Knit to This
The Forsyte Saga
OK, all you Gilded Age superfans, I know it’s rough right now, waiting until 2026 when Season 4 arrives and we learn whether Train Daddy George has left Queen Schemer Bertha.
I’m here to suggest a methadone treatment for your addiction: the 2002 BBC series The Forsyte Saga.
This slow-moving yet juicy BBC series is based on the novels by James Galsworthy. (Fun fact: Galsworthy won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1932 for this series of novels. Fancy—maybe I’ll read them or something.)
Beginning in 1886 (Gilded Age begins in 1882), The Forsyte Saga is basically The Gilded Age, British style, with more nuance and better costumes. Class! Morality! Familial conflict! It’s all here, filmed in the sort of foggy look that reminds us that this series was made in 2002, before anybody invented focus.
This series was an early triumph for Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers, Homeland, Wolf Hall, Billions) which as I type these makes me realize he likes to play big characters facing monumental moral and ethical challenges. Right on, Damian! You are the creepiest Soames Forsyte imaginable! We despise you every bit as much as your family does.
Gina McKee plays the object of Soames’s desire (the worst job in the world), and Rupert Graves is the cousin whose honor (OK honour) drives Soames nuts.
I’ve posted the first episode, in blurry form, up top, if you want to just dive right in. It’s available on Britbox and to buy on Amazon in a boxed set, that quaint vestige of, well, 2002.
And get this: as I poked around looking for photos and trailers to share with you, I discovered the astounding news that there is an entirely new 2026 series coming, a remake of The Forsyte Saga called The Forsytes. Watch the trailer here and try to figure out what the storylines are. (Good luck with that.) (Also: They all look like Instagram influencers.)
And! I didn’t realize there was a 1967 BBC series as well. If you’re looking to Forsyte yourself to death, watch the first (black-and-white!) episode here.
Enjoy!
2002 was great. 1967 not so much.
My parents loved the ’67 version. We loved the ’02. It’s a grand story with big characters, gorgeous costumes and locations. What’s not to love? As I understand you Americans like to say? Btw, I think the focus thing may have been because they were made for VHS? Although DVDs were available they were still very expensive in the UK in the early 2000s
The books are excellent. Easy to read and telling a great story.
The 1967 TV adaptation was very popular in the UK, and seemed to capture the books well.
The Damian Lewis FS wasn’t that good, partly because Damian, and (especially) Gina McKee were miscast, and also they hurried through it. The costumes weren’t great either.
That new version’s script seems laughably awful, though it looks luscious.
It is also available on the PBS app—which is also where The Forsytes will be on Masterpeice next year!
This is a grand miniseries! I watched it years go when Netflix’s still sent DVDs through the mail. It’s so good. Worthy of a rewatch.