Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish — reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party!

Last week, I reviewed Riot Women, a show about an all-female punk rock band. Tina read Dog Days by Scottish author Andrew Cotter, but didn’t think it was as good as his first book about his labradors, Olive, Mabel, & Me. Marg shared two books with us: Hopes and Dreams at the Chocolate Pot Café by Jessica Redland and Love Blooms at the Cornish Cottage by Kim Nash. Love Blooms at the Cornish Cottage also has a golden lab on the cover — so we had something of theme going.

The Forsytes is currently running on PBS and we heartily recommend it!

The time period is the late 1800s, roughly the same as The Gilded Age which we also enjoyed.

The Gilded Age was set in New York. The Forsytes is set in London, so you know that makes me happy! We got quite a few sweeping shots of what London looked like in that time period with St. Paul’s Cathedral dominating the skyline.

Like The Gilded Age, and other binge-worthy favorites like Downton Abbey and The Crown, The Forsytes is a family drama with layered characters and complicated dynamics.

Season 1 is six episodes. We were ready for more when we finished watching. Fortunately, Seasons 2 and 3 have already been announced.

This is the third television adaptation of The Forsyte Saga, a series of novels by John Galsworthy, published in first couple of decades of the 1900s.

I remember hearing about The Forsyte Saga when I was a kid. Although the first version came out in 1967, when I was 5. Unless it was rebroadcast in the 1970s, that memory is faulty.

I may, instead, be thinking of the 2002 version. I don’t remember watching that and the story felt completely new when I watched The Forsytes, so I’m probably right about that. I’m not sure why I missed it.

Have you watched any of the previous adaptations? Or read the books?