Let's Talk about Sex: Period Drama Histories for the Twenty-first Century

Downton Abbey's international success has inspired a resurgence of interest in the period drama genre. This article examines how Downton, like other period dramas which target largely female audiences, historicises sex, and how, in engaging with contemporary topics from reproductive freedom to rape, Downton and other popular costume dramas which have followed in its wake, in particular Call the Midwife and Poldark, allow viewers to interact with these small-screen histories on an emotional level. Furthermore, the period dramas discussed in this article do in fact challenge the perceived conservative impulses of the genre as a whole and open up progressive possibilities.