10 Historical Dramas Like Outlander to Watch While You Wait for Season 7

Outlander has it all. At its heart, the beloved Starz series is a sweeping romance set against the backdrop of the Jacobite Rebellion in 1740s Scotland and the American Revolution in the 1770s. But the epic story of Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) is more than just a swoon-worthy history lesson.

Woven into the centuries-spanning, globe-trotting series is just about every genre you can think of, including science fiction, costume drama, witchcraft, and even a little bit of light-hearted comedy. If you can't laugh about time-traveling 200 years into the past and stepping into not one but two wars, what can you laugh at?

With Outlander Season 7 arriving this summer on Starz, and the eighth and final season on the horizon, here are a few other shows from all corners of the TV landscape that could fill the void through the next Droughtlander and beyond.

Outlander Season 7: Premiere Date, What It's About, and Everything Else We Know

Outlander Watch on Starz

More recommendations:

• These Are the Best Shows to Watch Based on Shows You Already Love
• The Best Shows to Watch on Netflix Right Now
• The Best Historical Dramas to Watch on Netflix

John Adams

In Season 7, Outlander finally faces down the American Revolution — on its own terms. While the series has always been very faithful with much of its historical depictions, it doesn't hurt to cite other sources when learning about real events through popular culture. One of the best series to ever tackle the Revolutionary era is HBO's masterful Emmy-winning miniseries John Adams starring Paul Giamatti as the titular Founding Father and Laura Linney as his wife and frequent council Abigail Adams. The series begins with Adams' involvement in the Boston Massacre and follows his life through the Revolution and into the post-war years when divisions among the founders were just as vicious. Outlander isn't likely to get into the nitty gritty of building a country, but it's an important companion lesson that John Adams can offer to thrilling results. -Hunter Ingram      

Turn: Washington's Spies

The American Revolution was won on the backs of the men and women who went behind enemy lines and brought back intel to the people commanding armies, a risk well documented by AMC's three-season espionage drama Turn: Washington's Spies. Based on the book Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring by Alexander Rose, the series follows Abraham Woodhull (Jamie Bell) as he gets involved with George Washington's Culper Ring of spies. Outlander is often a series that depends on its characters being in the right place at the right time, and Turn is no different. Jamie Fraser is poised to play an increasingly central role in the Revolutionary fighting, but Turn offers exciting insight to the contributions of those far from the battlefield. -Hunter Ingram         

The Time Traveler's Wife

It's right there in the title: The Time Traveler's Wife is a time-traveling romance. Game of Thrones' Rose Leslie stars as Clare Abshire, the titular spouse, whose husband Henry DeTamble (Theo James) has a disorder that causes him to travel back and forth through time. He has no control over it, which causes a lot of stress and heartache for both of them. They develop a relationship during Henry's trips to his past, which is is Clare's present, and marry when their timelines converge naturally. The HBO series is based on a best-selling novel by Audrey Niffenegger that you've probably read if you like Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books. The Time Traveler's Wife got negative reviews and was canceled after one season, but it still managed to win over a small but devoted fanbase that petitioned to get the show renewed so the story could be finished (the single season only covers half of the novel). Maybe you'll join the fandom. The Time Traveler's Wife was developed for TV by Steven Moffat, who also served a stint as the executive producer of the next timey-wimey show on this list. -Liam Mathews

Doctor Who

Imagine Outlander without kilts. You can't, right? Now say thank you to Doctor Who, because the long-running British sci-fi series about a time-traveling alien practically gift-wrapped those kilts for you. As many fans know, author Diana Gabaldon set the Outlander novels in 18th century Scotland after catching a rerun of a classic Doctor Who episode featuring Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines), a Scottish highlander from the 1740s who travels with the Doctor. TV's preeminent kilt hunk Jamie Fraser owes his name and his homeland to Doctor Who (Gabaldon has said only his first name was an intentional homage; the similarity between his last name and Hines' first name is coincidental). But even if Doctor Who weren't a part of Outlander's history, it would still be on this list: They're both epic time travel dramas. The classic series is a fun watch for fans who want to see how it all began — Jamie was a regular character from 1966 to 1969, appearing alongside Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor — while the revival, which debuted in 2005, really steps up the star-crossed romance Outlander fans love, albeit in a less steamy way. This is a family show! -Kelly Connolly

