10 TV Shows Like My Brilliant Career That You Should Watch in the Future.
Has a golden age of historical dramas arrived on television? While they were once largely confined to the BBC on Sunday evenings and PBS, streaming services have now opened the door to such journeys into the past, both recent and more recent. While not all of them are particularly historically accurate (they don’t have to be), each has its merits, offering a brief respite from an increasingly unpleasant present.
One of the latest successes is the Netflix series My Brilliant Career , an adaptation of Miles Franklin’s iconic 1901 coming-of-age novel. And after you visit early 19th-century Australia with Sibyl Melvin, you’ll surely enjoy these 10 other stories about young women who wish you didn’t try to tell them how to live their lives.
The Other Bennet Sister (2026–)
A hit on the BBC, this miniseries reimagines the events of Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of Lizzie Bennet’s much more awkward sister, Mary, from the books. Her ruddy complexion, penchant for grammatical correctness, and (horrors!) glasses seem to make Mary utterly unmarriageable and unsuitable for anything other than a genteel spinster. Things begin to change when Mary goes to work as a governess for the Gardiner family in London and manages to build a life and a future for herself away from her parents and siblings, who see her as nothing more than a piece of furniture. Although set in a different time and on a different continent, Sibella and Mary are similarly intelligent and forthright young women struggling to find their place in the face of expectations. Watch The Other Bennet Sister on Britbox .
Little Women (2017)
Jo March is a young woman from a poor family who harbors writing ambitions and has the talent to make her dreams come true—if only people could tolerate a young woman’s independence. She also has an elderly relative with money, which could either help or hinder her. Sound familiar? While this BBC adaptation was overshadowed by Greta Gerwig’s (excellent) film adaptation two years later, it’s a bit more faithful to the text without feeling stuffy. Set in Civil War-era New England, where women were largely neglected by men, the miniseries format perfectly captures the passage of time so crucial to the plot. Maya Hawke ( Stranger Things ) plays Jo, Emily Watson is the unflappable Marmee with an appropriate twinkle in her eye, and Angela Lansbury (in her final TV role) is perfect as the sardonic and sassy Aunt March. Watch Little Women on Peacock , Tubi , andNetflix .
Pachinko (2022 – )
Beginning in 1915, this multigenerational saga tells the story of one woman (played at various points by Youn Yu-jung and Kim Min-ha) and her family, spanning the Japanese occupation of Korea and decades of the Korean diaspora. With limited opportunities, Soon-ji leaves her home and family in Busan to start a new life in Japan, despite the racism and anti-immigrant sentiment that pervades wartime society. Like Sibella, she rejects the prospect of a practical marriage to a wealthy man in favor of independence and refuses to let circumstances limit her aspirations. In a parallel narrative beginning in 1989, we see what has changed and what has remained the same for Soon-ji and her family on a journey as personal as it is epic, featuring better location photography than most films and a stunning opening sequence. Watch Pachinko on Apple TV .
Buccaneers (2023 – )
Set in the 1870s, this hyper-stylized historical drama (clearly inspired by the TV series Bridgerton ), an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s unfinished novel, takes liberties with costumes and music while simultaneously heightening the drama. The pirates of the title refer to the so-called “dollar princesses” of the era: Nan St. George (Kristin Froseth) and her friends are young women from upper-class American families striving for success among the British aristocracy, where Americans receive titles and English lords manage their often-strapped estates. Soon, true love complicates everything for the young women, who are not necessarily career-oriented like Sibella but nevertheless have ambitions beyond family and social obligations. Watch Pirates on Apple TV .
Lark Rise – Candleford (2008–2011)
The pressures of marriage are less pronounced here, but we nevertheless follow a young woman beginning a new chapter in her life by leaving home… or at least going on a trip into the neighborhood, which was a big deal in 19th-century Oxfordshire (the story is based on a series of semi-autobiographical novels by Flora Thompson). Country girl Laura Timmins (Olivia Hallinan) sets out to find work in the wealthier but somewhat larger neighboring town of Candleford. She finds work at the post office and befriends and mentors her mother’s cousin, Dorcas (Julia Sawalha). Not everyone in Candleford is so welcoming to a country girl, especially when Laura is forced to choose between the demands of her job and the needs of the family she left behind. Watch “Lark Rise to Candleford” on Peacock and Tubi .
