The project was the brainchild of producer Donald Wilson, who first conceived the idea in 1955 and spent years planning the series and getting the necessary backing for it. The series finally got the go-ahead on the strength of the distinguished cast who were signed up for it. They included Kenneth More (Jolyon Forsyte), Eric Porter (Soames Forsyte), Nyree Dawn Porter (Irene Forsyte), Fay Compton (Ann Forsyte), Michael York ("Jolly" Forsyte), and newcomer Susan Hampshire (Fleur Forsyte). The plot revolved around the feuds and machinations of the Forsyte family and their London merchants' business (paving the way for such glossy soap operas of the 1980s as Dallas and Dynasty). Each episode culminated in a "cliff-hanger" ending designed to persuade viewers to tune in once again the following week. Among the most famous scenes was one in which the hap!ess Irene, unloved by her cold and possessive husband, Soames, was brutally raped by him as their marriage fell apart. The scene was rendered even more convincing by bloodstains on Irene's dress (Eric Porter had inadvertently cut his hand on her brooch when tearing off her bodice).

The series enjoyed vast audiences, the first showing, on BBC 2, attracting some 6 million viewers and the second showing, now on BBC I, attracting some 18 million. Publicans and vicars alike complained that they might just as well shut up shop on Sunday evenings as everyone stayed at home to see the next episode of the gripping saga. Similar success greeted the series in other parts of the world, including the United States, and The Forsyte Saga also earned the distinction of being the first BBC series to be sold to the Soviet Union. The worldwide audience was estimated as something in the region of 160 million.

The success of the series, which won a Royal Television Society Silver Medal and a BAFTA award for Best Drama, prompted the BBC to invest further re­ sources into similar blockbusting "costume" dramas, a policy that in ensuing years was to produce such results as The Pallisers (which was also produced by Donald Wilson) and Upstairs, Downstairs. In the United States, Forsyte's success prompted the development of the miniseries in competition with the open­ ended perpetual drama serial. Indeed, the bosses of one U.S. television station decided its viewers could not be expected to wait for the next episode and showed the entire series in one chunk, which lasted 23 hours and 50 minutes.

In 2001 Granada Television Ltd. put a remake of The Forsyte Saga into production, with Rupert Graves as Young Jolyon, Gina McKee as Irene, Damian Lewis as Soames, Corin Redgrave as Old Jolyon, Wendy Craig as Aunt Juley, and Ioan Gruffud as Bosinney.