating love triangle between Victoria, Prince Albert and Lord Melbourne.

Broadchurch
Available with GBH Passport
Not even the stunning Dorset coast can lighten up the understated melancholy that pervades the fictional small town of Broadchurch. What gives this whodunnit an edge over other British crime dramas is the stellar combination of David Tennant (DI Alec Hardy) and Olivia Colman (DS Ellie Miller) as odd couple coppers solving a devastating crime. Fans of The Crown will appreciate the fine performances of the uniformly strong cast, and it’s fun to see Colman play a role so different from her portrayal of the queen in The Crown’s third and fourth seasons.

Aristocrats
Available with GBH Passport
It would be easy to dismiss this 1999 miniseries as just another costume drama, but fans of The Crown and Jane Austen shouldn’t sleep on Aristocrats, which chronicles the lives of the real-life Lennox sisters, daughters of the Duke of Richmond. Yes, it delivers sex, scandal and family intrigue in spades, but the Lennox women are fiercely intelligent and wield a quiet power that transcends a Georgian era of powdered wigs and bustles. The Lennox family also had an especially interesting connection to the British royal family: as a teenager, youngest sister Sarah was adored by the future King George III and was once thought to be the future queen of England.

Roadkill
Available with GBH Passport
Ok, yes, Roadkill focuses more on the inner workings of U.K. politics, rather than on the royal family. It’s still a moody, incisive look at the U.K. government, press and tabloids, which even the least active royal watcher knows have a strong relationship with, and thus a major impact on, the British royal family, despite the monarch’s political neutrality. Roadkill has some really remarkable performances and a killer soundtrack, but perhaps because it aired at the tail end of the 2020 election cycle, many folks haven’t yet seen this hidden gem of a show. Don’t be one of them!

Wolf Hall
Available with PBS MASTERPIECE subscription on Amazon
The question of royal divorce plays an outsized role in the story of the modern British royal family, especially as told in The Crown. What better way to further your understanding of the pressures on royal marriages than with Wolf Hall, the beautifully rendered, award-winning series about Henry VIII’s first divorce, which upended convention, spawned a new church, and ushered in a highly dramatic era in the history of the English Monarchy? Also, you won’t want to miss Claire Foy’s stunning turn as Anne Boleyn, which I just have to assume influenced her thoughts on playing the even meatier role of Elizabeth in the first seasons of The Crown.

The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family
Available for a limited time free to all
If you watch The Crown to better understand historical nuance, The Boleyns, with its focus on the family at the center of one of the most famous royal scandals through immersive reenactments might just be the show for you. Covering a similar time period as Wolf Hall, this series bounces between historians offering perspective on the storyline, and actor portrayals that bring the history to life.

The Hour
Available with GBH Passport
Set in the early years of Elizabeth’s reign, The Hour follows the creation of a BBC news programme and a fictionalized espionage ring. Because the series focuses on then-current events, viewers get a sense of not only the world events that would have impacted the royal family at this time, but also how the average U.K. citizen would have felt. Additionally, with characters ranging from connected aristocrats, to government agents, to working class reporters, The Hour paints a broader picture of life in the U.K. to complement what you’ve seen on The Crown. And if all that doesn’t persuade you, Dominic West, who’s slated to portray the now King Charles III in the remaining two seasons of The Crown, plays a surprisingly complex news anchor in The Hour.

Honorable Mentions:
Given our role in bringing British shows to American audiences, this list is far from a complete look at the shows fans of The Crown might enjoy. If these don’t do it for you, don’t miss our runners-up, below:

Atlantic Crossing
Bleak House
Lucy Worsley's Royal Myths & Secrets
Queen Elizabeth - A Royal Life
In Their Own Words: Queen Elizabeth II
The Queen's Garden

Don’t see anything on this list you like? Think we missed something? Send an email to GBHDrama@wgbh.org or tweet at GBH with the hashtag #DramaConcierge and a few words about what you’re craving, and if you’re lucky, we might put together a list of personalized recommendations just for you, like this one.