War TV shows have always been around, but they’ve seen a resurgence lately, what with the rise of streaming services and on-demand viewing. This makes it easier for networks to create exclusive series as incentives to subscribe, which come from a multitude of genres. War has historically always been a popular genre, so it’s only natural that many of these TV shows would fall into this same category.
Some of them are basic, uninspired drivel, but now and again, they totally nail it. Expressing the horrors of war to a new level and moving viewers around the world with their high-strung emotions and fast-paced combat, these series are sure to plant a firm foothold in the history books with their inherent quality. These are the best war TV shows that many critics have described as “masterpieces,” a title that they absolutely earn.
10
‘A Small Light’ (2023)
Image by Federico Napoli
A Small Light is a miniseries about Miep Gies (Bel Powley), a Dutch secretary who worked for Otto Frank (Liev Schreiber). Famously, Otto Frank was the father of Anne Frank (Billie Boullet), whose diary became an international symbol of innocence and tragedy amidst the horrors of the Holocaust. The Franks were a Jewish family who fell under the shadow of the Third Reich’s genocidal campaign. Gies, a Christian woman, offered to hide them from the Nazis.
While the story is mostly about Gies and her heroism, it never shies away from how scary the Holocaust really was. People disappear, patrols roam the streets, and tensions are at an all-time high. It really does do a good job of showing how horrific the genocide was, and makes an important point that it’s up to all of us to make sure that something of this magnitude never, ever happens again. For how emotionally moving, yet true to history it is, it can most definitely be considered a masterpiece.
9
‘Rome’ (2005–2007)
<em>Rome </em>doesn’t really become a war show until the second season, which is when things really start to get ultra-violent. The series occurs in the final years of the Roman Republic, in the First Century BCE. At the time, Egypt was a staging ground for a massive conflict known as Caesar’s Civil War, which culminated in the fall of Ancient Egypt and a conflict between the famous Queen Cleopatra VII and her brother, King Ptolemy XIII.
Obviously, this series covers many of the politics that went on in the Roman courts when orchestrating this proxy conflict, which, as the name suggests, Julius Caesar was heavily involved in. This series featured the brutality of ancient warfare before it became super mainstream, and featured politicking and battle in equal measure. This is truly one of the greatest glimpses of Ancient Rome ever committed to television, and is one of the most underrated masterpieces of the 21st Century.
8
‘The White Queen’ (2013)
<em>The White Queen</em> is based on a novel by Philippa Gregory, who, in turn, based her novel on real events. This miniseries is set during the Wars of the Roses in the 15th Century. This was a period of English history when two major noble houses violently competed for the throne, which was contested between the Tudors and the Yorks. This resulted in a Tudor victory, from which the modern British Royal Family is descended.
However, the action wasn’t the only part of the wars that mattered. This series is largely about what went on behind the scenes, featuring the various women of Houses Tudor and York, who attempt to pull the strings to influence politics and secure victory. Not only is this an untold story, but it’s also an exceptional drama series with an overarching political narrative that remains surprisingly exciting. It definitely deserves points for highlighting the role of women in the war too. All of these factors combined make it a genuine masterpiece that needs a little more love.
7
‘The Last Kingdom’ (2015–2022)
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