Top 250 Tv Shows Like Esther Waters

Babar is a Canadian/French/Japanese animated television series produced in Quebec, Canada by Nelvana Limited and The Clifford Ross Company. It premiered in 1989 on CBC and HBO, subsequently was rerun on HBO Family and Qubo. The series is based on Jean de Brunhoff's original Babar books, and was Nelvana's first international co-production. The series' 78 episodes have been broadcast in 30 languages in over 150 countries. Episodes of Babar currently air on Ion Television and Qubo. While the French author Laurent de Brunhoff pronounces the name Babar as "BUH-bar", the TV series in its first five seasons pronounces the name as "BAB-bar". In 2010, a computer-animated sequel series spin-off of Babar titled Babar and the Adventures of Badou was launched. The new series focuses on a majority of new characters.

Black Books centres around the foul tempered and wildly eccentric bookshop owner Bernard Black. Bernard’s devotion to the twin pleasures of drunkenness and wilful antagonism deepens and enriches both his life and that of Manny, his assistant. Bearded, sweet and good, Manny is everything that Bernard isn’t and is punished by Bernard relentlessly just for the crime of existing. They depend on each other for meaning as Fran, their oldest friend, depends on them for distraction. Black Books is a haven of books, wine and conversation, the only threat to the group’s peace and prosperity is their own limitless stupidity.

The story of Victorian serial killer Mary Ann Cotton, a poisoner whose methods leave no visible scars, allowing her tally of victims to mount, unsuspected by a Victorian society unable to conceive of a woman capable of such terrible crimes. Traveling around the North East, she insinuates herself into unsuspecting families, marrying and creating new families of her own - before killing them, taking their money and moving on.

Charles Dickens' haunting semi-autobiographical tale of a boy who is sent away by his stepfather after his mother dies but manages to triumph over incredible adversities.

When her life comes to an abrupt end, George discovers that death is nothing like she thought it would be. Recruited to collect the souls of others as they die, she suddenly finds herself an unwilling participant in a line of work she never knew existed: Grim Reaping!

A chronicle of the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era—with great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy.

The everyday lives of working-class residents of Albert Square, a traditional Victorian square of terrace houses surrounding a park in the East End of London's Walford borough.

The lives of several families in the Yorkshire Dales revolve around a farm and the nearby village. With murders, affairs, lies, deceit, laughter and tears, it's all there in the village.

Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.

Sara Crewe is the pampered daughter of an army colonel in a Victorian London girls' school. But when her father dies, penniless, Sara becomes a skivvy in Miss Michin's school, befriended only by the scullery maid, Becky, her friends Ermengarde and Lottie, a little monkey, a lascar, and the mysterious man next door. Based upon the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Aan irreverent and outrageous take on true family love‐and dysfunction. Newly sober single mom Christy struggles to raise two children in a world full of temptations and pitfalls. Testing her sobriety is her formerly estranged mother, now back in Christy's life and eager to share passive-aggressive insights into her daughter's many mistakes.

Mr. Belvedere takes a job as a housekeeper with an American family headed by George Owens.

A tight-knit group of teens unearths a long-buried secret, setting off a chain of illicit events that takes them on an adventure they'll never forget.

Partly-improvised sitcom looking at the trials and tribulations of bringing up three young children - a regal five-year-old girl with a talent for interrogation, a seven-year-old boy who could fib for Britain and an 11-year-old who is gearing up for his scary first day at secondary school.

An intoxicating love story set in England's first department store in the 1870s. The Paradise revolves around the lives of the people who live and work in the store, each bound in their own way by the power of the world they live in, and the pasts that follow them there. A love story, mystery, and social comedy all in one.

Some of literature's most terrifying characters, including Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, and iconic figures from the novel Dracula are lurking in the darkest corners of Victorian London. Penny Dreadful is a frightening psychological thriller that weaves together these classic horror origin stories into a new adult drama.

Set in England in the early 19th century, Pride and Prejudice tells the story of Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters after the rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, have moved into their neighbourhood. While Bingley takes an immediate liking to the eldest Bennet daughter, Jane, Darcy has difficulty adapting to local society and repeatedly clashes with the second-eldest Bennet daughter, Elizabeth.

A drama set in the East End of London in 1889, during the aftermath of the "Ripper" murders. The action centres around the notorious H Division – the police precinct from hell – which is charged with keeping order in the chaotic streets of Whitechapel. Ripper Street explores the lives of characters trying to recover from the Ripper's legacy, from crimes that have not only irretrievably altered their lives, but the very fabric of their city. At the drama's heart our detectives try to bring a little light into the dark world they inhabit.

