The Forsyte Saga (1967 series)
Encyclopedia
The Forsyte Saga is a 1967 BBC television adaptation
of John Galsworthy
's series of The Forsyte Saga
novels, and its sequel trilogy A Modern Comedy. The series follows the fortunes of the upper middle class
Forsyte family, and stars Eric Porter
as Soames, Kenneth More
as Young Jolyon and Nyree Dawn Porter as Irene.
It was adapted for television and produced by Donald Wilson and was originally shown in twenty-six episodes on Saturday evenings between 7 January and 1 July 1967 on BBC2. However, it was the repeat on Sunday evenings on BBC1 starting on 8 September 1968 that secured the programme's success with 18 million tuning in for the final episode in 1969.
It was shown in the United States on public television and broadcast all over the world, and became the first BBC television series to be sold to the Soviet Union.
in 1959. However, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
held the rights to the novels, having adapted the first novel A Man of Property into That Forsyte Woman
in 1949. After a distribution arrangement with MGM was reached in 1965, the series developed into a groundbreaking 26-part serial, depicting the fortunes of the Forsyte family between 1879 and 1926.
The Forsyte Saga was the last major British drama serial to be made in black-and-white
, even though the BBC was beginning to equip for full-time colour transmission. In an interview for the DVD release, Wilson admits he would have loved to have shot the programme in colour, but delaying recording would have meant re-casting and he felt he had the perfect cast for this adaptation. The series was a gamble for the BBC, with a budget of £10,000 per episode.
Although never credited, the music that opens and closes each episode is the first movement, "Halcyon Days", from the suite The Three Elizabeths written in the early 1940s by Eric Coates
.
, which had launched in 1964. However, it was the repeat on Sunday evenings on BBC1 starting on 8 September 1968 that secured the programme's success with 18 million tuning in for the final episode in 1969. It is often quoted that both publican
s and clergymen in the United Kingdom complained that the Sunday night repeats were driving away customers and worshippers, respectively, and there are tales of Sunday Evensong
services being moved to prevent a clash with the broadcast. A retrospective on the series by PBS Masterpiece Theatre
notes that:
Following its success in Britain, the series was shown in the United States on public television
and broadcast all over the world, and became the first BBC television programme to be sold to the Soviet Union. The worldwide audience was estimated as something in the region of 160 million. The series won a Royal Television Society
Silver Medal and a BAFTA for Best Drama Series or Serial
. Following its transmission in 1967 by RTÉ
, the Republic of Ireland
's national broadcast service, the BBC production won a Jacob's Award at the annual presentation ceremony in Dublin.
The series' success prompted companies to invest in similarly scaled drama serials, which resulted in programmes such as The Pallisers
(which was also produced by Donald Wilson) and Upstairs, Downstairs
.
Writing after a new adaptation
was produced by Granada Television
in 2002, Sarah Crompton noted that even Galsworthy's novels paled in comparison to the television series, noting that the adaptation set a lasting precedent for television dramas:
Because of its black and white picture, the series has not been shown on British television since the introduction of colour, although in 1992 it was released in the UK on an 8-volume set of videos, and on Region 2 DVD in 2004.
BBC television drama
BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom...
of John Galsworthy
John Galsworthy
John Galsworthy OM was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include The Forsyte Saga and its sequels, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter...
's series of The Forsyte Saga
The Forsyte Saga
The Forsyte Saga is a series of three novels and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by John Galsworthy. They chronicle the vicissitudes of the leading members of an upper-middle-class British family, similar to Galsworthy's own...
novels, and its sequel trilogy A Modern Comedy. The series follows the fortunes of the upper middle class
Upper middle class
The upper middle class is a sociological concept referring to the social group constituted by higher-status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term "lower middle class", which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle class stratum, and to the broader term "middle...
Forsyte family, and stars Eric Porter
Eric Porter
Eric Richard Porter was an English actor of stage, film and television.-Early life:Porter was born in Shepherd's Bush, London, to Richard John Porter and Phoebe Elizabeth Spall...
as Soames, Kenneth More
Kenneth More
Kenneth Gilbert More CBE was a highly successful English film actor during the post-World War II era and starred in many feature films, often in the role of an archetypal carefree and happy-go-lucky middle-class gentleman.-Early life:Kenneth More was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the...
as Young Jolyon and Nyree Dawn Porter as Irene.
It was adapted for television and produced by Donald Wilson and was originally shown in twenty-six episodes on Saturday evenings between 7 January and 1 July 1967 on BBC2. However, it was the repeat on Sunday evenings on BBC1 starting on 8 September 1968 that secured the programme's success with 18 million tuning in for the final episode in 1969.
