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When I started seeing the advertising on PBS for The Forsytes, I got excited....a new costume drama to sink my teeth in....yummy lace details for inspiration, pin-tucks galore and draaaaama.  Then I noticed that Netflix also had The Forsyte Saga.....YAY I CAN SEE THIS VERSION BEFORE IT AIRS ON PBS.  I immediately put it on my list and began to watch.  

To my surprise it opens with The Masterpiece opening credits.....now I am confused, this is not a Netflix original.....it's a 2002/2003 PBS series.  Still weeks before the 2026 Forsytes  to air, I watch with all ten episodes....and still look forward to watching the Forsytes to come.....all those grand costumes to look forward to and how will they treat the same material, same drama, same people. 

The only thing that was the same were the names. The Saga (2002/2003), gave us a deep dive into the characters and we even open with the affair of Joylon and the maid hovering over his young sick daughter (in the 2026 version she is a step daughter) and it is clear THEY are a couple.  The Forsytes will have non of that, the maid is a seamstress with twins by Joylon Forsyte who didn't know that his relationship with this woman produced children and his wife in the Saga 2002 version dies and his father disowns him and it is a saga, so it goes into all kinds of twist and turns. However the 2026 has a new season advertised and maybe they get more into the meat of the story.  However in researching that version vs this version, the 2002 Saga sticks closer to the book. In some reviews it is said the 2026 version was women centered.....if you say so 👀

This is a bit of a pet peeve, but is actress Elinor Tomilson ever going to be in a drama where her hair is not softly tasseled around her face.  From Poldark, The Couple Next Door, The Nevers, to The Forsytes it's all the same hair softly flowing on her shoulders and red like a flame OKAAAAAAY ALREADY!

I still enjoyed watching both series  I am definitely thought the 2002 version was better, but I still curled up every Sunday for 2026 version and in searching for photos I found there is a 1967 version! LAWWWWD!