20 best shows like Man in an Orange Shirt (2017)

Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, 1832. Anne Lister attempts to revitalize her inherited home, Shibden Hall. Most notably for the time period, a part of her plan is to help the fate of her own family - by taking a wife.

It's the late 1960s, homosexuality has only just been legalised and Jeremy Thorpe, the leader of the Liberal party, has a secret he's desperate to hide.

Powerful historical drama series, based on the lives of real people, telling the story of young 19th-century apprentices taking their lives into their own hands for the first time.

What starts out as a simple, reckless mid-life affair between a genetic scientist named Yvonne and a Westminster paper pusher takes an intriguing turn when she realizes he’s a spook – then suddenly gets very dark indeed. A provocative study of obsession, longing and just how far down a criminal path desire can take you.

Marianne and Connell weave in and out of each other’s lives in this exploration of sex, power and the desire to love and be loved. Adaptation of Sally Rooney’s best-selling novel.

The Tudors is a history-based drama series following the young, vibrant King Henry VIII, a competitive and lustful monarch who navigates the intrigues of the English court and the human heart with equal vigor and justifiable suspicion.

Amy Dorrit spends her days earning money for the family and looking after her proud father who is a long term inmate of Marshalsea debtors' prison in London. Amy and her family's world is transformed when her employer's son, Arthur Clennam, returns from overseas to solve his family's mysterious legacy and discovers that their lives are interlinked.

War and Peace is a 2007 Russian-French-Italian-German miniseries directed by Robert Dornhelm. It was broadcast in Belgium and in France in four parts during October and November 2007. It was inspired by Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace, which also is divided into four parts. The actors are of different nationalities.

The beautiful Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon, navigates the royal lineage of England with an eye on the throne.

Two hundred years after the construction of the great cathedral, the medieval town of Kingsbridge is taken under siege by Queen Isabella. Caris, a visionary young woman, inspires her people to stand up for their rights and revolt against to the most powerful forces of her time, the Church and the Crown.

Elizabeth I is a two-part 2005 British historical drama television miniseries directed by Tom Hooper, written by Nigel Williams, and starring Helen Mirren as Elizabeth I of England. The miniseries covers approximately the last 24 years of her nearly 45-year reign. Part 1 focuses on the final years of her relationship with the Earl of Leicester, played by Jeremy Irons. Part 2 focuses on her subsequent relationship with the Earl of Essex, played by Hugh Dancy. The series originally was broadcast in the United Kingdom in two two-hour segments on Channel 4. It later aired on HBO in the United States, CBC and TMN in Canada, ATV in Hong Kong, ABC in Australia, and TVNZ Television One in New Zealand. The series went on to win Emmy, Peabody, and Golden Globe Awards. The same year, Helen Mirren starred as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen, with which she dominated the award season.

Marnie is not OK. She's had x-rated thoughts for the last 3672 days and she doesn't know why or what they mean. When she jumps on a coach to London, she doesn't know a soul, not even herself, but in the city she will build a new life.

Seven noble families fight for control of the mythical land of Westeros. Friction between the houses leads to full-scale war. All while a very ancient evil awakens in the farthest north. Amidst the war, a neglected military order of misfits, the Night's Watch, is all that stands between the realms of men and icy horrors beyond.

Vikings follows the adventures of Ragnar Lothbrok, the greatest hero of his age. The series tells the sagas of Ragnar's band of Viking brothers and his family, as he rises to become King of the Viking tribes. As well as being a fearless warrior, Ragnar embodies the Norse traditions of devotion to the gods. Legend has it that he was a direct descendant of Odin, the god of war and warriors.

Victor is a new student at Creekwood High School on his own journey of self-discovery, facing challenges at home, adjusting to a new city, and struggling with his sexual orientation. When it all seems too much, he reaches out to Simon to help him navigate the ups and downs of high school.

A story that revolves around five aristocratic families, set during the reign of Alexander I, and centered on the love triangle between Natasha Rostova, Pierre Bezukhov, and Andrei Bolkonsky.

In crowded and expensive London, cash-strapped couple Gemma and Kieran open their small apartment to a third person. Somehow, their new addition, Ray, makes the flat seem bigger, not smaller. Gradually, many things become easier, nicer and better with an extra pair of hands.

Set in 1985, the film has at its core the story of two couples whose relationships dissolve amidst the backdrop of Reagan era politics, the spreading AIDS epidemic, and a rapidly changing social and political climate.

Adaptation of PD James's bestselling homage to Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth and Darcy, now six years married, are preparing for their annual ball when festivities are brought to an abrupt halt.

An ordinary girl is admitted to the most prestigious school in the country where she encounters F4, an exclusive group comprised of the four wealthiest and handsomest boys in the school - Dao Ming Si, Hua Ze Lei, Xi Men and Mei Zuo.

The lives of the editors and journalists working at a left-leaning broadsheet and a populist tabloid.

The story of a love triangle between a conservative English aristocrat, his mean socialite wife and a young suffragette in the midst of World War I and a Europe on the brink of profound change.

After a fateful domestic clash, a devoted mother finds herself in prison and fighting to survive in hopes of reuniting with her daughter.

House of Anubis is a jointly Nickelodeon British, American, and Belgian mystery television series based on the Dutch-Belgian television series Het Huis Anubis aired in the Netherlands and Belgium. The series was created by Hans Bourlon and Gert Verhulst and premiered on Nickelodeon on New Year's Day 2011 in the United States and on 25 February 2011 in the United Kingdom. The series is the first Nickelodeon series to be filmed overseas, the first soap opera created by Nickelodeon and the channel's first soap opera aimed at children and teenagers. As of 25 February, the program will be broadcast on TeenNick. The show has since concluded its third season and as of 28 September 2013 Nickelodeon has not announced a fourth season.