Bizarre things start happening in the little New Mexico town where UFOs were spotted in 1947. Cut to 1999, when a cute high-school student saves the life of a teenage waitress. Surrounded by cliques of clever, angst-filled classmates, the two form a bond that threatens the survival of a secret universe involving superhuman powers, a yen for hot sauce and an alien gene pool.

Samantha Newly has been a bad, bad girl. But thanks to an 8-day coma, she can't remember a thing. Fortunately her best friend Andrea is by her side with a cocktail and the 4-1-1 on every dirty deed. But the more Sam pieces together her past, the less she likes her old self. Maybe this is a chance to start over and do it all again.

Sherlock Holmes uses his abilities to take on cases by private clients and those that the Scotland Yard are unable to solve, along with his friend Dr. Watson.

When genius cybernetics engineer Ted Lawson brings home his top-secret invention, a Voice Input Child Identicant or V.I.C.I., life becomes anything but mechanical for the Lawson Family. With his boss and his nosy family living next door, Ted, his wife Joan and their son Jamie must pass Vicki off as a real child. It is easy for Joan, who cannot help doting on her like a daughter, but harder for precocious Jamie, who uses Vicki to do his homework and to ward off Harriet, the annoying redheaded girl next door.

After returning the body of Gus McCrae to Lonesome Dove, Woodrow Call takes on the challenge of driving a herd of wild mustangs 2500 miles north to the Hat Creek Ranch in Montana. But tragedy, triumph, despair and deceit will greet him before he ever gets there.

Black Beauty is a pure black, thoroughbred horse in late 19th Century rural England who is adopted into the household of James Gordon, a local doctor and widower, and befriended by his daughter Vicky, son Kevin, and their friends Albert and Robbie.

Set in the small hamlet of Lark Rise and the wealthier neighbouring market town, Candleford, the series chronicles the daily lives of farm-workers, craftsmen and gentry at the end of the 19th Century. Lark Rise to Candleford is a love letter to a vanished corner of rural England and a heart-warming drama series teeming with wit, wisdom and romance.

He Knew He Was Right was a 2004 BBC TV adaptation of the Anthony Trollope novel He Knew He Was Right. It was directed by Tom Vaughan.

A Victorian-era Toronto detective uses then-cutting edge forensic techniques to solve crimes, with the assistance of a female coroner who is also struggling for recognition in the face of tradition, based on the books by Maureen Jennings.

A young governess falls in love with her mysterious employer, but a terrible secret puts their happiness at risk.

Oliver is born into poverty and misfortune - the son of an unmarried mother, who dies shortly after his birth. He is soon delivered to the workhouse, where the cruel Mr. Bumble oversees children tormented by starvation and suffering. When Oliver dares to ask for more gruel, he finds himself cast out and forced to make his own way in the world...

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.

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.

Mr Pickwick, Tupman, Winkle, Snodgrass and Sam Weller begin their travels through the England of stage-coaches and coaching inns.

Beautiful and naïve Maggy Lunel arrives in Paris completely broke. She becomes an artist's model and the toast of Paris, attracting the attention of Picasso-like painter Julien Mistral, an arrogant and selfish man who places his work above everything. Their paths diverge as Mistral's art catches the eye of a rich American woman who becomes his patroness and eventually his wife. During the war years in France, Mistral collaborates with the Nazis in order to continue with his work, a decision that will come back to haunt him years later. In the meantime, Maggy has a daughter named Teddy who grows up and falls in love with Mistral with whom she has a child named Fauve. As Mistral ages, he comes to terms with his selfish past and wartime betrayal through his art, leaving a beautiful legacy for his daughter, Fauve.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a 1996 British television serial adaptation of Anne Brontë's novel of the same name, produced by BBC and directed by Mike Barker. The serial stars Tara FitzGerald as Helen Graham, Rupert Graves as her abusive husband Arthur Huntington and Toby Stephens as Gilbert Markham.

Follow Sugar into the underbelly of Victorian London seething with vitality, sexuality, ambition and emotion.

Set in Valco, a fictional budget supermarket in the north west of England, Trollied finds the funny in one of our most familiar surroundings and focuses on the types of characters we all recognise: bored checkout staff, ineffectual managers and a range of customers, from the irate to the downright bizarre.

The investigation of Paul Vandervent into the mysterious death of his father brings further discord among two feuding families tied together in business and marriage, living under the same roof.

The life of an orphan is changed by the providential intervention of a mysterious benefactor.

Joe leaves working-class, industrial Dufton behind him and takes a job as senior audit clerk at the town hall in affluent Warley. He takes lodgings at the poshest part of the town and starts to make his mark on local society.

