The Forsytes on Masterpiece on PBS: Everything You Need to Know Before You Watch

If you have been seeing buzz about The Forsytes on Masterpiece and wondering whether it is worth clearing your Sunday nights for, we are here to tell you: absolutely yes. This one has all the ingredients of a great PBS drama: a sprawling wealthy family, complicated marriages, forbidden love, and enough betrayal to keep you glued to your couch for six weeks straight. Here is everything you need to know before you tune in.

What Is The Forsytes?

The Forsytes is a brand new PBS Masterpiece series premiering Sunday, March 22, 2026 at 9/8c. It is a bold reimagining of John Galsworthy’s celebrated Forsyte novels, set in 1880s London and following the lives of a prominent, wealthy family navigating love, loyalty, ambition, and betrayal.

The first season runs six episodes, and here is a fun piece of news to know going in: season two is already in the works and season 3 has been confirmed! That kind of confidence before a single episode has aired tells you everything you need to know about how much excitement is behind this one.

You may also see it referred to as The Forsyte Saga, which was the working title before it became The Forsytes. Same show, same fabulous cast.

What Is The Forsyte Saga?

If you have never heard of The Forsyte Saga, you are not alone, but you are in for a treat once you get up to speed.

John Galsworthy wrote the original novels between 1906 and 1921, and they were collected into a single volume in 1922. The saga chronicles the lives of three generations of the Forsyte family, an upper-middle-class London clan who are only a few generations removed from their farming roots and very, very aware of it.

They are what you might call “new money,” and every decision they make is colored by their obsession with status, wealth, and the things they own.

At the center of it all is Soames Forsyte, a solicitor who fancies himself a “man of property.” He wants to own everything around him, including his beautiful wife, Irene, who married him under difficult circumstances and has never been able to love him.

Their deeply miserable marriage is the engine that drives most of the drama in the original novels, and oh yes we will be seeing that drama on screen.

Has This Been Adapted Before?

Yep!

The story was first adapted for Hollywood in 1949 as That Forsyte Woman, starring Errol Flynn and Greer Garson.

Then in 1967, the BBC produced a 26-part television serial that became a cultural phenomenon. (Remember when shows had more than 6-8 episodes?)

It was the first British television series ever sold to the Soviet Union, which tells you something about how far its reach extended. People in the UK genuinely rearranged their lives around the broadcast schedule.

In 2002, Granada Television produced a new adaptation that aired on ITV in the UK and came to American audiences through PBS Masterpiece, so there is a history between this story and this network. If you caught that version, you already know the bones of the story. If you did not, no worries at all. This new series is its own thing.

What Is This New Version About?

The 2026 Forsytes is described as a reimagining rather than a straight adaptation. Screenwriter Debbie Horsfield has done something clever here: the series is partly a prequel to the events of the first book, but it also expands the world significantly, and it places the women of the Forsyte family front and center in a way the original novels never quite did.

The story is set in 1880s London and follows the wealthy Forsyte family as they navigate the social pressures, romantic entanglements, and family power struggles of the era.

One thing worth noting for anyone who sometimes finds Victorian dramas a bit relentless in their grimness (ahem: Wendy) the creative team has made a deliberate choice to bring a fresh lightness to the period rather than leaning into the sooty, foggy darkness that this era so often gets on screen.

It is still full of secrets and scandal and impossible choices, but it is not going to feel like a slog. It is genuinely gorgeous to look at.

Who Is Behind This Series?

The creative team behind The Forsytes is genuinely impressive, and if you watched Poldark on Masterpiece, you are already familiar with their work.

Screenwriter Debbie Horsfield wrote all six episodes. She is the same writer who brought Poldark to life, and she reunites here with UK production company Mammoth Screen and MASTERPIECE on PBS.

The series is directed by Meenu Gaur (Murder Is Easy) and Annetta Laufer (Get Millie Black), and produced by Sarah Lewis (The Long Shadow).

Who Stars in The Forsytes?

The cast for this series is extraordinary, and honestly, it reads like a who’s who of beloved British television.

Francesca Annis (Flesh and Blood), a BAFTA winner, plays Ann, the formidable Forsyte matriarch. She is the woman at the center of it all, and if you know Francesca Annis, you know she is going to be magnetic in this role.

Stephen Moyer (True Blood, Sexy Beast) plays Ann’s eldest son Jolyon Senior, the head of the family’s stockbroking firm. Yes, that Stephen Moyer. He is wonderful in this kind of layered, complicated role.

Eleanor Tomlinson (One Day, Poldark) plays Louisa Byrne, a Soho dressmaker and the first love of Jolyon’s bohemian son Jo. Tomlinson is no stranger to Masterpiece period drama, and it is thrilling to see her back in this world.

Millie Gibson (Doctor Who) plays Irene, the dancer whom Soames falls in love with. Irene is one of the most compelling female characters in all of English literature, a woman trapped by circumstance and fighting for her own freedom, and Gibson is a wonderful choice for the role.

Jack Davenport (The Morning Show, Ten Percent) plays James, Ann’s competitive younger son.

Joshua Orpin (Titans) plays Soames, James’ son and one of the saga’s most famous and complicated antiheroes.

Jamie Flatters (Avatar: The Way of Water) plays Philip Bosinney, the architect whose arrival sets so much of the story in motion.

Tuppence Middleton (Downton Abbey: A New Era) plays Frances, Jo’s status-driven wife whose carefully constructed world unravels when a single shocking discovery changes everything.

Danny Griffin (Fate: The Winx Saga) plays Jo, Jolyon Senior’s more free-spirited son.

Josette Simon OBE (Anatomy of a Scandal) plays Mrs. Ellen Parker Barrington, a wealthy heiress and family friend.

Owen Igiehon (Disclaimer) plays Isaac Cole, a lawyer in the Forsyte orbit.

Tom Durant Pritchard (This Is Going to Hurt) plays Monty Dartie, James’ son-in-law.

And in a delightful piece of casting history, Susan Hampshire OBE plays Lady Carteret. Hampshire starred in the original 1967 BBC Forsyte Saga and won the first of her three Emmy Awards for that role. Welcome back, Susan.

When Does It Premiere and How Many Episodes Are There?

The Forsytes premieres Sunday, March 22, 2026 at 9/8c on PBS Masterpiece and runs for six episodes. New episodes air weekly on Sundays.

How to Watch The Forsytes on Masterpiece

There are a few different ways to catch the show.

The series airs on your local PBS station on Sunday nights at 9/8c.

You can also stream it through the PBS app or on PBS.org.

If you want extended access, PBS Passport members can watch on demand. Passport is a PBS member benefit that gives you access to a large library of PBS programming beyond the standard free window.

The Forsytes premieres Sunday, March 22, 2026 at 9/8c on PBS Masterpiece.

Watch Along With Us

We are Megan and Wendy from Girls Gone Hallmark, and we will be reviewing The Forsytes all season long with a new episode review dropping every Friday. So whether you watch on Sunday night when it airs or catch up later in the week, there will always be a fresh review here waiting for you.

We are also reviewing The Count of Monte Cristo weekly, and if you are not already watching that one alongside us, it is a great time to start. It is every bit as dramatic and addictive as it sounds, and we are having so much fun covering it. It is a genuinely great season to be a PBS Masterpiece fan.

Bookmark this page, subscribe to the podcast, and come back every Friday for our latest review. This one is going to be so good.

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