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

Few shows straddle as many genres as Outlander. Starz's hit series is an intoxicating mix of detailed historical period drama, time-traveling sci-fi, and hot and sexy romance, with a bit of violent premium-cable action mixed in for good measure. It has something for everybody, which makes recommending shows like Outlander a lot of fun, because there are so many options to choose from, depending on which part of Outlander you're emphasizing. Our list of shows like Outlander has a bit of everything, including sci-fi, romance, and sci-fi romance. 

These shows will hold you over until the epic, centuries-spanning love story of Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) returns for Season 7. The Droughtlander is long, but these shows will help you endure it. 

Outlander Watch on Starz

More recommendations:

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• The Best Historical Dramas to Watch on Netflix

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.