Every year, the NHK broadcasting network in Japan makes a new jidaigeki series (often set during the age of the country at war, ie around the time of Nobunaga et al, or the Tokugawa shogunate). These are generally about 50 episodes or so long. Certainly not to everyone's taste, but certainly a great insight into what it was like back then. Sometimes the main character is one of the chief retainers of a major historical figure.