'The Forsytes' Trailer Promises a Sprawling Tale of Family, Ambition & Love

Masterpiece has released the trailer for its forthcoming new adaptation, The Forsytes, which aims to update the classic story of The Forsyte Saga for a new generation. John Galsworthy's Nobel Prize-winning book series has already been adapted for television twice, both of which are still generally considered to be fairly genre-defining examples of what a costume drama is supposed to be. 

The 1967 version was a massive hit on the BBC and here in the U.S. on public television, on such a scale that it helped lay the foundation for what would become the Masterpiece brand at PBS. ITV remade the series in 2002 with Damien Lewis (Wolf Hall) and Gina McKee (The End We Start From), which also crossed the pond to delight PBS viewers. Now a third incarnation, renamed The Forsytes to distinguish it from those earlier television series, is set to arrive next year, following the messy lives of a wealthy family in 1880s London as they wrestle with often conflicting motivations of duty and desire.

Its sprawling story spans four generations and multiple decades, following over half a dozen main characters from the late Victorian era through to the interwar period. The costumes are lavish, the yearning apparent, the family scandals devastating. In short, it's pretty much everything you could want a story like this to be. 

The trailer clocks in at a hefty two full minutes, introducing the bulk of the series' characters and their relationships to one another, and laying out the pieces of the series' complicated world. The story centers around cousins Soames and Jolyon's battle to see who will take over the stock brokerage that made the Forsyte family's fortune. But their competition is complicated by the arrival of two very different prospective wives, as well as Jo's ongoing attachment to a Soho dressmaker who isn't the sort of woman that the Forsytes are allowed to marry.

Here's the series description.

Desire, ambition and betrayal simmer at the heart of the The Forsytes which chronicles the lives, loves, trials and triumphs of a wealthy Victorian era stockbroking family, whose generations find themselves torn between tradition and self-sacrifice versus personal happiness and the pursuit of love.

The Forsytes is written by Debbie Horsfield, who brought PBS's 2015 Poldark adaptation to the small screen. Billed as a "reimagining" of the original, it aims to expand and update the series' larger world by incorporating prequel-ish elements that take place before the events of the first book.

The series stars Francesca Annis (Flesh & Blood) as the Forsyte matriarch, Ann; Stephen Moyer (Sexy Beast) as her eldest son, Jolyon Senior; and Jack Davenport (Ten Percent) as the competitive younger son, James. Danny Griffin (The Gentlemen) plays Jolyon Sr.’s bohemian son Jo, Tuppence Middleton (Our House) is Jo’s status-driven wife, Frances; Eleanor Tomlinson (The Outlaws) plays Louisa Byrne, a Soho dressmaker and Jo’s first love; and Tom Durant Pritchard (Miss Scarlet) plays Monty Dartie, James’ son-in-law. 

Other notable members of the series’ sprawling ensemble cast include Josette Simon (Broadchurch), Jamie Flatters (Liar), Owen Igiehon (Disclaimer), and original The Forsyte Saga star Susan Hampshire OBE, who plays Lady Carteret in this version.

Meenu Gaur (Murder Is Easy) and Annetta Laufer (Get Millie Black) are splitting directing duties, with Sarah Lewis (The Long Shadow) producing. Executive producers include Horsfield and Gaur, along with Sheena Bucktowonsing, Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen, and Simpson for Masterpiece.  

The Forstytes Season 1 will air on Masterpiece in 2026, following a U.K. premiere on Channel 5 this Fall. The series has already been renewed for a second season, which is currently in production. The 2002 version is available to stream on most PBS Passports for members.