I welcome the return of The Forsyte Saga, but fear the culture police will cancel Soames
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The Forsyte Saga may be the most influential costume drama in the history of British television. The 1967 BBC adaptation of John Galsworthy’s sequence of novels, which follow the fortunes of an upper-middle-class London family from 1879 to 1926, is said to have led to a sharp (albeit temporary) decline in the fortunes of Britain’s publicans. Clergymen, meanwhile, moved the time of Evensong, so sparse was the attendance of their parishioners. More concretely, without The Forsyte Saga, TV viewers would have had no Upstairs, Downstairs; no Downton Abbey; no Brideshead Revisited.
Viewed nearly 60 years on, Donald Wilson’s 26-part series may look stilted and stagy, but it’s rewarding in its psychological acuity, its character development, its emotional truth. For those, like me, who have wrestled unsuccessfully with Galsworthy’s starchy prose, it’s a skilful distillation. Yet I welcome the news that the American broadcaster PBS is about to start filming a new version, adapted by Debbie Horsfield.
Traditional costume drama has fallen out of fashion in the last few years. We’re now in an age where even Dickens has to feel like Scorsese – think of Steven Knight’s Great Expectations, on BBC One last year – and the notion of period pieces as comfort TV is no longer required. Horsfield has said to expect a “bold reimagining”, but by its genteel nature, I can’t imagine this Forsyte Saga straying too far from viewers’ expectations. Americans tend to prefer their costume drama glossy, rather than gritty.
Yet there’s a problem. So much of The Forsyte Saga’s appeal hinges on the character of Soames Forsyte. Played to perfection by Eric Porter in the original, and commendably by Damian Lewis in a 2002 remake, Soames is a fascinating character: hidebound by duty, privileged, entitled, insecure, questing. Above all, he is controlling. He is “the Man of Property” of the title of Galsworthy’s first volume, not only because he buys houses as though he were playing Monopoly, but because he feels he has the right – due to his wealth and social class – to own whatever he desires.
This strays into dangerous territory when he becomes infatuated with the beautiful but socially inferior Irene, who agrees to marry Soames despite not loving him. Frustrated by her lack of reciprocation in the bedroom, he rapes her. The 1967 scene between Porter and Nyree Dawn Porter (as Irene) is shocking; yet such is the sympathy of Eric Porter’s portrayal that viewers are persuaded not to abandon all feeling for Soames.
I can’t believe that, in 2024, audiences will do the same. This creates a dilemma for Horsfield, who has not yet indicated whether the scene will be included. If she does, there’s the worry that it will annoy today’s culture warriors, who would want to see the anti-hero publicly castrated. Horsfield could, instead, simply make Soames a villain, yet this would undermine the whole story, which is propelled by one character’s wretched unhappiness and his slow-burning realisation that the idea of possession is ultimately meaningless.
Perhaps the acceptable solution lies with Irene. Played by both Nyree Dawn Porter and Gina McKee (in 2002) as an ice maiden who is disdainful towards Soames from the outset, Horsfield would do well to make her more sympathetic. It is intriguing to note that, in this adaptation, Irene is a dancer (played by Doctor Who star Millie Gibson) rather than the daughter of a professor – which suggests a very different characterisation.
Soames will be played by Joshua Orpin, a name that’s new to me; I hope he’s up to the standard of Porter and Lewis. For this Forsyte Saga to work, it needs two actors who can make us believe that the relationship between Soames and Irene is tragic for both parties – a collision of desire and duty.
