The Forsyte Saga (2002 miniseries)

The Forsyte Saga
DVD cover of The Forsyte Saga Collection
Genre	Drama
Written by	John Galsworthy Stephen Mallatratt
Directed by	Christopher Menaul David Moore
Starring	Damian Lewis Rupert Graves Gina McKee Corin Redgrave Ioan Gruffudd
Composer(s)	Geoffrey Burgon
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	10
Production
Location(s)	Croxteth Hall, Croxteth, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK
Running time	423 min (6 parts)
Production company(s)	Granada Television
Release
Original network	ITV
Original release	7 April 2002 – 25 May 2003

In 2002, the first two books and the first interlude of John Galsworthy's trilogy The Forsyte Saga were adapted by Granada Television for the ITV network. Additional funding for this production was provided by American PBS station WGBH, the 1967 BBC version having been a success on PBS in the early 1970s. The second series was titled The Forsyte Saga: To Let. The serial is set in England from the 1870s to 1921 or so, and is a saga of the Forsyte family over three generations.

Malcolm Bradbury found that approaching the new series "brings a tear to the eye and a smile to the lips"; a tear because time had passed the culturally-significant original by, but smile because investment in a classic project is good.

The makers of the 2002 version felt that any new production would be compared with the 1967 version, which set the standards for period drama for the next 25 years. The idea came initially from David Liddiment, ITV's director of channels, who seized on the Forsyte novels not only as a great achievement in English literature, but also for their iconic status in British television. Granada were thinking big from the outset of the project - this was clearly something that couldn't be dashed off as a two-parter. The initial plan was for two series, the first an adaptation of The Forsyte Saga and the second continuing with A Modern Comedy.

Sita Williams attached herself to the project in late 1999 and by the start of 2000 was talking to writers and working on the adaptations. Casting began in 2001, first casting the leading roles of Soames, Irene and Bosinney (Williams had seen Damian Lewis in Band of Brothers).

See footnote.

It is 1874. The Forsytes gather to celebrate Winifred Forsyte's (Amanda Root) engagement to Montague Dartie, a penniless but charming man. Her cousin Young Jolyon (Rupert Graves) is absent from the party. We find he is at home with his daughter, June, and her French governess, Hélène. Jolyon and Hélène are involved in a minor flirtation, but their true feelings for each other are realized when his wife, Frances, falsely accuses him of an indiscretion and Jolyon is ordered to dismiss the governess. They acknowledge their feelings for each other only after this accusation, and he then decides to leave Frances. Young Jolyon finds himself cut off from the Forsyte fortune and family.