March is a significant month in the history of women. And every year, March 8 is celebrated as International Women’s Day, an opportune date to highlight the achievements of women across the globe. Things would be devastatingly different if it weren’t for the incredible women who have shaped the society we live in.
This 2025, we commemorate International Women’s Day with a selection of TV shows inspired by extraordinary women from around the world.
In honour of the holiday, we have compiled five courageous and meaningful series that explore the lives and experiences of extraordinary women who have defied the odds, taken charge of their own destiny and broken stereotypes. All of these stories are inspired by true events that highlight the strength, resilience, grit and complexity of womanhood.
Here are some of our favourites. We are sure they will move, touch and inspire you this International Women’s Day.
The First Lady (2022)
Where to stream: Showtime
Created by Aaron Cooley, The First Lady is an anthology drama series about some of the presidential wives in American history. It is directed by Susanne Bier (The Night Manager, The Undoing), and executive produced by Cathy Schulman (Crash) for Welle Entertainment.
From Nancy Reagan to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, first ladies have left almost as big a mark as their spouses, and that’s what this series is all about. The first season focuses on Michelle Obama (Viola Davis), Betty Ford (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Eleanor Roosevelt (Gillian Anderson). From the outset, the programme offers a revealing insight into the work and leadership of women in the White House.
The First Lady jumps between three narratives. In each, we move forward and backward in time to see the first ladies as presidential wives, girls and young women. Throughout its ten episodes, we see the struggle for same-sex marriage from Michelle Obama’s perspective. We see Gerald Ford’s sudden rise to the presidency through the eyes of his wife, Betty Ford. And we see Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt’s struggle to have a role of prominence in her husband’s presidency.
Overall, this dramatisation reveals how each of these first ladies, in her own way, was proudly and defiantly progressive.
Themes of the Showtime series include the struggle for women’s rights, promoting diversity, speaking out against injustice and the importance of the first lady’s role in the White House.
The First Lady is a fascinating series, perfect for commemorating International Women’s Day.
Julia (2022)
Where to stream: HBO Max
Julia is an HBO Max comedy-drama that follows the life of chef, writer and television personality Julia Child in 1960s Cambridge during the production of her TV cooking show The French Chef, in which she gave advice and lessons on how to prepare French food in a simple way.
Julia Child was a pioneer in the popularisation of French cuisine in the United States, and contributed to raising the gastronomic and cultural level of her country. She was one of the first women to host her own television cooking show, and for her work in front of the screen she won a George Foster Peabody Award and seven Emmy Awards. In November 2000, after a 40-year career, Child received France’s highest decoration, the Legion of Honour.
The HBO series Julia does not cover Child’s entire life. Although it is a story about her, it is primarily concerned with Child’s emergence as a public figure, her transition from “discreet” best-selling cookbook author to one of the best-known faces on American television.
This biographical drama, created by Daniel Goldfarb, gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at how her popular cooking show came to be and who this woman was when she took off her apron.
Child’s story is exciting and sobering, and is certainly one of the best TV series to watch on International Women’s Day.
Isabel: The Intimate Story of Isabel Allende (2021)
Where to stream: HBO Max
Isabel is a 2021 HBO Max miniseries about the life of bold Chilean writer Isabel Allende. Directed by Rodrigo Basaez (The 80s) and produced by María Isabel Miquel, Isabel, like all good biopics, reveals the person behind the legendary literary figure, humanising its protagonist and reminding viewers that the road to success is never without its challenges and losses.
For those unfamiliar with Isabel Allende, she is a canonical writer. Over more than 40 years, she has published 24 books and these have been translated into 42 languages. She has sold more than 70 million copies worldwide and has received numerous awards, including 15 international honorary doctorates and the US Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama in 2015.
Her work has also been adapted into feature films, plays, ballets, musicals, operas, and radio programmes. Today, Isabel Allende is recognised as “the most widely read Spanish-language author” on the planet.
The three-part miniseries chronicles Allende’s journey to greatness and her struggles with personal loss. The first episode focuses on her career as a journalist at a feminist magazine in Santiago, which was cut short when Pinochet installed a military dictatorship. The second instalment shows Allende in Venezuela, where she managed to write her acclaimed literary debut, La casa de los espíritus (The House of the Spirits). And, the final episode focuses almost exclusively on the untimely death of her 29-year-old daughter Paula, and how Allende, in a titanic effort, found her way back to literature.
Isabel: The Intimate Story of Isabel Allende is an essential biographical drama about finding one’s creative voice and making satisfying choices in work and family life.
Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (2020)
Where to stream: Netflix
Self Made chronicles the life of Madam C. J. Walker, a pioneer in the beauty industry.
The Netflix series, consisting of four 45-minute episodes, tells the story of Sarah Breedlove, also known as Madam C. J. Walker, who revolutionised the hair care market by offering products that catered to the needs of Black women. Oscar winner Octavia Spencer (The Help) plays the protagonist.
This visionary, hard-nosed entrepreneur, philanthropist and activist rose from extreme poverty in the South to become one of the wealthiest African-American women of her time.
Throughout her life, Madam C. J. Walker overcame all kinds of obstacles. Born to two former slaves, she married at 14 and was widowed at 20. Before her success, she spent several years washing clothes for less than two dollars a day.
Around 1906, she began to develop her own line of hair products and straighteners for women, called “Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower”, and from then on she began to carve out a career as a businesswoman. According to Guinness World Records, she was the first self-made African-American female millionaire in the United States.
The limited series is inspired by the book On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker, by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles, published in 2002.
It is fair to say that Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C. J. Walker has much to offer fans of stories about inspirational and forward-thinking women.
Dickinson (2019)
Where to stream: AppleTV+
“You crave meaning. You crave beauty. You crave love.”
Apple TV+’s comedy-drama Dickinson explores the life of poet Emily Dickinson through the eyes of a rebellious young woman confronting the gender restrictions of her time. Created by Alena Smith (The Affair and The Newsroom) and starring Hailee Steinfeld, the series aired for three seasons, from 2019 to 2021.
Dickinson follows Emily Dickinson’s (Steinfeld) life as a budding writer as she explores the world and her sexuality. The series sets Emily in the 1850s, as she struggles to fulfil her dream of becoming a poet at a time when women writers were frowned upon. It is fair to say that this is not a standard biography, but a fictionalised exploration of Dickinson’s life and poetry, which is undoubtedly a beautiful homage to the enigmatic 19th century American artist.
Director Alena Smith and her team have created a coming-of-age story that is eccentric, risk-taking, energetic, queer and generally very funny.
On the surface, it may look like a period piece, but it takes a modern and unusual approach. The characters speak in millennial slang and the soundtrack is populated by current hits.
With three seasons available, Dickinson is a great fit for International Women’s Day.
From The First Lady to Dickinson, we hope you enjoy our selection of TV programmes inspired by extraordinary women from around the world.