The Best Based On True Story TV Shows

What it's about: The true story of one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history: the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl. A tale of the brave men and women who sacrificed to save Europe from unimaginable disaster.

Where to Watch: 5 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO). 5 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO). 5 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (Google Play, Vudu & YouTube).

What it's about: Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as their journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men from paratrooper training in Georgia through the end of the war. As an elite rifle company parachuting into Normandy early on D-Day morning, participants in the Battle of the Bulge, and witness to the horrors of war, the men of Easy knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear - and became the stuff of legend. Based on Stephen E. Ambrose's acclaimed book of the same name.

Where to Watch: 10 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO). 10 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO). 10 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A gritty chronicle of the war against Colombia's infamously violent and powerful drug cartels.

Where to Watch: 30 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: An agent in the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit develops profiling techniques as he pursues notorious serial killers and rapists.

Where to Watch: 19 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: A crime she committed in her youthful past sends Piper Chapman to a women's prison, where she trades her comfortable New York life for one of unexpected camaraderie and conflict in an eccentric group of fellow inmates.

Where to Watch: 91 episodes (99%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 78 episodes (85%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park.

Where to Watch: 4 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: An anthology series centered around some of history's most famous criminals.

Where to Watch: 19 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 19 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Spartacus is an American television series inspired by the historical figure of Spartacus, a Thracian gladiator who from 73 to 71 BCE led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic departing from Capua.

Where to Watch: 33 episodes (85%) are available to stream on a subscription service (Starz). 33 episodes (85%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz). 39 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The harrowing true story of the 1993 standoff between the FBI, ATF and the Branch Davidians, a spiritual sect led by David Koresh in Waco, TX that resulted in a deadly shootout and fire.

Where to Watch: 6 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 6 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (Paramount Network). 6 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: In 1980s LA, a crew of misfits reinvent themselves as the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.

Where to Watch: 30 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: Based on the true story of Grace Marks, a housemaid and immigrant from Ireland who was imprisoned in 1843, perhaps wrongly, for the murder of her employer Thomas Kinnear. Grace claims to have no memory of the murder yet the facts are irrefutable. A decade after, Dr. Simon Jordan tries to help Grace recall her past.

Where to Watch: 6 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: Mary, Queen of Scots, faces political and sexual intrigue in the treacherous world of the French court.

Where to Watch: 78 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 78 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $0.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Adapted from David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, this lavish seven-part miniseries chronicles the life of Founding Father John Adams, starting with the Boston Massacre of 1770 through his years as an ambassador in Europe, then his terms as vice president and president of the United States, up to his death on July 4, 1826.

Where to Watch: 7 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, HBO & Prime Video). 7 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO). 7 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A seasonal anthology series that tells startling, stranger-than-fiction true crime stories with the first season following Gypsy Blanchard, a girl trying to escape the toxic relationship she has with her overprotective mother.

Where to Watch: 8 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 8 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (Google Play, Vudu & YouTube).

What it's about: The series follows the "untold" story of Leonardo Da Vinci: the genius during his early years in Renaissance Florence. As a 25-year old artist, inventor, swordsman, lover, dreamer and idealist, he struggles to live within the confines of his own reality and time as he begins to not only see the future, but invent it.

Where to Watch: 28 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a subscription service (Starz). 28 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz). 28 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The stranger-than-fiction account of a prison break in upstate New York in the summer of 2015, which spawned a massive manhunt for two convicted murderers who were aided in their escape by a married female prison employee with whom they both became sexually entangled.

Where to Watch: 7 episodes (70%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Showtime & fuboTV). 7 episodes (70%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime). 9 episodes (90%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (Google Play, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: In 1935, financially strapped widow Louisa Durrell, whose life has fallen apart, decides to move from England, with her four children (three sons, one daughter), to the island of Corfu, Greece. Once there, the family moves into a dilapidated old house that has no electricity and that is crumbling apart. But life on Corfu is cheap, it's an earthly paradise, and the Durrells proceed to forge their new existence, with all its challenges, adventures, and forming relationships.

Where to Watch: 20 episodes (77%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video). 26 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A four-part documentary series that tells the stories of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre -- one the son of a Brooklyn longshoreman, the other straight out of Compton - -- and their improbable partnership and surprising leading roles in a series of transformative events in contemporary culture.