It was shown in the United States on public television and broadcast all over the world, and became the first BBC television series to be sold to the Soviet Union.
Production
Donald Wilson initially intended to produce the series as a 15-part serial adapted by Constance CoxConstance Cox
Constance Cox was a British script writer.She specialised in adaptations of books by Charles Dickens and other classic literature. She was born in Surrey, England, UK. She was one of the first writers to adapt for television. Pickwick Papers was adapted for television by her in 1977. She also was...
in 1959. However, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
held the rights to the novels, having adapted the first novel A Man of Property into That Forsyte Woman
That Forsyte Woman
That Forsyte Woman is a 1949 romance film starring Greer Garson, Errol Flynn, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Young and Janet Leigh...
in 1949. After a distribution arrangement with MGM was reached in 1965, the series developed into a groundbreaking 26-part serial, depicting the fortunes of the Forsyte family between 1879 and 1926.
The Forsyte Saga was the last major British drama serial to be made in black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
, even though the BBC was beginning to equip for full-time colour transmission. In an interview for the DVD release, Wilson admits he would have loved to have shot the programme in colour, but delaying recording would have meant re-casting and he felt he had the perfect cast for this adaptation. The series was a gamble for the BBC, with a budget of £10,000 per episode.
Although never credited, the music that opens and closes each episode is the first movement, "Halcyon Days", from the suite The Three Elizabeths written in the early 1940s by Eric Coates
Eric Coates
Eric Coates was an English composer of light music and a viola player.-Life:Eric was born in Hucknall in Nottinghamshire to William Harrison Coates , a surgeon, and his wife, Mary Jane Gwynne, hailing from Usk in Monmouthshire...
.
Plot
The series was adapted from the three novels and two interludes of John Galsworthy's Forsyte Saga: The Man of Property (1906), Indian Summer of a Forsyte (1918), In Chancery (1920), Awakening (1920) and To Let (1921); and Galsworthy's later trilogy A Modern Comedy.Cast
The production featured a cast of well-known character actors, of whom the film star Kenneth More was the most famous name.- Eric PorterEric PorterEric Richard Porter was an English actor of stage, film and television.-Early life:Porter was born in Shepherd's Bush, London, to Richard John Porter and Phoebe Elizabeth Spall...
as Soames Forsyte - Margaret TyzackMargaret TyzackMargaret Maud Tyzack, CBE was a British actress.-Early life:Tyzack was born in Essex, England, the daughter of Doris and Thomas Edward Tyzack. She grew up in West Ham...
as Winifred Dartie - Nyree Dawn Porter as Irene Forsyte née Heron
- June Barry as June Forsyte
- Ursula HowellsUrsula HowellsUrsula Howells was an English actress whose elegant presence kept her much in demand for roles in film and television....
as Frances Forsyte - Kenneth MoreKenneth MoreKenneth Gilbert More CBE was a highly successful English film actor during the post-World War II era and starred in many feature films, often in the role of an archetypal carefree and happy-go-lucky middle-class gentleman.-Early life:Kenneth More was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the...
as 'Young Jolyon' Forsyte - Maggie JonesMaggie Jones (actress)Margaret "Maggie" Jones was an English actress, best known for playing Blanche Hunt in the British soap opera Coronation Street, a role which she first portrayed in 1974 and played regularly from the late 1990s until shortly before her death.-Career:Jones graduated from the drama school RADA and...
as Smither - Susan HampshireSusan HampshireSusan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, OBE is an English actress, best-known for her many television and film roles.-Early life:Susan Hampshire was born in Kensington, London, the youngest of four children. She had two sisters and one brother...
as Fleur Mont née Forsyte - Nicholas PennellNicholas PennellNicholas Pennell was an English actor who appeared frequently on film and television in the 1960s and emigrated to Stratford, Ontario, Canada where he became a stalwart of the Stratford Festival.He was educated at Allhallows College, Lyme Regis and trained at RADA. He then appeared in repertory...
as Michael Mont - John WelshJohn Welsh (actor)John Welsh was an Irish actor.After an early stage career in Dublin, Welsh moved into British film and television in the 1950s. His roles included James Forsyte in the 1967 BBC dramatisation of John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga, as well as the butler Merriman in The Duchess of Duke Street, Sgt...
as James Forsyte - John Barcroft as George Forsyte
- Suzanne Neve as Holly Dartie née Forsyte
- Nora Nicholson as Aunt Juley Forsyte
- Fanny RoweFanny RoweFanny Rowe was an English film and television actress.Her real name was Frances Rowe, although she became Frances Morton after marrying the actor Clive Morton...