It's the late 19th century, and the mysterious Dracula has arrived in London, posing as an American entrepreneur who wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. He's especially interested in the new technology of electricity, which promises to brighten the night - useful for someone who avoids the sun. But he has another reason for his travels: he hopes to take revenge on those who cursed him with immortality centuries earlier. Everything seems to be going according to plan... until he becomes infatuated with a woman who appears to be a reincarnation of his dead wife.

Happy Valley is a dark, funny, multi-layered thriller revolving around the personal and professional life of Catherine, a dedicated, experienced, hard-working copper. She is also a bereaved mother who looks after her orphaned grandchild.

Children and teenagers become friends in a hospital where they are all patients. Together they try to escape the sad reality to create their own world with their own codes , while the nursing staff do their best to bring them a little happiness everyday. Charlie , in a coma for several months, attending meanwhile helplessly bustle around him. He sees nothing , but he hears everything ...

Baby Lullaby takes your baby on a soothing journey with classical lullabies by Bach, Brahms and Mozart. Enjoy relaxing ocean waves, sweet puppet shows and tranquil images. From fun time to rest time, Baby Lullaby is the perfect way to spend special time with your baby

On the eve of World War I, Agnes Conway manages both the business and the problems of her troubled family. She finds the strength to break class barriers and help her sister Jessie marry a good boy from a family of dockside toughs. Is she strong enough to break them again when Charles Farrier, a gentleman, courts her over his parents' opposition? Agnes faces an added dilemma when she finds her heart divided between Charles and his soldier brother Reginald.

A year after the disappearance of their son, Gabe and Eve Caleigh and their two daughters attempt to start anew, they head to Crickley Hall - a seemingly perfect countryside house. But when cellar doors start to open on their own, phantom children's cries are heard through the night and a frenzied cane-wielding specter rears its head - the Caleigh's realize the house comes with a lot more than they bargained for. Just as they're ready to move out, Eve Caleigh hears Cam's cries and all bets are off.

A century ago, 1.5 million British people worked as servants – astonishingly, more than worked in factories or farms. But while servants are often portrayed as characters in period dramas, the real stories of Britain’s servants have largely been forgotten. Presented by social historian Dr Pamela Cox – herself the great-granddaughter of servants – this three-part series uncovers the reality of servants’ lives from the Victorian era through to the Second World War.

With magic long since lost to England, two men are destined to bring it back; the reclusive Mr. Norrell and daring novice Jonathan Strange. So begins a dangerous battle between two great minds.

In 1830s rural England, a courageous young girl envied by women for her beauty, lusted after by men, is accused of witchcraft and forced to rise above the prejudice of many people in the community in which she lives.

Suzannah Lipscomb reveals the killers that lurked in every room of the home.

Set in the turbulent 1680s, this four-part drama takes place on both sides of the Atlantic, as these two young men and two young women commit their lives to a fairer future with blood, passion and urgency. New Worlds is a gripping story of love and loss and the human price paid for the freedoms we enjoy today.

A well-to-do family is torn apart by the kidnapping of their teenage daughter in this harrowing thriller.

Rebecca Kendall has it all: a stunning house, two wonderful daughters and a handsome, loving husband. When Richard dies in a plane crash, Rebecca slowly learns the full extent of her husband’s lies and deceit.

A dramatization of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel in five parts by Rex Tucker.

Living history show presented by Fi Glover. Six celebrities travel back in time to the relentless graft of Victorian Britain.

In Victorian London, feisty heroine Hetty Feather is trapped in the Foundling Hospital, the strict institution ruled over by the formidable Matron Bottomley. Aided by friends and thwarted by enemies, Hetty battles to win her freedom and finally find her real mother. Based on the book by Jacqueline Wilson.

London, 1886. Unbeknown to his loyal wife Winnie, Soho shopkeeper Verloc works as a secret agent for the Russian government. Angry that Britain harbours violent anarchists, the Russians coerce Verloc into planting a bomb that will provoke the authorities into cracking down on these extremists. Caught between the Russians and the British police, Verloc reluctantly draws his own family into a tragic terror plot.

This drama-documentary series takes us back in time to the most shocking and surprising murder cases in London, England's history. Nicholas Day guides us into the world of the killer as we see how police ingenuity and early forensics helped bring them to justice.

Dickensian intertwines the realm of fictional characters in Charles Dickens’ novels—including Scrooge, Fagin and Miss Havisham—in half-hour episodes, as their lives intertwine in 19th century London. The Old Curiosity Shop sits next door to The Three Cripples Pub, while Fagin’s Den is hidden down a murky alley off a bustling Victorian street.