Where to Watch: 4 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO). 4 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO). 4 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Spartacus: Gods of the Arena is a Starz television mini-series and prequel to Spartacus, which premiered January 21, 2011. The series follows the character Gannicus, the first gladiator representing Lentulus Batiatus to become Champion of Capua.

Where to Watch: 6 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Google Play).

What it's about: Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, 1832. Anne Lister attempts to revitalize her inherited home, Shibden Hall. Most notably for the time period, a part of her plan is to help the fate of her own family - by taking a wife.

Where to Watch: 8 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO). 8 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO). 8 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (Google Play, Vudu & YouTube).

What it's about: Acclaimed blackly comic historical drama series. Set amidst a web of power, corruption and lies, it chronicles the reigns of the Roman emperors - Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and finally Claudius.

Where to Watch: 12 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a subscription service (AcornTV). 12 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: The epic tale of celebrated Pulitzer-prize winning author Alex Haley's ancestors as portrayed in the acclaimed twelve hour mini-series Roots, was first told in his 1976 bestseller Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The docu-drama covers a period of history that begins in mid-1700s Gambia, West Africa and concludes during post-Civil War United States, over 100 years later. This 1977 miniseries eventually won 9 Emmy awards, a Golden Globe award, and a Peabody award, and still stands as the most watched miniseries in U.S. history.

Where to Watch: 8 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (Google Play, Prime Video & YouTube).

What it's about: The story of the Medici family of Florence, their ascent from simple merchants to power brokers sparking an economic and cultural revolution. Along the way, they also accrue a long list of powerful enemies.

Where to Watch: 24 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: The extraordinary story of how Hollywood changed World War II – and how World War II changed Hollywood, through the interwoven experiences of five legendary filmmakers who went to war to serve their country and bring the truth to the American people: John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens. Based on Mark Harris’ best-selling book, “Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War.”

Where to Watch: 3 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: Follow the story of R&B pioneers Michael Bivins, Ricky Bell, Ronnie Devoe, Bobby Brown, Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill as they navigate fame from their native Boston to Hollywood and beyond.

Where to Watch: 3 episodes (50%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (BET).

What it's about: The story of a young Louis XIV on his journey to become the most powerful monarch in Europe, from his battles with the fronde through his development into the Sun King. Historical and fictional characters guide us in a world of betrayal and political maneuvering, revealing Versailles in all its glory and brutality.

Where to Watch: 30 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 30 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Anthology series about famous geniuses with the first season charting how Albert Einstein unlocked the mysteries of the atom and the universe, and the second exploring the passionate nature and relentless creative drive of Pablo Picasso.

Where to Watch: 4 episodes (18%) are available to watch free online (NatGeo). 20 episodes (91%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 20 episodes (91%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A chronicle of the true top secret U.S. Air Force-sponsored investigations into UFO-related phenomena in the 1950s and ’60s, known as “Project Blue Book.”

Where to Watch: 20 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (Google Play, Vudu & YouTube).

What it's about: It's the late 1960s, homosexuality has only just been legalised and Jeremy Thorpe, the leader of the Liberal party, has a secret he's desperate to hide.

Where to Watch: 3 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video). Episodes coming soon to Prime Video on June 28th, 2020 (PDT).

What it's about: The story of Queen Victoria, who came to the throne at a time of great economic turbulence and resurgent republicanism – and died 64 years later the head of the largest empire the world had ever seen, having revitalised the throne’s public image and become “grandmother of Europe”.

Where to Watch: 10 episodes (40%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video). 25 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The story of a teenager wrongfully charged with theft and jailed at Riker's Island prison for over 1,000 days.

Where to Watch: 6 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: Anthology series of famous feuds with the first season based on the legendary rivalry between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford which began early on their careers, climaxed on the set of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" and evolved into an Oscar vendetta.

Where to Watch: 7 episodes (88%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (Google Play, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: Chronicles the lives of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, three members of the most prominent and influential family in American politics. It is the first time in a major documentary television series that their individual stories have been interwoven into a single narrative. This seven-part, fourteen hour film follows the Roosevelts for more than a century, from Theodore’s birth in 1858 to Eleanor’s death in 1962.

