If you’re the kind of person who can get all hot and bothered for period dramas, then Summer 2025 TV is going to give you heat stroke.

Sure, Bridgerton isn’t returning to Netflix until 2026, but the rest of the summer streaming slate is stuffed with dreamy, steamy period dramas. June is going to be ground zero for Gilded Age nerds, with the return of both Apple TV+‘s rebelliously sudsy The Buccaneers and HBO‘s massive star-studded hit, The Gilded Age.

Elsewhere, BritBox making a big bet on a brand new series called Outrageous. Based on the salacious true life stories of the scandalous Mitford sisters, Outrageous blends the glittering glamour of England’s “Bright Young Things” scene with one of the more disturbing chapters of modern British history: the aristocratic set’s flirtation with fascism.

Finally, just when it seems that a summer of scintillating period dramas will be drawing to an end, Starz is introducing a new chapter to the Outlander saga. Outlander: Blood of My Blood makes its debut in August, introducing us to the couples who gave us Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe).

Summer 2025 is going to be huge for the costume drama nerds, historic romance, and overall soapy TV fans out there. And it’s all thanks to these four buzzy period dramas…

1. Premiere Date: Wednesday, June 18

   Episode Count: Six, with two episodes dropping June 18, followed by new episodes weekly 

   Cast: Bessie Carter, James Purefoy, Anna Chancellor, Joanna Vanderham, Shannon Watson, Zoe Brough

   Why We’re Hyped: BritBox has quietly been assembling one of the most enchanting libraries of UK content in the business, serving subscribers tons of great cozy crime, panel shows, and classics. However, Outrageous has the energy, pedigree, and subject matter to potentially establish the streamer as a new period drama powerhouse. 

   Outrageous tackles the juicy real life story of the Mitford family. During the 1930s and ‘40s, the family’s six daughters captivated public opinion with their wildly divergent lifestyles. The BritBox show is narrated by eldest daughter, Nancy (Bessie Carter), and captures the real Nancy’s trademark witty writer’s voice. Nancy bobs between commenting on her family’s sudsy personal drama and the drastically, deathly, different politics her sisters adopted. When sister Diana (Joanna Vanderham) blows up her society marriage to shack up with British fascist Oswald Moseley (Joshua Sasse), she inadvertently sets off a chain reaction of events that will push younger sisters Unity (Shannon Watson) and Jessica (Zoe Brough) onto the frontlines of world politics. 

2. Premiere Date: Wednesday, June 18

   Episode Count: Eight, weekly drop

   Cast: Kristine Frøseth, Matthew Broome, Guy Remmers, Aubri Ibrag, Alisha Boe, Josie Totah, Mia Threapleton, Imogen Waterhouse

   Why We’re Hyped: As Edith Wharton adaptations go, Apple TV+’s The Buccaneers completely misses the mark. It veers away from the literary icon’s cynicism and eschews historical accuracy for kicks. Nevertheless, where The Buccaneers succeeds is as a scintillating soap opera that you cannot stop watching. 

   The Buccaneers Season 1 ends with American heiress Nan St. George (Kristine Frøseth) choosing to marry the dashing Duke of Tintagel (Guy Remmers) despite the fact that she’s actually in love with his best friend, Guy Thwarte (Matthew Broome). Instead of running away with her love, she’s letting her pregnant sister Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse) flee her abusive marriage with Guy as protector. The Buccaneers Season 1 finale also teases the long-awaited arrival of Nan’s birth mother, who is not dead, after all. The Buccaneers Season 2 wastes no time giving fans the updates they’ve waited years for, diving straight back into the drama. The Buccaneers Season 2 is the literal opposite of a slow burn. 

3. Premiere Date: Sunday, June 22

   Episode Count: Eight, weekly drop

   Cast: Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Taissa Farmiga, Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Louisa Jacobson, Denée Benton

   Why We’re Hyped: HBO’s The Gilded Age is a wildly expensive, delightfully shallow show that perfectly reflects the ethos of the time period in which it’s set. The hit show plans to add even more insane American acting talent to its massive ensemble cast this year, as Phylicia Rashad, Merritt Wever, and Andrea Martin join the show.

   The Gilded Age Season 2 ended with robber baron wife Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) reaching the pinnacle of New York Society with the opening of her pet project, the Metropolitan Opera House. Will she manage to catapult her family to even greater heights in Season 3 by marrying her romantic daughter Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) to an English Duke (Ben Lamb)?  Elsewhere, Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) will have to deal with the reality of her new circumstances. Her family’s money is gone and she has to rely on the largess of younger sister Ada (Cynthia Nixon) to stay in style. Finally, can we honestly expect for Marion (Louisa Jacobson) and Larry’s (Harry Richardson) fairy tale romance to end happily ever after without at least one hitch? In Julian Fellowes, we trust. 

4. Premiere Date: Friday, August 8

   Episode Count: Ten, weekly drop

   Cast: Harriet Slater, Jamie Roy, Hermione Corfield, Jeremy Irvine, Rory Alexander, Seamus McLean Ross, Sam Retford, Tony Curran

   Why We’re Hyped: The story of Claire and Jamie Fraser might be hurtling towards its inevitable finish line, but that doesn’t mean the Outlander saga is over. Starz’s new standalone spin-off promises to capture the intoxicating passion of the flagship show as it tells not one, but two, new love stories. 

   Outlander: Blood of My Blood is split between two narratives. One is the epistolary World War I romance of Claire’s parents, Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) and Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine). The other? The tense, Romeo & Juliet-esque tale of how Jamie’s parents, Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy) and Ellen Fraser (Harriet Slater) met and fell in love, despite the odds. Most of the series will whisk Outlander fans back to the lush landscape of Scotland, where Ellen’s brothers are about to be locked in a heated battle to take control of the clan after their father’s sudden death. Outlander fans know where a lot of these characters will end up, but that only makes getting to meet younger versions of fan favorites all the more exhilarating.