Lucy Worsley delves into the history of romance to uncover the forces shaping our very British happily ever after and how our feelings have been affected by social, political and cultural ideas.

Inspector John Marlott investigates a series of crimes in 19th century London, which may have been committed by a scientist intent on re-animating the dead.

Four professional bakers leave their modern businesses behind to bake their way through the Victorian era. They set up shop in 1837, when their trade was vital to the survival of the nation.

The story of the penniless Mary Thorne, who grows up with her rich aunt/cousins at Greshamsbury Park estate.

Somerset 1894. When a pioneering Victorian psychologist brings his vivacious young wife to live on his family's estate, he is confronted by one disturbing case after another. Are these strange events linked merely by coincidence, or is there something more sinister - more supernatural - going on at Shepzoy?

In the heart of the modern East End of London, a Victorian slum has been recreated and a group of 21st-century people are moving in. Michael Mosley joins them to tell the extraordinary story of how the Victorian East End changed our attitude to poverty forever.

Charismatic adventurer Franklin Blake is on the most important quest of his life - to solve the disappearance of the priceless Moonstone and win back Rachel Verinder, his one true love.

A war veteran turned private detective operates out of a tiny office in London’s Denmark Street. Although wounded both physically and psychologically, his unique insight and background as a military police investigator prove crucial in solving complex crimes that have baffled the police. Based on the bestselling novels written by J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

Brothel owner, Margaret Wells, struggles to raise her daughters in London during the 18th century.

A story of revenge and ambition, seduction and betrayal; all told from the perspective of an offended and abused woman named Altagracia. Altagracia represents the hundreds of thousands of Mexican women who have been victims of the violence by faceless men who are protected by impunity. But Altagracia, transformed into a strong-willed, ruthless man-eater known as La Doña, will seek out each and every one of these men to bring them to justice.

A raucous comedy set in Victorian London about four medical pioneers fighting to make a mark on the world.

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.

BBC's 150th anniversary production of Jane Austen's novel of the same name.

Set in the dark heart of Victorian London, Detective Inspector Rabbit is a hardened booze-hound who's seen it all. Rabbit's been chasing bad guys for as long as he can remember, but these days his heart keeps stopping at inopportune moments.

This series travels the length and breadth of Britain to find out how the Victorians built Britain. It uncovers the incredible and surprising stories behind iconic landmarks; discovers the hidden heroes behind the epic constructions; and finds out how the incredible advances made by the Victorians forged the world we live in today.

Transylvania, 1897. The blood-drinking Count Dracula is drawing his plans against Victorian London. And be warned: the dead travel fast.

A tale of secrets and scandals set in 1840s London. When the Trenchards accept an invitation to the now legendary ball hosted by the Duchess of Richmond on the fateful evening of the Battle of Waterloo, it sets in motion a series of events that will have consequences for decades to come as secrets unravel behind the porticoed doors of London’s grandest postcode.

In the last years of Victoria's reign, London is beset by the "Touched": people — mostly women — who suddenly manifest abnormal abilities, some charming, some very disturbing. Among them are Amalia True, a mysterious, quick-fisted widow, and Penance Adair, a brilliant young inventor. They are the champions of this new underclass, making a home for the Touched, while fighting the forces of… well, pretty much all the forces — to make room for those whom history as we know it has no place.

A Gay Victorian Affair is a gay fantasia of historical homosexual hanky panky. Set in Victorian England, the series follows Lord Reginald and Lady Vanessa Favershum, a gay man and lesbian woman who enter into a marriage of convenience in order to keep their true desires a secret – and then they help each other hook up. It’s Downton Abbey meets Queer As Folk as Reginald and Vanessa manœuvre through sexual escapades and dangerous secrecy, knowing that the slightest slip up could cause their entire world to come crashing down.

Gold Digger tells the story of wealthy 60 year old Julia as she falls in love with Benjamin, a man 25 years her junior. As this six part series progresses the impact their unconventional relationship has on her family is explored and the secrets of their past are revealed. Has Julia finally found the happiness she's always deserved? Or is Benjamin really the gold digger they think he is?

A grifter in 1960s New York is hired to convince a wealthy man's son to return home from Italy and begins a life of deceit, fraud and murder.

When Eliza Scarlet’s father dies, he leaves her penniless, but she resolves to continue his detective agency. To operate in a male-dominated world, though, she needs a partner... step forward a detective known as the Duke. Eliza and The Duke strike up a mismatched, fiery relationship as they team up to solve crime in the murkiest depths of 1880’s London.

