Almost all my stories are rooted in history and period settings, and the most common roadblock I face while pitching them—whether to platforms, production houses, or even indie producers—is the same question: “How is this relevant today?” I realise that I never have a clear, confident answer. Beyond my deep fascination with history, I struggle to articulate the relevance, and often end up awkwardly thinking, is my passion not enough?
I wanted to hear your thoughts on this. How do stories set in the 18th century, or even a thousand years ago, stay relevant to contemporary audiences? And if they don’t, does that mean I should stop pitching period dramas altogether?
4 people like this
Hey Sagar Srivastava it comes down to universal themes like Hamnet is about grief . It’s 100% relatable .
5 people like this
That’s a great question, Sagar, and honestly a very common one for writers working in historical settings.
Relevance usually isn’t about the period itself, it’s about the human pressure points the story explores. Power, identity, class, faith, ambition, fear, love, survival, those forces don’t change, only the rules around them do. Period settings often make those pressures clearer, not less relevant.
When people ask “Why does this matter today?”, what they’re often really asking is: what modern emotion or conflict will an audience recognize inside this world? The distance of history can actually make those ideas easier to examine, because the story isn’t trapped in current politics or trends.
Your passion for history absolutely matters, it’s what gives the world authenticity. The key is pairing that passion with a simple bridge to the present, even just one sentence, like:
“This story uses a historical setting to explore how power reshapes identity, something we’re still dealing with today.”
You don’t need to stop pitching period dramas. You just need to frame them as emotional mirrors, not museum pieces.
Really appreciate you starting this conversation, it’s an important one.
2 people like this
That's such a fantastic reply, from both of you. Yes, emotions is something that never changes, be it in a story that's set 500 years ago, or something that will be set 500 years later. This really helped. Thank you :)
3 people like this
Hi, Sagar Srivastava. I would put a theme and things in the script that people relate to/experience/struggle with nowadays.
5 people like this
Ok, let's start with you giving us a logline of a script you wrote. We take it ftom there to try to solve your problem.. If you ask me right now I think the solution lies in the way of thinking about the problem, or otherwise said, what is your story "really about", what is the one unifying element in your story thst binds all story elements, story logic, together. Most stories do not have this element/underlaying theme in the first place, but if you're lucky enough that your story has it, but you just don't know, through the logline, (better even a short synopsis) we can see if it's there. This underlaying, uniting truth, will probably often be 'true' or 'relevant' in several time periods. In principle the long explenation, of what Marie anf B.A just said.
3 people like this
Hello I'm Hassan oufkir from Morocco wiriter you welcome