TV's best historical dramas
The rules were made to be broken in HBO's "Boardwalk Empire." Set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the 1920s, "Nucky" Thompson (Steve Buscemi) sees all from his throne built on political fixing and illegal dealing. The fun comes to an end with Season 5, which launches September 7. Click through our gallery to see other favorite TV period pieces. 
Don't want to be confined by time -- or space, for that matter? Hop on board BBC mainstay "Doctor Who's" time-traveling police box, the TARDIS. The Doctor regularly visits different periods in history and meets historical figures along the way. Vincent van Gogh, anyone? Season 8 has returned to BBC America with a new Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi, and his companion Clara (Jenna Coleman). 
The much-anticipated series "Outlander" is airing now on Starz. Based on Diana Gabaldon's best-selling books, the story follows WWII combat nurse Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe), who travels back in time to 1743 and encounters Scottish warrior Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). 
Viewers are eager to see what happens next on beloved historical drama "Downton Abbey." The Jazz Age-fueled Season 5 bows in the U.S. in January 2015. 
Science is sexy on "Masters of Sex," which is based on real events. Research by Dr. William Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan) sets off the sexual revolution of the 1960s as they delve into the science behind human sexuality. Season 2 is currently airing on Showtime. Also starring: Caitlin FitzGerald as Libby Masters, left. 
It's the 1980s, and IBM is enjoying success a year after releasing its personal computer. In AMC's "Halt and Catch Fire," a former IBM executive, Joe MacMillan (Lee Pace), right, decides to create a new competitive product with a new company and help from Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy) and Cameron Howe (Mackenzie Davis). The first season just wrapped on AMC. 
If you need to get your swashbuckling fix, tune in to "The Musketeers," which just wrapped its first season on BBC America. From left, it's Aramis (Santiago Cabrera), Athos (Tom Burke), D'Artagnan (Luke Pasqualino) and Porthos (Howard Charles) in a new take on Alexandre Dumas' classic novel, "The Three Musketeers." 
If you've missed watching pirates on TV, look no further than John Malkovich as Blackbeard in NBC's "Crossbones," which just wrapped up its first season. 
Get ready to see a new side of Dorian Gray, Dr. Frankenstein and other dark literary figures prowling Victorian London in Showtime's "Penny Dreadful." The show just wrapped an intriguing first season. 
Although the realms of Westeros are based only in the universe of author George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, some aspects of the "Game of Thrones" storyline borrow from a range of historical inspiration found in medieval Europe. Season 4 aired on HBO this year. 
"Turn" dramatizes the story of America's first spy ring during the Revolutionary War. Jamie Bell, right, stars as Abe Woodhull, a farmer who helps form a team of secret agents aiding George Washington. The show has been renewed for a second season on AMC. 
"Reign" takes viewers inside the story of teenager Mary Stuart (played by Adelaide Kane), the woman who will become Mary, Queen of Scots. The seductive show enjoyed a successful first season on the CW. 
Set in Reagan-era America, the FX drama "The Americans" follows KGB spies, played by Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, posing as an American couple in suburban Washington. The show has been renewed for a third season. 
Jeremy Piven brings the titular retail tycoon to life in ITV's "Mr. Selfridge" series, set in London in 1909. At the center of the show is the man and his department store, Selfridges. Overlapping ambition, flamboyance and affairs ensue. The second season has wrapped on PBS. 
The BBC series "Call the Midwife" follows the emotional heights and depths of midwifery alongside families in London's East End in the 1950s. The legendary Vanessa Redgrave narrates the series, starring Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, Helen George and Jenny Agutter. Season 3 just wrapped on PBS. 
It's Leonardo da Vinci (Tom Riley) as you've never seen him. This fictional look at his early life is uniquely dark and fantastical. Season 2 just wrapped on Starz. 
It's like "Pirates of the Caribbean" but darker. This new Starz drama takes place 20 years before "Treasure Island," following Captain Flint and his men as they come across thieves, prostitutes and other pirate gangs. It's been renewed for a second season. Emile Zola's classic novel comes to life in this Victorian-era drama from BBC. "The Paradise" takes place in a dazzling department store that becomes the setting for romance and intrigue. Season 2 will air on PBS in the fall. 
The corporate advertising world of 1960s New York has never looked so sleek, sexy or ruthless. Season 7 will be the last chapter for Don Draper (Jon Hamm), ending in 2015. 
Just after the Jack the Ripper murders in London's East End circa 1889, chaos and crime were rampant partners. Inspector Edmund Reid (Matthew Macfadyen) works to control it, through the brothels and filth-ridden streets of Whitechapel. "Ripper Street" was canceled by the BBC after two seasons, but Amazon has rescued the show and commissioned a third. 
Treachery and intrigue are rampant in the Five Points slums and Fifth Avenue brownstones of 1865 New York. Detective Kevin Corcoran (Tom Weston-Jones) traverses both worlds. Unfortunately, BBC America's first original scripted series was canceled after two seasons, but producers are considering a movie version. 
Showtime series "The Borgias," led by Oscar winner Jeremy Irons, came to an end after three seasons. The most powerful and scheming family in Renaissance-era Italy quests for the papacy, wealth and power, using murder and deceit as stepping stones. 
We barely knew them for two seasons, but canceled 1950s BBC newsroom drama "The Hour" had star power with (from left) Dominic West ("The Wire") Romola Garai ("Emma") and Ben Whishaw ("Skyfall"). If "Mad Men" isn't enough retro cool for you, catch this one on DVD. 
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