Anne with an E (2017–2019)
Based on Lucy Maud Montgomery’s classic historical novel Anne of Green Hills, Anne with an E follows the title character, a gifted girl raised in the 19th-century countryside and forced to build a new life in a new place. The series opens in 1896. A pair of elderly, unmarried siblings on Prince Edward Island, Canada, ask for an orphan boy to help them farm, but instead receive a girl: the chatty Anne Shirley (Amybeth McNulty), who must struggle to prove herself to her prospective parents and to the townspeople who alternately view her as a useless girl and a poor orphan. The series reboot returns to the novel and distills its text (and subtext) into new insights without altering its spirit.Watch Anne with an E on Netflix .
Three Little Birds (2023)
The time, place, and context may differ, but this historical drama, like My Brilliant Career, explores themes of young women leaving home to defy the expectations of their birth, facing new opportunities and obstacles along the way. The series is set in the 1950s among the so-called Windrush generation (named after the ship that brought several hundred passengers from the West Indies to Britain in 1948). Leah Whittaker (Rochelle Neel) travels to England to escape her abusive husband, along with her sister, Chantrell (Saffron Coomber), who dreams of a film career; also along for the journey is religious do-gooder Hosanna Drake (Yazmin Belaw), who is about to marry a man she’s never met. Upon arrival, the women find opportunities but also face challenges they didn’t expect, including overt and brutal racism in their new home. The screenplay was written by actor Lenny Henry, who drew heavily on stories from his parents and grandparents. Watch “Three Little Birds” on Britbox.
Dickinson (2019–2021)
The series “Dickinson” is so meticulously strange that it deserves praise for its unexpectedness alone. But the most surprising thing about it is that it’s not just unique—it’s good . The series recreates the life of 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson (played by Hailee Steinfeld) with the plausible premise that she didn’t quite fit in with her era, a fact the series reflects through a casual use of anachronisms and modern perspectives. Think of “Pirates” or Sofia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette” —but neither tells the story of someone as enigmatic and mysterious as Dickinson, who throughout the series struggles with her father over her desire (or rather, need) to write. Bonus: the series is also beautifully filmed and acted. Watch “Dickinson” on Apple TV .
Sanditon (2019–2023)
Based on Jane Austen’s final, unfinished work, Sanditon allows for greater creative freedom—it lacks the stylistic flourishes of Bridgerton , but instead offers a purer embodiment of the gripping Regency dramas Austen left us. Here, independent Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) sets out to reinvent herself after moving to a burgeoning seaside resort town (likely based on the real-life Worthing). She discovers that commercial prospects have attracted adventurers and swindlers to the area, creating a unique and vibrant social scene with all the balls and lavish costumes one would expect. Naturally, romantic complications arise as Charlotte begins to disapprove of the enterprising Parker family and finds herself at odds with, and then bonding with, the rambunctious youngest son, Sidney (Theo James). Watch Sanditon on PBS Passport or buy it on Prime Video .
Miss Austen (2025)
This masterfully crafted historical drama, a somewhat unconventional take on Jane Austen, follows the celebrated author’s only sister, Cassandra, in the years immediately following her death, and how their lives have veered far from the romantic plots of books like Pride and Prejudice . The author is on her way to achieving the legendary status she has achieved, while her family is already fighting to protect her legacy. Cassandra (Keeley Hawes) visits the home of a dying family friend, the Reverend Fowle, intent on collecting and destroying private letters between Jane and the Reverend’s late wife, Eliza. Cassandra’s unsavory sister-in-law also seeks these letters, planning to publish them for her own purposes. In this miniseries, Cassandra revisits her past, exploring the different paths she and Jane took to independence (one through writing, the other through painting), and Cassandra also finds herself at the center of her daughter Eliza’s, very Jane-esque, quest to escape a marriage she wants nothing to do with. Watch “Sanditon” on PBS Passport or buy it on Prime Video .