Bridgerton

If you're looking for another steamy period piece based on a bestselling novel series, look no further than Bridgerton, Netflix's massively popular romance drama. The series is an adaptation of Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels, which are set in Regency-era London and follow the high society romantic travails of the Bridgerton siblings. The first season follows debutante Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), the eldest sister, as she falls in love with Simon Basset (Rege-Jean Page), a handsome duke with a chip on his shoulder. Season 2 focuses on Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), the rakish eldest Bridgerton sibling, and his relationship with Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley), his intended's sister. Outlander has a lot of things Bridgerton doesn't — an epic sweep, an even split between historical and romance drama, and violence, to name a few — but if you just love period pieces with modern sensibilities and sexy, swoonworthy romance, make Bridgerton your next binge. -Liam Mathews

The Spanish Princess

Instead of letting your Starz subscription collect dust while you wait for more Outlander, you should check out The Spanish Princess. (There's no time travel in this one, but don't let that deter you.) Based on the novels by Philippa Gregory, the series follows Catherine of Aragon (Charlotte Hope), a teen princess and Henry VIII's (Ruairi O'Connor) first wife, as she travels to England, briefly marries Henry's brother, and later becomes Queen of England. If you watch Outlander because you love to see people in period clothing yearn and swoon over each other, this show has plenty of romance; if you're in it for the sweeping landscape shots, The Spanish Princess is just as beautiful to look at. But this show is unique for being a rare historical drama told from the woman's perspective, a detail that sets it apart from the pack. -Allison Picurro

Black Sails

If it's more adventure in the 1700s you're looking for, you might enjoy the Starz drama Black Sails. The series, which ran from 2014 to 2017, is a pirate drama set just before the events of Treasure Island that follows Robert Louis Stevenson's characters Captain Flint (Tobey Stephens), Billy Bones (Tom Hopper), "Long John" Silver (Luke Arnold), and others as they pillage and pirate in the Caribbean. Though it doesn't have the emerald green fields of the Scottish Highlands, it does have plenty of eye-popping cerulean blue water. Though it doesn't have much epic romance, it doesn't have plenty of bodice-bursting sex. Think of it as Outlander's naughtier older sibling.

Timeless

This cult fan favorite from Eric Kripke (Supernatural, The Boys) has an appealing main draw: time travel! Each episode, a soldier (Matt Lanter), a historian (Abigail Spencer), and a tech guru (Malcolm Barrett) hop in a top-secret time machine and travel to different time periods in order to stop some bad guys from changing the past (and therefore, the future). Setting it apart from other shows that rip through the time-space continuum, Timeless sets its characters on collision courses with lesser-known but incredibly important historical figures, mostly minority and female figures whose stories aren't told in history books. But that wouldn't be enough to land Timeless on this list. While hopping decades and centuries, a simmering romance stirs between Lanter and Spencer's characters, putting the heart in the show.

A Discovery of Witches

For more literary romance in TV form, check out this British fantasy series based on author Deborah Harkness' All Souls Trilogy. A Discovery of Witches follows a pair of academics at Oxford — meaning it also checks off the "set in foggy old Britain" box — who team up to protect a bewitched manuscript from evil outside forces while they unravel its secrets. One of them, Diana (Teresa Palmer), is a professor of history at Yale who also happens to be a reluctant witch. The other, Matthew (Matthew Goode), is an Oxford biochemistry professor who happens to be a vampire. You get one guess as to whether they fall in forbidden love. Vamps and witches may have a tense history, but chemistry doesn't lie, and Diana and Matthew have it. -Kelly Connolly

Poldark

Spectacular vistas with even more spectacular-looking people is a key element to Outlander's success (and there's nothing wrong with that!), and it's definitely a combination that Masterpiece's Poldark uses to perfection, too. The PBS/BBC series follows Captain Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner), a British soldier in the Revolutionary War who returns home to England after many years away to find his father dead, his estate in shambles, and his true love (Eleanor Tomlinson) about to marry another man. The epic, complicated romance will remind you a lot of Outlander, while shots of Turner emerging from the British surf soaking and shirtless will have you clearing space next to your Jamie Fraser poster.

All six seasons of Outlander are available to stream on Starz. Seasons 1-5 are available on Netflix.