{"id":359866,"date":"2026-03-22T20:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T20:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/359866\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T20:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T20:42:08","slug":"the-pbs-drama-is-high-glam-and-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/359866\/","title":{"rendered":"The PBS Drama Is High Glam and Drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tBased on John Galsworthy\u2019s novels known collectively as \u201cThe Forsyte Saga\u201d and adapted to television by Debbie Horsfield, PBS<\/a> Masterpiece\u2019s latest historical drama, \u201cThe Forsytes<\/a>,\u201d is a sweeping narrative revolving around love, ambition and duty. The series is set in late 19th-century London and follows four generations of the Forsytes, who have lived and thrived as members of the nouveau riche for five decades. However, as the show begins, the family\u2019s pristine facade is just on the verge of crumbling. Intriguing and quite soapy, \u201cThe Forsytes\u201d is a story about expectations and the courage needed to thwart them.
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The series opens at a critical point in the Forsytes\u2019 lineage. It\u2019s 1877, and Jolyon Forsyte (Danny Griffin), affectionately called Jo, has returned home from his travels in Europe to wed Frances (Tuppence Middleton), the recently widowed queen of London\u2019s high society and mother to her 10-year-old daughter, June (Billie Joyce). Jolyon Forsyte Sr. (Stephen Moyer) sees Jo and Frances\u2019 union as the key to solidifying a place in the London elite. As the eldest son, Jolyon Sr. wants Jo to take over his role as chairman of the family stockbroking company, Forstyes & Company. He also wants to ensure his younger brother, James (Jack Davenport), and his son, Soames (Joshua Orpin), are in no way positioned to gain control. According to Grandma Ann (Francesca Annis), Jolyon and James\u2019 mother, the brothers\u2019 rivalry has simmered for decades.
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Flashing forward in time 10 years, the audience meets the Forsytes again in 1887. While the tension among the Forsyte brothers and their sons, Jo and Soames, has continued to cause strife and gossip amid dinners and celebrations, other things have changed drastically. On the eve of her 18th birthday, June (now portrayed by Justine Moore) desires a love match. Still, her mother and grandfather are determined that she marry well. Even June\u2019s favorite person, her stepfather Jo, whom she now affectionately calls Papa, isn\u2019t able to prevent Frances and Jolyon Sr\u2019s schemes.
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Moreover, at the stockbroking firm, Jolyon Sr. is considering retirement. This prompts James and Soames to plot Jo\u2019s ousting from the company so Soames may assume the role of chairman. Unfortunately, unlike his cousin, Soames remains a bachelor, which doesn\u2019t bode well for becoming the face of the business. Yet, when he sets his sights on Irene Heron (Millie Gibson), a recently destitute ballerina, Soames\u2019 outlook on marriage changes. Similarly, though Jo has long stifled his personal passions to serve his father\u2019s ambitions, he finds himself at a crossroads. A revelation shocks him awake, making it impossible for him to continue sleepwalking through his own life.
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Throughout the six-episode first season, the Forsytes, particularly Jo and Soames, who have been pitted against each other, push and pull between their personal desires and the familial and social expectations they feel obligated to meet. While the men\u2019s choices (and strangely modern wardrobes) are interesting and often unexpected, it\u2019s the experiences of Frances, June and Irene in particular, even when they lean a bit toward the melodramatic, that stand out in this show. For 10 years, Frances has worked diligently to become the perfect wife for Jo. However, she quickly realizes perfection and control are not sustaining attributes. For her part, June is desperate for a marriage like her parents\u2019, but having been so sheltered by Jo and her mother, she has no tangible understanding of what life without wealth and access is like. Finally, Irene dreams of dancing on a Parisian stage, but her father\u2019s ailing health puts her hopes in jeopardy.
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Despite its more modern look, \u201cThe Forsytes\u201d is perfectly paced and paints a majestic portrait of a family standing on the cusp of change. While all the characters have compelling storylines, the women, who can only express their desires through their attachment to men, are the most compelling. A cautionary tale about love, trust and agency, the show highlights how few resources women of the era had and what they endured to achieve a life tolerable to them. Though lovers of the previous iterations of \u201cThe Forsyte Saga,\u201d particularly 2002\u2019s ITV version starring Damian Lewis, will undoubtedly have criticisms of this new series (namely its hyper-modern look), Horsfield\u2019s version of \u201cThe Forsytes\u201d is a solidly inspired adaptation. The show, which \u2014\u00a0aired last fall in the U.K. on Channel 5 \u2014\u00a0has already filmed its second season and has been renewed for a third, meaning the drama of \u201cThe Forsytes\u201d is only just beginning to unfold.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Forsytes\u201d premieres March 22 on PBS, with new episodes dropping weekly on Sundays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Based on John Galsworthy\u2019s novels known collectively as \u201cThe Forsyte Saga\u201d and adapted to television by Debbie Horsfield,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,96307,67189,282],"class_list":["post-359866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-pbs","tag-the-forsytes","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}