as Emily Forsyte - Cyril LuckhamCyril LuckhamCyril Luckham was a British film, television and theatre actor.Luckham played the White Guardian in the long running science fiction television series Doctor Who. He appeared in The Ribos Operation, the first serial in The Key to Time season, and Enlightenment...
as Sir Lawrence Mont - Julia White as Coaker
- Lana MorrisLana MorrisLana Morris, born Averil Maureen Anita Morris was a British film, stage and television actress during the 1950s and 1960s....
as Helene Hillmer - Terence AlexanderTerence AlexanderTerence Joseph Alexander was an English film and television actor, best known for his role as Charlie Hungerford in the British TV drama Bergerac.-Early life and career:...
as Montague Dartie - Nora SwinburneNora SwinburneNora Swinburne was a British actress, born Leonora Mary Johnson in Bath, Somerset, daughter of Henry Swinburne Johnson and his wife Leonora Tamar ....
as 'Aunt Hester' Forsyte - Kynaston ReevesKynaston ReevesKynaston Reeves was christened Philip Arthur Reeves, and was an English character actor who appeared in numerous films and many television plays and series.-Career:...
as Nicholas Forsyte - Joseph O'ConorJoseph O'ConorJoseph O'Conor was an Anglo-Irish actor and playwright.- Early years :O'Conor was born in Dublin on 14 February 1916, the son of Frances and Daniel O'Conor. His family moved to London, where he attended the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, the University of London and RADA...
as 'Old Jolyon' Forsyte - Jonathan Burn as Val Dartie
- Martin Jarvis as Jolyon 'Jon' Forsyte
Broadcast and reception
The series was originally shown in twenty-six episodes on Saturday evenings between 7 January and 1 July 1967 on BBC2. This was originally intended to encourage viewers to switch over to BBC TwoBBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
, which had launched in 1964. However, it was the repeat on Sunday evenings on BBC1 starting on 8 September 1968 that secured the programme's success with 18 million tuning in for the final episode in 1969. It is often quoted that both publican
Landlord
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant . When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner...
s and clergymen in the United Kingdom complained that the Sunday night repeats were driving away customers and worshippers, respectively, and there are tales of Sunday Evensong
Evensong
The term evensong can refer to the following:* Evening Prayer , the Anglican liturgy of Evening Prayer, especially so called when it is sung...
services being moved to prevent a clash with the broadcast. A retrospective on the series by PBS Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service on January 10, 1971, making it America's longest-running weekly prime time drama series. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions...
notes that:
Viewers remember the way the nation shut down each Sunday night for the event. Pubs closed early and the streets were deserted. The Church even rescheduled its evening worship services so that the immense audience could be ready for the start of the show at 7:25pm.
Following its success in Britain, the series was shown in the United States on public television
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
and broadcast all over the world, and became the first BBC television programme to be sold to the Soviet Union. The worldwide audience was estimated as something in the region of 160 million. The series won a Royal Television Society
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
Silver Medal and a BAFTA for Best Drama Series or Serial
British Academy Television Awards
The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
. Following its transmission in 1967 by RTÉ
RTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...
, the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
's national broadcast service, the BBC production won a Jacob's Award at the annual presentation ceremony in Dublin.
The series' success prompted companies to invest in similarly scaled drama serials, which resulted in programmes such as The Pallisers
The Pallisers
The Pallisers is a 1974 BBC television adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels.-Cast :*Anthony Ainley: Rev. Emilius*Terence Alexander: Lord George*Anthony Andrews: Lord Silverbridge*Sarah Badel: Lizzie Eustace...
(which was also produced by Donald Wilson) and Upstairs, Downstairs
Upstairs, Downstairs
Upstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a...
.
Writing after a new adaptation
The Forsyte Saga (2002 miniseries)
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...
was produced by Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
in 2002, Sarah Crompton noted that even Galsworthy's novels paled in comparison to the television series, noting that the adaptation set a lasting precedent for television dramas:
Poor old Galsworthy may in his day have won the Nobel prize for literature, but now he is just a footnote in televisual history – the begetter of the most popular classic serial of all time. This is no exaggeration. One hundred million people in 26 countries ended up seeing Donald Wilson's version of the saga. It was not the first literary adaptation on TV, but it was longer and more ambitious than anything screened before, and it has come to represent every value and standard to which British TV has aspired ever since.
Because of its black and white picture, the series has not been shown on British television since the introduction of colour, although in 1992 it was released in the UK on an 8-volume set of videos, and on Region 2 DVD in 2004.
External links
- The Forsyte Saga at the Museum of Broadcast Communication