7 shows to watch if you loved Anne with an E

There have been many great historical fiction dramas over the years. Anne with an E is one that we’re still salty about being canceled.

Over the course of three seasons, it told the story of Anne and it is based on the book Anne of Green Gables. Anne is a 13-year-old who has been through an abusive childhood from strangers and people in orphanages. When she’s mistakenly sent to live with Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert on Prince Edward Island, Anne makes the most of it. She transforms their lives and those in the small town they live in.

Anne is a young girl who just wants to be loved and accepted. Could she have found her place in the world? Maybe!

But what can you watch once you’ve watched all three seasons? You’ll want a show that focuses on LGBTQ stories, racism, feminism, and much more. Here are seven shows that will get you started.

Little House on the Prairie

We start with the 1970s series Little House on the Prairie, which was based on the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The series follows the Ingalls family in the 1870s, who own a farm in Walnut Groce, Minnesota.

We get a look at life on the farm, life for women at the time, and the growth in feminism and a fight for equality ahead of the Suffragette movement. Some of the storylines include blindness, marriage, death, and retirement.

You can watch Little House on the Prairie on Prime Video and Peacock.

The Buccaneers

Next up is a rather recent period drama. It’s all about The Buccaneers, which is set in the 1870s. It starts off in America, but the characters move to London, where we get the culture clash between the two societies.

This is a look at high society. The American young women are looking for suitable marriages. The problem is the people of London are not ready for the American brashness and what the English would class as a lack of manners.

While there is only one season right now, there is a second coming. The Buccaneers is on Apple TV+.

Alias Grace

Next up is a series that is based on the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name. It is also loosely based on real events from the 19th century.

Set in 1843, we follow Grace Marks, a Irish immigrant and domestic servant now in Upper Canada. When she’s accused of murder, she ends up convicted and is sentenced to life in prison. She tells us the story of the events and life in prison.

Alias Grace is available to stream on Netflix.

Lessons in Chemistry

We jump to the 20th century for the next series, and it is also based on a novel by Bonnie Garmus. Lessons in Chemistry follows Elizabeth Zott, a chemist who is fired from her job after she ends up pregnant out of wedlock. She ends up becoming the host of a cooking show, where she finds a way to teach women about chemistry as well as baking.

Of course, the men don’t like that their women are learning. And so starts a story of her fighting for her rights to host this show her way. She has to prove to her daughter that there is something more for women in the 1960s.

Gentleman Jack

We are back in the 1800s for Gentleman Jack, and this series is based on the real life of Anne Lister. Anne was a landowner in 1832 Yorkshire, England. She is determined to save Shibden Hall, but she wants to do it her own way. That means bucking society’s expectations, reopen the coal mines, and do it all herself. She will not marry a man.

In fact, she is interested in women. We watch her story unfold through her relationships with her family, servants, and her future wife. Everything is based on Anne’s own diaries.

Gentleman Jack is available to stream on Max.

Downton Abbey

You’ve likely already watched Downton Abbey, but it’s time to do it again. This series has everything you need, with an LGBTQ storyline within the staff relationships, a push for women gaining land in their own right, and the life of men and women of two different class systems at the time.

The series starts in 1912. The Titanic has sunk, and the heir to Downton is presumed dead. This leads to the search for the next in line, but Lord Grantham only has daughters. Who is the male heir, and what happens when he has different views for the land to keep it profitable?

Downton Abbey is available on Prime Video, BritBox, and Peacock.

Poldark

For this last offering, we’re heading back to the late 1700s. Captain Ross Poldark returns from the States after the American Revolutionary War. As he arrives in Cornwall, he learns that his father has died and the love of his life married another. Now he needs to figure out life moving forward. What is next for him?

Ross meets a servant Demelza. Is there a chance of love after your initial one has gone? That’s what he gets to find out, as he also figures out what to do with his father’s land, which is now his own.

Poldark is on PBS Masterpiece and Acorn TV.

This all-new version of the vintage Masterpiece series stars Aidan Turner as Capt. Ross Poldark, a redcoat returning to Cornwall after the American Revolutionary War, only to find his father dead and his true love about to marry someone else. A Mammoth Screen production, the series is packed with action, adventure and romance. Also featured are Eleanor Tomlinson as servant Demelza, Warren Clarke as Uncle Charles, and Heida Reed as Elizabeth Chenoweth. Robin Ellis, who portrayed Ross Poldark in the original adaptation 40 years ago, appears here as Reverend Halse.