The Forsyte Saga chronicles the lives of three generations of the upper-middle-class British family, the Forsytes, from the 1870s to 1920. With sumptuous costumes, bold characterizations, and slow-burn action, these two complete series tell the story of a family bitterly divided by ambition, adultery, and revenge. Featuring “stunning performances” (The New York Times) from an all-star cast led by Damian Lewis (Homeland, Band of Brothers), these adaptations of John Galsworthy’s celebrated novels impressed critics and fans alike.
The Forsyte Saga, Series I covers the first two books of John Galsworthy’s Forsyte cycle — The Man of Property and In Chancery, taking the characters through the turn of the 20th-century and the Boer War (which ended May 31, 1902). This first series ends where Galsworthy’s In Chancery ends, with the birth of Soames’s daughter Fleur.
A new generation of Forsytes unwittingly repeats the errors of its elders in The Forsyte Saga, Series II, based on To Let, John Galsworthy’s climactic volume in The Forsyte Saga trilogy. Set two decades after the first series ends, the plot follows the courtship of two teenage Forsyte cousins: Fleur and Jon. Mere infants at the close of last season, they are now eighteen and deeply in love. But little do they suspect their parents hide a dark secret that will turn their nuptial dreams into a Romeo and Juliet ordeal.
Shown on PBS Masterpiece Theatre.
Note: The Forsyte Saga Series I begins in the Victorian era, and ends in the Edwardian era. Series II is set in the 1920s in the Interwar era.