The Forsyte Saga

S01E07: Into the Dark

A thick fog envelops London, masking tragedy. Irene waits to run away with Bosinney, who is driven to distraction when hearing the news of Irene's rape. The next day, the Forsyte men gather en masse to support Soames, as the case of Forsyte vs. Bosinney is heard in court. The defendant is nowhere to be found, and he loses the case. June begs Old Jo to save Bosinney by purchasing the house at Robin Hill, now finished but empty. Brothers Old Jo and James, and their sons Young Jo and Soames, gather at the morgue to identify a man who was run down by a carriage in the fog; it is Bosinney.

Overview

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, at a time when only a small proportion of the population had television sets able to receive this channel. It was therefore 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.

Episodes

A Family Festival

S01E01 A Family Festival

January 7, 1967 50 min
The elder generation of Forsytes gather at Uncle Timothy's to exchange gossip about two of the younger members of the family: James's daughter Winifred is engaged to the charming but financially questionable Montague Dartie, while...

S01E02 A Family Scandal

January 14, 1967 50 min
Young Jo’s decision to divorce his wife to live with Helene and their child shocks the family, and causes Old Jo to adjust his will in favor of his granddaughter June. Elsewhere, stuffy lawyer Soames...

S01E03 The Pursuit of Happiness

January 21, 1967 50 min
Two sons are born. Winifred and her profligate husband Monty must appeal to her father James to ease Monty’s debts, as Winifred gives birth to her son, Val. The accidental death of Young Jo’s first...

S01E04 Dinner at Swithin's

January 28, 1967 50 min
Several years have passed, and the family is abuzz over the engagement of young June Forsyte to bohemian architect Phillip Bosinney. June’s best friend and confidante, Irene, endures an icy marriage to Soames, but sexual...

S01E05 A Man of Property

February 4, 1967 50 min
Winifred’s spendthrift husband Monty continues to rack up debts, while Soames has bigger marital problems. Attempting to improve his disastrous marriage, Soames engages Bosinney to build a mansion for Irene at Robin Hill, a country...

S01E06 Decisions

February 11, 1967 50 min
As the affair between Irene and Bosinney becomes more and more public, Soames threatens legal action against the architect regarding cost overruns at Robin Hill. June hides her confusion with stubborn allegiance to Bosinney, while,...

S01E07 Into the Dark

February 18, 1967 50 min
A thick fog envelops London, masking tragedy. Irene waits to run away with Bosinney, who is driven to distraction when hearing the news of Irene's rape. The next day, the Forsyte men gather en masse...

S01E08 Indian Summer of a Forsyte

February 25, 1967 50 min
Distraught, destitute, and alone, Irene returns to Soames for one last night, then deserts him for good. Four years later, Jolyon and his family have settled into the house at Robin Hill. While the others...

S01E09 In Chancery

March 4, 1967 50 min
Eight more years pass, during which Helene dies and June, now financially independent, strikes out on her own. Monty continues his profligate ways, stealing Winifred’s pearls and sailing for Buenos Aires with a Brazilian dancer....

S01E10 The Challenge

March 11, 1967 50 min
The South African Boer War creates anxiety for James, while Winifred and Soames attempt to extricate themselves from their marriages. Soames hires a private investigator to follow Irene, in hopes of gathering evidence for a...

S01E11 In the Web

March 18, 1967 50 min
Investigators shadowing Irene in Paris detect her growing affection for Jo, and gather enough evidence to proceed with Soames’s divorce. Val and Holly secretly become engaged, while Monty returns from Argentina, burnt out and broken....

S01E12 Birth of a Forsyte

February 25, 1967 50 min
Queen Victoria’s isn’t the only death in this episode which also includes births, marriages, and divorce. Young Jolly dies in South Africa, while his sister Holly and Val Dartie marry and decide to remain there....

S01E13 Encounter

April 1, 1967 50 min
Twenty years have passed (the Great War slips by here) as the third generation of Forsytes takes center stage. Jon has grown into an earnest and naive young man who decides to train as a...

