Buffed skin, sharp jawlines, and a familiar kind of grandeur. But beneath the gloss, something doesn’t quite ring true in this new period drama, The Forsytes.
The preamble has a whiff of Downton about it. The skin is smooth, the jawlines sharp, the hair styled within an inch of its life. The opening credits confirm this as a Gilded Age imitation — optimistic, but hollow.
As the episode gets underway, short exchanges are punctured by unearned brooding looks. The diffuse light suggests many of the interiors (and several of the exteriors) are either green-screened or so CGI’d as to make the whole thing feel oddly cheap.
Amid the pretty and the handsome, the hollow lines and stiff overacting, this first episode is almost unwatchable. Relief comes from the older actors: Susan Hampshire’s return to the screen is a delight, and Jack Davenport makes a valiant attempt to lend gravitas with a voice lowered an octave or two. Even in the exposition, there’s not much for any of them to hang their top hats on.
By far the best thing here is Anne Dudley’s incidental music, which does — in no uncertain terms — a lot of the heavy lifting. The score’s broad orchestral sound avoids mawkishness and keeps the whole enterprise moving. No mean feat, and exactly what you’d expect from Dudley.
News – Anne Dudley to receive Ivors Academy Fellowship
“Dudley’s induction recognises a career that spans pop innovation, orchestral arrangement and scores, and a catalogue of film, television, and concert works that have shaped the sound of British popular culture for more than four decades.“
