‘The Buccaneers’ Is Set in the 1870s, But Does It Even Matter?

The second season of Apple TV+’s The Buccaneers is here. And some viewers have raised its historical accuracy, pointing out costumes, hairstyles, and behaviors, stating they don’t always feel authentically 1870s. Are these critiques missing what shows like The Buccaneers are trying to achieve? Like Netflix’s Bridgerton, it operates as a deliberately stylized version of the past, favoring emotional authenticity, glamour, and entertainment over documentary-level historical precision.

Following five wealthy American women bursting onto London’s society scene, the show isn’t overly concerned with recreating Victorian England with museum-quality accuracy, but rather female ambition, cultural clashes, and social revolution. The series uses its historical setting to represent how women challenge societal expectations, speaking directly to contemporary audiences. Pushing against the rigid constraints of British aristocracy, the characters share struggles that feel fairly current, even if their corsets and carriages suggest otherwise. This raises the question: The Buccaneers is set in the 1870s, but does it even matter?

Don’t All Period Dramas Stretch the Truth?

Apple TV+

Historical accuracy in period drama is often a hot topic, as audiences can be vocal about anachronisms (elements that belong to a different period than the one portrayed). Observers of The Buccaneers point to modern makeup techniques, contemporary body language, and dialogue that sounds more 21st century than 19th century. WatchMojo kept a keen eye on things: “The ‘Buccaneers’ costume designers may have bent the rules, but when it came to the hairstyles, they threw away the rulebook.” Yet this approach is intentional rather than careless. Allowing modern ways of life to seep into another period, the characters strike a chord with contemporary viewers.

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This isn’t a new phenomenon. Some of the most talked-about period dramas have taken liberties with historical accuracy. PBS’s Downton Abbey, for instance, compressed historical events and social changes that took decades into just a few years of television time. The characters’ attitudes towards progressive thinking, being friendly with staff, and marrying opposing sides often reflected modern values more than authentic Edwardian perspectives. HBO’s Rome mixed authentic historical details with fictional storylines, and it’s been said that The Crown, despite its reputation for historical research, made dramatic fabrications with real events and conversations that were never recorded. But this is fictional TV after all, not documentaries.

Save the Best for Last — ‘The Tudors’

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However, it was Showtime’s The Tudors that caused a real stir. The series about Henry VIII’s reign was widely inaccurate, boldly toying with historical facts by compressing timelines, aging down characters, combining historical figures, and creating entirely fictional dramatic scenarios. The young, attractive Jonathan Rhys Meyers portrayed the notorious king, not resembling the increasingly unhealthy monarch he became in reality. Condensing his six marriages and decades of political maneuvering into a more streamlined narrative, the show prioritized character development and romantic drama over full historical truth.

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Critics initially drew the line at these flamboyant changes, but The Tudors found its audience because it made 16th-century court intrigue feel exciting, scandalous, and massively entertaining. Using historical figures and events to deliver themes of power, desire, faith, and betrayal, viewers were glued to the screen – it was bloody brilliant. With his tongue firmly in his cheek, John Dugdale from The Guardian hysterically reported: “The drama has exploded one historical bombshell after another, and has taught us that almost everything we thought we knew about Henry VIII was wrong.”

‘The Buccaneers’ Is “Lovable Nonsense”

Apple TV+

Based on Edith Wharton’s unfinished novel, The Buccaneers uses its 1870s setting to address things folks face today: women fighting for agency in male-dominated societies, cultural outsiders challenging established hierarchies, and individuals refusing to be bound by traditional expectations. The show’s inaccuracies, whether in costume design, character behavior, or social dynamics, don’t detract from the issues. While documentaries and historical texts aim to educate audiences about the past as it was, period dramas often use historical settings to illuminate universal human experiences. The characters’ struggles against social constraints can be more important than the precise accuracy of their clothing or speech patterns. In these cases, anyway.

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Like Bridgerton, The Crown, and The Tudors, the series uses its period backdrop to share encounters in life through a modern perspective. The result may not satisfy historical purists, but it creates television that feels escapist and relevant, and is visually lush. Sit back and enjoy the visual spectacle and drama that make it appealing. The Guardian put it nicely: “We are allowed some nonsense now and again, and there is nothing more joyfully restorative than when it is done as well as it is here. It is enormous fun without being unresonant with today’s concerns.”

The Buccaneers

Release Date

November 8, 2023

Network

Apple TV+

Showrunner

Katherine Jakeways

Directors

Charlotte Regan

Writers

Emma Jane Unsworth

• Kristine Froseth

  Nan St. George

• Alisha Boe

  Conchita Closson

• Matthew Broome

  Guy Thwarte

• Josh Dylan

  Lord Richard Marable

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