About “The Forsytes” in a few words:

The Forsytes (2025) brings back the classic tale of a wealthy British family navigating love, ambition, and social expectations in a rapidly changing world. At the center is Soames Forsyte, whose obsession with control and legacy ripples through generations. Relationships are complicated, loyalties shift, and beneath all the refinement, emotions run dangerously deep. It’s a story about possession, passion, and what people are willing to sacrifice to keep what they believe is theirs.

Meet the characters from The Forsytes

Louisa Byrne

Oh Louisa, bless her — the quietly ferocious one who fusses over everyone and then surprises you by being utterly implacable when crossed. She’s the kind of woman who’ll bake you a lovely tart and then quietly tell you what she really thinks about your life choices, and you’ll kind of be grateful for it? Practical to a fault, loves a routine but every so often does something wildly impulsive (like keeping a telegram in her corset or whatever, don’t quote me). She’s warm, a bit nosy, and somehow both the backbone of the house and its little mystery.

Jolyon Forsyte, Sr.

Jolyon is the romantic oddball of the clan — soft-hearted, a bit bohemian, always half-laughing at the family’s obsession with money while secretly keeping a ledger of his own, because yes, he is contradictory. He loves nature, children, long letters, and art, and will defend a stray dog as if it were a duke; also terrible at sticking to a budget (but insists he’s not). Gentle to the point of frustrating stubbornness, he’s the person you go to when you need honesty that hurts your feelings in the right way. He’s the moral center, or at least the fuzzy, sentimental one who thinks moral centers are rather overrated.

James Forsyte

James is the steady, respectable type — practical, calm, forever the good citizen who’d mend a fence and sign the paperwork with an almost soothing hand. He likes order and family rules (and hates drama — loudly), but don’t mistake him for dull: he’s quietly proud, slightly smug sometimes, and has a strange, secret fondness for little domestic rituals that would surprise you. He’s the kind of reliable man who’ll settle disputes with a clear mind, and yet you can catch him humming a mournful tune and thinking about a long-forgotten picnic. Loyal, conventional, kind of opinionated about curtains.

Frances Forsyte

Frances is the soft-spoken practical one who actually keeps the social machine running while pretending not to notice; she’s meticulously proper but with these tiny flashes of impatience that are deliciously human. She collects small domestic triumphs (a perfectly starched napkin, a dinner that came off without scandal) and hoards secret little pleasures like romance novels or a bit of stolen chocolate. There’s a cautious bravery about her — she’ll do what must be done, even if she fidgets with her gloves while doing it. Sweet but not silly, dutiful but not a doormat (well, most days).

Ann Forsyte

Ann is a spark — lively, mouthy, and somehow both maddeningly naive and suspiciously sharp-witted, often at the same time, which is why she’s so fun to watch. She’ll flirt with a stranger and then scold you for your shoes, and has a wardrobe full of contradictory moods (yellow at funerals? maybe). Bold, curious, and not great at keeping secrets unless she’s hiding one herself, Ann brings mischief and warmth in equal measure. She’s the friend you want at a scandal and the one you trust to bail you out at dawn.

Soames Forsyte

Soames is the iron-cased, impeccably dressed force of possession — rigid, proud, obsessed with property and appearances and (ugh) that awful idea that love is like owning a thing. He’s coldly efficient and annoyingly self-righteous but also strangely pitiable if you look too long, because under that tailored exterior there’s an awkward, bewildered man who doesn’t know how to be loved unless it’s on his terms. Fastidious to the point of counting teaspoons, believes in the law, order, and a very particular brand of respectability — and he’ll argue you into a corner about it. Terrifying and fascinating, basically the family’s inevitable drama magnet (and yes, he probably irons his handkerchiefs).