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Best Drama TV Series of the 1980s

Top 500 most popular Drama series that started in the 1980s

All Drama series All series from the 1980s
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Genres

Genres as assigned by IMDb. Selecting several means a show must match all of them.

Decades

By first-air year. Several selections widen the range; a specific year narrows within its decade.

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Rating patterns, computed from IMDb episode-rating trajectories. Deliberately strict: only shows with an unmistakable pattern carry one, so expect small numbers.

Rating patterns

Taste tags, judged by our AI taste model. They cover the 5,000 most-rated shows.

Tone & mood
Pacing & structure
Humor style
Themes & subject matter
Characters & perspective
Emotional payoff
Craft & style
Format & audience
Viewing-culture clusters
Intensity & content character
500 series (top 500 shown)

Santa Barbara

★ 5.7
3K 2137 1984–1993
Drama · Romance

Fauji

★ 8.0
3K 13 1988–1988
Action · Drama

Miss Marple: The Body in the Library

★ 7.7
3K 3 1984–1984
Crime · Drama · Mystery

The Young Riders

★ 7.7
3K 67 1989–1992
Drama · Romance · Western

Miss Marple: Nemesis

★ 7.9
3K 2 1987–1987
Crime · Drama · Mystery

Miss Marple: A Murder Is Announced

★ 8.0
3K 3 1985–1985
Crime · Drama · Mystery

The Deliberate Stranger

★ 7.3
3K 2 1986–1986
Crime · Drama · Thriller

The Martian Chronicles

★ 6.5
3K 3 1980–1980
Drama · Mystery · Sci-Fi

Bergerac

★ 6.9
3K 87 1981–1991
Crime · Drama · Mystery

Alfred J. Kwak

★ 7.8
3K 52 1989–1991
Adventure · Animation · Drama

The Day of the Triffids

★ 7.3
3K 6 1981–1981
Drama · Horror · Sci-Fi

Pride and Prejudice

★ 7.4
3K 5 1980–1980
Comedy · Drama · Romance

Hammer House of Horror

★ 7.4
3K 13 1980–1980
Drama · Fantasy · Horror

The Jewel in the Crown

★ 8.4
3K 14 1984–1984
Drama · History · Romance

Masada

★ 7.8
3K 4 1981–1981
Action · Drama · History

Miss Marple: A Pocketful of Rye

★ 7.6
3K 2 1985–1985
Crime · Drama · Mystery

Miss Marple: The Moving Finger

★ 7.6
2K 2 1985–1985
Crime · Drama · Mystery

Miss Marple: At Bertram's Hotel

★ 7.6
2K 2 1987–1987
Crime · Drama · Mystery

A Better Life

★ 8.5
2K 82 1987–1991
Comedy · Drama · Family

Gunbuster

★ 7.7
2K 6 1988–1989
Action · Animation · Drama

Taggart

★ 7.4
2K 176 1983–2010
Crime · Drama · Mystery

Monsters

★ 7.2
2K 72 1988–1990
Comedy · Drama · Fantasy

Blue Thunder

★ 6.1
2K 11 1984–1984
Action · Crime · Drama

Dempsey and Makepeace

★ 7.3
2K 30 1985–1986
Action · Crime · Drama
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