As the heir to a large company, Han Tae Hee has everything he could possibly want - except for his long lost love. But instead of nursing his heartache like a sensible person, Tae Hee enlists Sa Geum Ran, whom he transforms from an overweight ugly duckling to a gorgeous bombshell named Sara. In the process of falling in love with his "creation" he discovers that even though it appears that money can buy just about everything, it can't buy love or heal emotional scars.

The story of Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world where her life is threatened. When she is forced to marry Jamie, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate affair is ignited that tears Claire's heart between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

A drama dealing with the abduction and murder of a young black girl, soon to be adopted by her white foster family, and the trail of lies, blame, guilt and notoriety which follow.

Exile is a British psychological thriller television series dealing with the topic of Alzheimer's disease against a background of corruption. It stars John Simm and Jim Broadbent and was broadcast on BBC One. The series received varyingly positive reviews.John Simm received a BAFTA nomination for his role as Tom Ronstadt, as did the director John Alexander.

Billy & Billie centers on two young adults as they fall in love. They face the usual barrage of attention from their friends and family, and the normal anxieties that come at the start of a new relationship-all further complicated by the fact that they're stepbrother and sister.

Bedlam was a British supernatural drama television series created by David Allison, Neil Jones and Chris Parker. It first aired on 7 February 2011 on Sky Living and Sky Living HD. The series finale was aired on 15 March 2011. In December 2011, it was announced that a second series had been commissioned for airing in Spring 2012 with an updated cast. Series 2 began airing in June 2012 with Lacey Turner taking the lead as a suspended paramedic who can see dead people. On 13 November 2012 Jack Roth who plays Max in the series revealed that Bedlam may return for Series 3 and that a decision on the shows future is to be made around Christmas 2012. On 11 March 2013 Roth announced on Twitter that Bedlam would not be returning for a third series.

The story of a bustling and glamorous five star hotel at the centre of London society and a world at war.

Mary Ann returns to present-day San Francisco and is reunited with her daughter and ex-husband, twenty years after leaving them behind to pursue her career. Fleeing the midlife crisis that her picture-perfect Connecticut life created, Mary Ann is quickly drawn back into the orbit of Anna Madrigal, her chosen family and a new generation of queer young residents living at 28 Barbary Lane.

Danny is a gregarious, hedonistic romantic who gets drawn into the dangerous world of British espionage in this contemporary, emotional thriller. He falls for the anti-social but enigmatic Alex, both from opposite worlds, and they soon realise they’re perfect for each other. But when Alex suddenly disappears, Danny is utterly ill-equipped to take on his complex and codified world. Young, innocent and adrift he needs to decide whether he’s prepared to fight for the truth?

Inexperienced Otis channels his sex therapist mom when he teams up with rebellious Maeve to set up an underground sex therapy clinic at school.

It is the year 1967. After five happy years of marriage in New York with Alberto and their young son, Anna Ribera returns to Spain to take her project Velvet to the next level. She and Alberto had been managing all things Velvet from across the ocean and, together with their best friends and partners, had made a name for Velvet as the number one address in the world of fashion and innovation. Now they decide to take the next step and turn their reputation into a franchise, first at home, then abroad. The first step is opening shop in the other great Spanish city, Barcelona, on its world famous promenade, the Passeig de Gracia. There, the second Velvet Fashion Store is about to open its gates, managed by Ana's good friend Clara who had made it up the career ladder from seamstress to directorial assistant in the Madrid Velvet years.

The story of a group of inspirational women in a rural Cheshire community with the shadow of World War II casting a dark cloud over their lives. As the conflict takes hold and separates the women from their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers, the characters find themselves under increasing and extraordinary pressures in a rapidly fragmenting world. By banding together as the Great Paxford Women’s Institute, they help maintain the nation’s fabric in its darkest hour, and discover inner resources that will change their lives forever.

The social and class divisions in early 20th century England through the intersection of three families - the wealthy Wilcoxes, the gentle and idealistic Schlegels and the lower-middle class Basts.

Desperate to escape from his emotional baggage and the heavy responsibility he’s had all his life, a psychiatric ward worker begins to heal with help from the unexpected—a woman who writes fairy tales but doesn’t believe in them.

Dates is a British television romantic drama series created by Bryan Elsley, who also created Skins, which first aired on Channel 4 on 10 June 2013, at 22:00, as part of its "Mating Season" programming, illustrating a series of first dates between online dating service users. The show's target audience is "ABC1".

Jim Broadbent, Matthew Macfadyen and Sam Claflin take on the lead role of Logan Mountstuart in William Boyd's adaptation of his best-selling novel. From one man's emotional, tumultuous and unpredictable journey through the 20th century comes a funny, moving and ambitious four-part drama. Told through Logan's intimate journals, beginning with the idealism and arrogance of his youth, through the triumphs and tragedies of middle-age, to the unexpected dramas of his twilight years - his story reveals that all our lives are ultimately random, and defined by luck and seemingly inconsequential choices. Hayley Atwell, Natasha Little, Emerald Fennell, Ed Stoppard, Samuel West and Kim Cattrall star alongside Gillian Anderson and Tom Hollander as the lovers, wives, friends and infamous figures he encounters throughout his ordinary and yet utterly extraordinary life.