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The Forsyte Saga, are you following it?

78 replies

Rhiannon · 23/04/2002 21:24

Am I supposed to be feeling sorry for Irenie? Am I being callous? I don't feel in the slightest bit sorry for her! When Persinny(sp?)died I was upset but she seems such a cold, calculating cow that I have no sympathy for her. R

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ks · 23/04/2002 22:21

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Tinker · 23/04/2002 22:58

Have to agree about Gina McKee being horribly miscast. They keep referring to her beauty - I mean, she's not a bad looking woman but beauty she ain't! And, yes, I agree about feeling sorry for Soames as well.

bossykate · 24/04/2002 06:16

oh, i have such a soft spot for anyone who was in "our friends in the north" - in my top three tv progs of the 90s.

unfortunately, the forsyte saga doesn't get an airing in our house - it clashes with the west wing!

will have to buy the book...

bossykate · 24/04/2002 06:18

that should be top three british progs of the 90s! The other two are pride and prejudice and cracker...

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Rhiannon · 24/04/2002 07:46

Tinker, Soames seems quite nice to me. He has done nothing wrong (apart from the rape but even then he was trying to love her), he has spent his whole time being kind and trying to get her interest. Poor old Soames - but he may show his true colours later? R

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SueDonim · 24/04/2002 08:26

I've forgotten to watch any of the FS - has anyone seen the original series? Fantastic! I was a child then and had to be really quiet on a Sunday evening while my mum was glued to it. You have no idea how shocking the rape scene was, back then - everyone was talking about it. Then it was repeated in the afternoons when I was pg with my first baby, ideal for lying on the sofa and resting.

bayleaf · 24/04/2002 09:22

Didn't get to see the original - tho I do remember the Pallisers and a host of other period dramas from my youth ( Onedin Line? Poldark? When the Boat comes in? How Green Was my Valley? Upstairs Downstairs etc etc) THAT I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE AGAIN! Given that they repeat complete crap all the time why on earth don't we get to see any of the better stuff again?????

That said I'm really enjoying FS - and really relieved to hear how you feel about Irene and Soames as my reaction is exactly the same - she just seems like a silly cow and he a rather inept but basically well intentioned bloke - yes the rape did push it a bit - but I'm not sure we should judge it my todays mores - thinking was somewhat different then!

Tillysmummy · 24/04/2002 09:28

Have to say I don't like Irene and I don't like Soames. More don't like Soames becuase I think he is a bit pathetic and very ugly !! Irene is cold and callous though have to admit.

Marina · 24/04/2002 09:58

Bossykate, another OFIN fan, I thought it was simply fantastic. I do think Gina is badly miscast in the Forsyte Saga though. I have a big soft spot for Damian Lewis and IMO he is doing reptilian control-freak in this quite effectively. Rhiannon, he wrecked Mr Bosinney's career! And he hid in his club instead of coming out and facing him like a man!
And I think Rupert Graves was born to play Young Jolyon. Now there is a cute actor.

bettys · 24/04/2002 10:13

I've read all the Forsyte books, & am just re-reading them now. Gina McKee is horrendously miscast as Irene, so much so that I don't know if I can watch the rest of the series as it ruins it. Irene is meant to be so beautiful & charming that everyone falls for her, instead of being a sulky stroppy whey-face that you'd think Soames would be glad to see the back of.
Although Damian Lewis is excellent as the cold, controlling Man of Property Soames, & everyone else is well-cast & acted, the central premise that Irene is the hub of the family drama falls apart as she is so unattractive.

tiktok · 24/04/2002 11:50

I am old enough to have watched series one as a kid and I adored it!! I remember everything about it, and I read the books, too. My mum and I are watching this one, and we both agree that Gina McKee is just not at all right for Irene. She is meant to have hot passions inside a cold exterior, but you certainly don't get that idea. She has the wrong shaped-face for all the silly hats she wears, too. Her voice is just annoying, and she just ain't beautiful enough.

I am still gripped by the story, though. So interesting to see how socially repressed women were in that world. What I can't remember is whether Fleur (the Susan Hampshire role from way back!!) who should appear in the next episode and is Soames' daughter is actually Irene's daughter (from the rape)? IIRC Irene leaves Soames in the end. There was a scene at the end of the first series where Soames sees Irene as an old woman, and he still loves her.

Tillysmummy · 24/04/2002 11:51

my mum keeps saying she's not beautiful enough and the first was much better. I haven't seen the first but have to agree she's quite plain

bettys · 24/04/2002 11:56

Fleur is the daughter of Soames and his second wife, who is French. The feud goes on into the next generation, as Fleur & Jon (Jolyon's son) fall in love, but I don't think this series goes that far so I don't want to give away too much.

ks · 24/04/2002 12:02

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bettys · 24/04/2002 12:11

The scene with young Jolyon when he leaves his wife isn't in the book, it's been invented by a scriptwriter, as has the peculiar one where Irene has a douche (I think) after sex with Soames. I don't know whether that's to show she dislikes him so much she has to wash, or it was a Victorian method of contraception she used in secret. In any case the scriptwriters manage to put a slant on things that aren't there in the original. Perhaps to keep pace with modern-day perceptions

Tillysmummy · 24/04/2002 12:13

I thought it was to wash the sperm out ?

bettys · 24/04/2002 12:17

Yes, presumably she wouldn't want a child with Soames as then she wouldn't be able to leave him.

bayleaf · 24/04/2002 12:40

The TV review I read certainly thought it was a primitive form of contraception

Croppy · 24/04/2002 15:31

Stopped watching it as I can't stand these supposed enigmatic beauties. they just seem dull to me.

Lindy · 24/04/2002 19:39

Just to say that, despite some flaws, I really enjoy it (echo the previous comments about the Pallisers etc - they were great shows).

It is the only thing I bother to watch on TV, apart from 'Have I got News for you' - new series back on Friday nights which is great.

Why is TV so pathetically awful?

Did anyone else see the comment that more people voted on Pop Idol than in the last election - that is scary (no offence to P.I. watchers - I know there was a thread about it !)

sobernow · 24/04/2002 21:45

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Rhiannon · 24/04/2002 21:55

Please don't reveal the plot on this thread!!! R

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bayleaf · 30/04/2002 09:46

Have to say I've warmed slightly to Irene after the last episode and her being so sweet to old Jolyon - tho perhaps in part because of Bettys input that she was supposed to be universally loved and really lovely person - maybe I was now just trying to read such qualities into her!

Tillysmummy · 30/04/2002 09:48

Does anyone remember the Thorn Birds ? I wish they would show that again. I loved that.

tiktok · 30/04/2002 09:58

I agree that Irene wasn't so awful in the latest episode....maybe the part gave her something more to do than just look pale and boring. I am finding it disconcerting how it whizzes through the narrative and lands plot changes on you in a clunky way....like Holly's mother suddenly dying on us. Yet it's still wonderful to watch, and the clothes are sumptuous. BTW, don't you think they could have got a posher kid to play the role of Holly? I really don't think a Forsyte child would have spoken with a Cockney accent...and her piano playing was c*ap.