Critic Reviews

The Forsytes might be a little bit more sudsy than classic takes on the Saga, but it’s still incredibly well-acted and gorgeous to behold.

While all the characters have compelling storylines, the women, who can only express their desires through their attachment to men, are the most compelling.

Will this be your next "Downton Abbey?" Probably not, but it could be your next "Poldark." Nothing wrong with that.

If “Downton” and “Gilded Age” offer a smooth blend of melodrama and lighter moments, “Forsytes” is choppier. It takes itself and its characters with utmost seriousness – until it doesn’t midway through episode three.

Sometimes it’s nice to settle down in front of something gloriously hammy that requires no brain power. The script, from Debbie Horsfield (Poldark, Cutting It), is almost painfully simple. There is absolutely no danger of you not following the plot. Just admire the hairdos and make this your new guilty pleasure.

It was hard to tell from the first episode whether this version will be a binger, because it went very heavy with the exposition stick. .... But it is all warming up nicely.

If nothing else, these first six hours will provide a lot of emotional context for what comes next. But one would’ve hoped that a story about the Forsyte family would’ve been more efficient about it.

The Forsytes is about as subtle as a migraine. However, if this ruthlessly efficient scene-setter hasn’t insulted your intelligence, it may dig its soapy hooks into you. Or it might just tempt you to look at Galsworthy’s source novels to discover why this saga won him the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The Soames/Irene story remains the best thing about this new adaptation. .... But this Forsytes can’t fully commit to throwing out the original plot and remaking it as a Downton wannabe, even though that might have made for a better, more coherent series.