Taking a 'bottom-up' view of history by exploring everyday lives of the nations ordinary people.

London widow Cora Seaborne moves to Essex to investigate reports of a mythical serpent. She forms an unlikely bond with the village vicar, but when tragedy strikes, locals accuse her of attracting the creature.

Following an outrageous bet, Fogg and his valet, Passepartout, take on the legendary journey of circumnavigating the globe in just 80 days, swiftly joined by aspiring journalist Abigail Fix, who seizes the chance to report on this extraordinary story.

In Victorian London, a gang of troubled street teens are manipulated into solving crimes for the sinister Doctor Watson and his mysterious business partner, the elusive Sherlock Holmes. As the crimes take on a horrifying supernatural edge and a dark power emerges, it'll be up to the Irregulars to come together to save not only London but the entire world.

“I seem to have spent a lifetime travelling the world, but as I get older, I realise there’s so much of my own country I haven’t seen. So, I decided that using my traveller’s eyes…I’m going to turn that vision onto this country, the place that I now call home.” Joanna Lumley. After a lifetime of travels that have taken her across the globe, Joanna Lumley is making her most personal journey yet. Over three episodes, she’ll travel from the Yorkshire Dales to St Michael’s Mount, from the Highlands of Scotland to the cobbles of Coronation Street, retracing old steps, meeting inspiring people, and exploring the wonders of the country she calls home.

The story of one Hollywood's most notorious and public scandals: the accusation of sexual abuse against Woody Allen involving Dylan, his then 7-year-old daughter with Mia Farrow; their subsequent custody trial, the revelation of Allen’s relationship with Farrow’s daughter, Soon-Yi; and the controversial aftermath in the years that followed.

James Acaster is from Kettering, a town in the middle of England. He returns home as his stand-up career is taking off, to revisit his old haunts and to reconnect with the town he grew up in.

The true story of a controversial honeytrap at the heart of the 1992 police investigation into the murder of a young mother in London. Examining the complicated and toxic sexual politics of the early ‘90s and the police’s obsession with the wrong man, Deceit enters a dysfunctional world, where a female undercover officer, codename ‘Lizzie James’, is asked to become sexual bait for a suspected killer.

Explores the world's most notorious and prolific cults Children of God, through the stories of three British women who escaped its clutches.

Investigation which scratches the surface of the child grooming gangs in Telford, U.K. Allegations of police corruption and bribery between senior officers and local businessmen.

Exploring the mass gang movement that originated in Birmingham and other industrial cities in the 19th century and evolved into modern gangsterism in the early 20th.

The life of Jimmy Savile, a man who, for decades, became one of the UK’s most influential celebrities, but in death has become one of the most reviled figures of modern history following revelations of extensive and horrific abuse.

The harrowing true story of the Broberg family, whose daughter Jan was kidnapped multiple times over a period of years by a charismatic, obsessed family "friend." The Brobergs — devoted to their faith, family, and community — were utterly unprepared for the sophisticated tactics their neighbor used to exploit their vulnerabilities, drive them apart, and turn their daughter against them. This is the story of how their lives were permanently altered — and how they survived.

The series exposes an epidemic of widespread grooming – manipulative and coercive behavior by abusers to gain access to potential victims – in U.S. high schools. The series follows one woman’s journey as she reexamines her past relationship with a trusted teacher.

Mina Starsiak Hawk takes on the biggest and riskiest renovation of her career as she transforms an 1800s Victorian home in Fountain Square into a bed and breakfast and event center that can be a legacy for her business, her children and the community.

David Beckham is joining up with Westward Boys, an under 14's grassroots side from East London who are in desperate need of help. Westward have not won a game all season, and the threat of being relegated looms large. David is going to have to draw on all of his years of experience in the game if he’s going to stand a chance of saving them from relegation.

A reimagining of Henry Fielding's "The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling," the tale of an illegitimate young man's love for an heiress and his attempts to find a place in the world.

As part of a racist government policy now known as the Sixties Scoop, Bezhig Little Bird is removed from her home in Long Pine Reserve in Saskatchewan and adopted into a Montréal Jewish family at the age of five, becoming Esther Rosenblum. Now in her 20s, Bezhig longs for the family she lost and is willing to sacrifice everything to find them.

After failing to find a soulmate in the US, Americans take the search overseas for a chance at happiness. Expert matchmakers pull out all the stops to connect these hopeful romantics to their one true love.

A rich and comic drama about the people of Cranford, a small Cheshire town on the cusp of change in the 1840s. Adapted from the novels by Elizabeth Gaskell.