S01E14 Conflict

April 8, 1967 50 min
The elder Forsytes continue to hide the details of the family feud from Jon and Fleur. Michael Mont, the perky son of a baronet, courts Fleur and gains the respect of Soames, while Jo hides...

S01E15 To Let

April 15, 1967 50 min
The annual cricket match between Eton and Harrow facilitates awkward encounters. Fleur scrambles to get Jon to the altar before he learns the truth behind the family feud. Before he dies, Jo finally tells Jon...

S01E16 A Family Wedding

April 22, 1967 50 min
Jon and Irene relocate to Canada. On the rebound, Fleur marries Michael Mont, who assumes narration of the series. Two years and more pass, during which a new cast of characters arrives on the scene....

S01E17 The White Monkey

April 29, 1967 50 min
Wilfred confesses his love of Fleur to Michael, as Soames lobbies for a grandchild. The board of directors is slow to act, while Elderson’s subordinate Butterfield confirms Soames’s suspicions. Without her husband’s knowledge, Victorine Bicket...

S01E18 Afternoon of a Dryad

March 6, 1967 50 min
As Michael is tortured by the thought that Fleur may be interested in Wilfred, he encounters June, who lets slip some family history: Fleur was on the rebound from her first great love when she...

S01E19 No Retreat

May 13, 1967 50 min
Both Michael and Tony address issues of trust in their marriages. The Bickets leave the squalor of their London slum in favor of a new life in Australia. Elderson admits his larceny, then flees the...

S01E20 A Silent Wooing

May 20, 1967 50 min
The scene shifts briefly to the Carolinas, where Jon and Irene are guests of young Ann Wilmot and her brother Francis. A gentle romance blooms, and Jon marries Ann. Back in London, Michael is now...

S01E21 Action for Libel

May 27, 1967 50 min
Marjorie Ferrar’s threats of libel action against Fleur are meant to extract money and a public apology, but Soames contrives to turn the tables and prove Marjorie guilty of immorality. American Francis Wilmot is torn...

S01E22 The Silver Spoon

June 3, 1967 50 min
Michael and Fleur drift further apart as last ditch efforts to settle the libel case fail, and Ferrar vs. Mont is heard in court. The episode is dominated by the bruising cross-examination of Marjorie by...

S01E23 Strike

June 10, 1967 50 min
Social fallout from the Ferrar case drives Fleur and Soames on a trip around the world. Michael joins them in Washington, DC, at the very moment when Irene, Jon, and Ann arrive. Soames narrowly averts...

S01E24 Afternoon at Ascot

June 17, 1967 50 min
June lobbies for Soames to commission a portrait of Fleur. Michael buries himself in social work, but cannot mask his anxiety regarding his marriage. Likewise, Ann fears she is no match for Jon’s first true...

S01E25 Portrait of Fleur

June 24, 1967 50 min
This moody episode illuminates Fleur’s restlessness, and Soames’s feelings of mortality. Looking toward the future, Soames installs young Butterfield in his law office to oversee Forsyte affairs, and alerts Fleur where he wishes to be...

S01E26 Swan Song

July 1, 1967 50 min
The final episode of the series begins with an adulterous consummation, and ends in death. Jon succumbs to Fleur's seduction and immediately regrets his infidelity to his wife, Ann. It's apparent that Fleur will never...

Cast

Eric Porter
Eric Porter
Soames Forsyte
Susan Hampshire
Susan Hampshire
Fleur Mont née Forsyte
Nyree Dawn Porter
Nyree Dawn Porter
Irene Forsyte née Heron
Kenneth More
Kenneth More
'Young Jolyon' Forsyte
Fay Compton
Fay Compton
'Aunt Ann' Forsyte
Lana Morris
Lana Morris
Helene Hillmer
Margaret Tyzack
Margaret Tyzack
Winifred Dartie
John Welsh
John Welsh
James Forsyte
Joseph O'Conor
Joseph O'Conor
'Old Jolyon' Forsyte
Terence Alexander
Terence Alexander
Montague 'Monty' Dartie
John Baskcomb
Timothy Forsyte
John Bennett
John Bennett
Philip Bosinney

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