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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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Tags

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)

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

★ 7.7
1K 3 1989–1990
Drama

Boon

★ 6.5
1K 93 1986–1992
Comedy · Crime · Drama

A Town Like Alice

★ 8.3
1K 3 1981–1981
Drama · Romance · War

Booker

★ 6.3
1K 22 1989–1990
Crime · Drama · Mystery

The Flying Doctors

★ 6.8
1K 221 1986–1992
Drama

The French as Seen by...

★ 6.3
1K 5 1988–1988
Comedy · Documentary · Drama

Sense and Sensibility

★ 6.7
1K 7 1981–1981
Drama · Romance

London's Burning

★ 7.0
1K 172 1988–2002
Drama

Monaco Franze - Der ewige Stenz

★ 8.3
1K 10 1983–present
Comedy · Crime · Drama

Çalikusu

★ 8.4
1K 7 1986–1986
Drama

A Very British Coup

★ 8.2
1K 3 1988–1988
Drama

Brookside

★ 6.6
1K 2915 1982–2003
Drama

Doosra Keval

★ 6.3
1K 2 1989–1990
Drama

The Long Hot Summer

★ 7.0
1K 2 1985–1985
Drama · Romance

Stingray

★ 7.4
1K 23 1986–1987
Action · Crime · Drama

Kane & Abel

★ 7.8
1K 3 1985–1985
Drama

Sivi dom

★ 8.8
1K 12 1984–1986
Drama

Billionaire Boys Club

★ 6.7
1K 2 1987–1987
Drama · Thriller

Tanner '88

★ 7.8
1K 11 1988–1988
Comedy · Drama

Kamiondzije 2

★ 8.6
1K 8 1983–1984
Comedy · Drama

Kimagure Orange Road

★ 7.6
1K 49 1985–1988
Animation · Comedy · Drama

Tales of Little Women

★ 7.4
1K 48 1987–1987
Animation · Drama · Family

Byker Grove

★ 6.2
1K 344 1989–2006
Drama · Family · Romance

Partners in Crime

★ 7.4
1K 11 1983–1984
Crime · Drama · Mystery
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