Where to Watch: 7 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $4.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Drivers, managers and team owners live life in the fast lane -- both on and off the track -- during one cutthroat season of Formula 1 racing.

Where to Watch: 20 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: In the late 1960s, a Los Angeles police sergeant with a complicated personal life starts tracking a small-time criminal and budding cult leader seeking out vulnerable women to join his “cause.” The name of that man is Charles Manson.

Where to Watch: 26 episodes (96%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 26 episodes (96%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

What it's about: PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.

Where to Watch: 4 episodes (0%) are available to watch free online (PBS & YouTube). 39 episodes (4%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video). 336 episodes (38%) are available to rent or buy from $0.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Three Jewish teenagers are kidnapped and murdered by Hamas militants in the summer of 2014, leading to the retaliatory killing of 16-year-old Palestinian Muhammad Abu Khdeir and a conflict that forever changes the lives of Jews and Arabs alike.

Where to Watch: 10 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO). 10 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO). 10 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (Google Play, Vudu & YouTube).

What it's about: Following the fact-based historical book of the same name, this drama follows the rise of Cromwell as he becomes Henry the VIII's closest advisor.England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the King dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The Pope and most of Europe oppose him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer, and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?

Where to Watch: 6 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video). 6 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: 30 for 30 is the umbrella title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN and its sister networks and online properties. The series, which highlights people and events in the sports world that have generally received small amounts of attention, has featured two "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series under the ESPN Films Presents title in 2011-2012, and a series of 30 for 30 Shorts shown through the ESPN.com website.

Where to Watch: 93 episodes (89%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (Google Play, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: 8 August 1963: Britain wakes up to news of the biggest robbery in the country’s history. A train has been hijacked and robbed, 35 miles from its arrival in central London. The country is stunned. Who could be behind it? How did they pull off such an audacious raid?

What it's about: The trials and triumphs of one of America's wealthiest and unhappiest families, the Gettys. Told over multiple seasons and spanning the twentieth century, the series begins in 1973 with the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, an heir to the Getty oil fortune, by the Italian mafia in Rome.

Where to Watch: 9 episodes (90%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 10 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Borgia is a French-German-Czech historical drama television series created by Tom Fontana. The show recounts the Borgia family's rise to power and subsequent domination of the Papal States during the Renaissance.Borgia debuted in Italy via Sky Italia on 10 July 2011, and in North America via Netflix on 2 October 2011. It was since renewed for a second season, which premiered on Canal+ on March 18, 2013. Season 3 is currently in Pre-Production, and will be the end of the series.

Where to Watch: 14 episodes (37%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix). 24 episodes (63%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: A three part dramatization of the terrifying and bizarre real events that took place at an ordinary house in Enfield during the autumn of 1977. Adapted from Guy Lyon Playfair's book This House is Haunted.

Where to Watch: 10 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: In this genre-bending tale, Errol Morris explores the mysterious death of a U.S. scientist entangled in a secret Cold War program known as MK-Ultra.

Where to Watch: 6 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix).

What it's about: Relive a heroic fight for survival during the Iraq War, when the 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood was ferociously ambushed on April 4, 2004, in Sadr City, Baghdad — a day that came to be known in military annals as “Black Sunday.”

Where to Watch: 2 episodes (25%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 5 episodes (63%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (FOX & NatGeo). 5 episodes (63%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Muhteşem Yüzyıl is a prime time historical Turkish television series. It was originally broadcast on Show TV and then transferred to Star TV. It is based on the life of Suleiman the Magnificent, the longest reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and his wife Hürrem Sultan, a slave girl who became a Sultan.

What it's about: The story of the Egyptian Pharaoh, one of the most renowned leaders in human history. This ambitious special-event series tells the story of Tut’s rise to power and his struggle to lead Egypt to glory, while his closest advisers, friends and lovers scheme for their own nefarious interests. “Tut” opens up a fascinating window into a world filled with heart-breaking romance, epic battles, political backstabbing, conspiracy, jealousy, and even murder — proving his world was not far removed from our own — and that his reign as the youngest Egyptian king played out as a real-life drama for the ages.

Where to Watch: 1 episodes (25%) are available to watch free online (Spike). 3 episodes (75%) are available to rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).