The Forsyte Saga, the BBC's adaptation of the novels of John Galsworthy, began on 7 January 1967. The drama - which spanned the period from 1879 to 1926 - was effectively a period soap opera ...

Colour can shock. When Elizabeth Barrett Browning saw the life-sized Tinted Venus in John Gibson’s studio in 1854 she said she had ‘seldom, if ever, seen so indecent a statue’.

Based on John Galsworthy's novels the series will chronicle the lives of the affluent Forsyte family in 1880s London. The new adaptation will feature a more diverse and inclusive cast than ever ...