The Forsytes is Channel 5’s lavish period drama series, now available to American fans on PBS. Based on John Galsworthy’s 1922 collection of three novels, known as ‘The Forsyte Saga,‘ the latest six-part series is developed by Debbie Horsfield (Poldark).
The official synopsis for the series reads as follows:
A wealthy solicitor becomes obsessed with a woman who rejects him despite his riches. After they marry, she remains distant, driving him to extreme lengths to control her in this epic early-20th-century family saga.
PBS’s The Forsytes arrives with all the hallmarks period-drama fans usually crave: lavish costumes, simmering family tensions, social ambition and romances shadowed by duty. The series revisits a world where wealth and respectability often matter more than happiness and where every personal choice carries emotional and societal consequences. For viewers who enjoy character-driven stories set against a richly detailed historical backdrop, this new adaptation offers plenty to admire at first glance.
Is The Forsytes worth adding to your watchlist or is it a stately drama best left to devoted genre fans? Here’s a closer look at what works and who this PBS period drama is really for.
The Forsytes‘ viewer’s guide: PBS’s latest period drama might entice Downton Abbey and Bridgerton fans
Now that Netflix’s Regency-era romance series has wrapped yet another successful season with Bridgerton Season 4, period drama enthusiasts must be on the hunt for their next watch. After enchanting the UK audience, Debbie Horsfield has finally opened the doors to the Forsytes’ intoxicating world for American viewers, who can now stream this six-part series on PBS. The steamy period drama aired its Pilot on March 22 and will continue to release weekly episodes every Sunday.
As with any new period dramas, comparisons with the classic Downton Abbey and beloved Bridgerton are inevitable. Thankfully, The Forsytes combines the best elements of both of these dramas, making it your newest obsession. Like Julian Fellowes’ classic historical drama series, the latest series follows the titular upper-class family during a time of social change. If you enjoyed the Crawley family’s efforts to adjust in the changing English society, the Forsytes are no different. The Pilot opens in 1877, as Jolyon Forsyte Sr., the chairman of his family stockbroking company Forstyes & Company, aims to wed his eldest son Jolyon to Frances, the recently widowed queen of the high society and the mother of an eight-year-old girl, June. While Jolyon Sr. desires to strengthen his family’s financial standing with this match, he also wants to ensure that his brother James and son Soames do not acquire the family company.
This central conflict sparks the series’ intertwined themes of power, love and duty, setting the story in motion.
The Forsytes‘ viewer’s guide: A modern take on John Galsworthy’s classic novel
While Galsworthy’s classic tale has been adapted on the small screen many times, showrunner Debbie Horsfield adds her own spin to the narrative. As Jolyon marries Frances and takes responsibility for her teenage daughter, things take a turn when his former lover, Louisa, returns to his life. Interestingly, it is June who befriends Lou, a seamstress who helps the young woman with a fashion emergency at her 18th birthday ball and crosses paths with her former lover. Lou and Jolyon’s scandalous connection explores the contrasting themes of love and duty.
While Frances barely had a storyline in the original novels, she is one-third of a scandulous love triangle in The Forsytes, cementing the show’s aim to explore female characters in a new light. As Horsfield revealed in an interview with TV Insider, the latest period drama follows Bridgerton’s footsteps and gives some much-needed agency to its female characters:
“In the books, the male characters are drawn in quite a lot of detail. But the women are drawn with less detail, and one of the key things that attracted me was looking at some of the female characters in an era where, historically, women were beginning to see the possibility of having more agency over their lives.”
Final verdict: PBS’ The Forsytes is a stylish and modern take on John Galsworthy’s classic novels and deserves a shining spot on your watchlist.
The series will air weekly episodes on PBS every Sunday at 9 pm.
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Edited by Aashna