Broadcast May 5, 2002 Twelve years have passed since Old Jolyon’s summer with Irene. Imogen and Val, Winifred’s now grown-up children, have organised a surprise birthday party for their uncle Soames. Winifred teases him that he should have invited "la belle Annette," his new fancy. However, she’s "in trade" and he’s still married so things are far from straightforward. Winifred urges him to sort matters out, before some other man snares Annette. 
Soames then pays a visit to Annette’s restaurant, which she runs with her mother. Annette flirts prettily with Soames and accepts his invitation for her and her mother to visit his  country house, Mapledurham, the following
weekend. This visit is a success and Annette’s mother is obviously sold on his merits
as a husband.
Dartie’s husbandly merits have always been more obscure. Out gambling with George at the club, he’s accompanied by a Spanish showgirl, who is wearing a familiar pearl choker. After another big loss, Monty sells his half of their joint racehorse to George. As he’s stumbling out of the club, he falls over in a drunken stupor, witnessed with disgust by his son Val. At home, Winifred confronts Monty; they have been burgled, but only her pearls appear to be missing. After some bluster, Monty admits he took them and then, in a self-pitying fashion, rails at Winifred for being an unsupportive wife. He pulls out a pistol and  says he’s going to end it
all, but the gun doesn’t go off; Winifred is distraught and leaves Monty to sleep it
off.
The next morning, however, Monty, discovers the £400 he was paid by George for the half-share of the horse and therefore packs his bags and leaves. Later, Soames arrives and informs Winifred that Monty sailed for Buenos Aires that morning and she must now take steps to get rid of him permanently. Soames, aware that his own separation "is not living, it’s limbo," very forcefully argues that Winifred must divorce Dartie. If she presses the court to restore conjugal rights and he fails to comply, they can sue for divorce in six months rather than waiting for two years. Winifred is concerned about the scandal it will cause, as is Val, who is just about to go up to Oxford. That evening, Soames joins his parents after dinner and reassures the ailing James that divorce is the best thing and will sort matters out for good. James is comforted by having his son around to handle matters. Soames takes Val to Robin Hill to meet his cousin Jolly, who was seen earlier packing and preparing to leave for Oxford. June greets Soames frostily but he strides past her to greet her father. Upon hearing that they have missed Jolly, Val and Holly (YJ’s daughter) go off for a tour of the house whilst Soames discusses "another matter" with YJ. 
As Irene’s trustee, Soames assumes YJ knows about her circumstances and asks him to approach Irene on his behalf for evidence for a divorce. YJ is not keen to help and protests that he knows nothing about Irene’s life and only has contact with her once a year regarding the annuity, but Soames prevails upon him and YJ eventually agrees to go and see her. Irene is pleased to see YJ and informs him that she has been alone since Bosinney’s death and therefore cannot help Soames, although she feels sorry for his position. She says she is pleased that he has met someone else. Soames takes the lead in Winifred’s proceedings against Dartie and dictates her letter to him asking for him to return to her, which is solely for the purposes of evidence in the restitution proceedings. Winifred protests that she is being bullied but Soames is unrepentant; to his mind the only decision Winifred ever made was the folly of marrying Dartie, whom the family have had to get out of scrapes ever since. Soames is less sanguine about Irene, however, when YJ visits him at his office to tell him that Irene cannot help and he must look to his own life. Soames states that, if he cannot divorce her, as he cannot provide evidence and does not see why he should create it (unlike his sister), he will then assert his rights over Irene as she is still his wife. YJ warns Soames that Irene "will not be alone this time." Soames then pays a visit to Irene. She is surprised to see him, having thought that "Mr. Forsyte" was Young Jolyon again. Soames is also very disconcerted to be in her presence again, and is alternately beseeching and threatening. Winifred and Soames quarrel after her restitution hearing. She has had to endure the humiliation of divorce but he announces that he has changed his mind and wants Irene back, much to Winifred’s fury.  His mind
now made up, Soames follows Irene out one evening as she is giving money to prostitutes in
a seedier part of town. He has brought her a jewel for her birthday and presses it on her;
she recoils and demands that he leave her alone. Soames pleads with her to return to him,
on whatever terms she likes, provided she gives him a son. "Never," she cries.
Soames forces a kiss on her, but some working girls then approach in Irene’s aid. She
pushes past him, sending him to the ground, and escapes, with Soames’ threats to have
the police on her following her down the street.
Irene then flees to Robin Hill and announces to YJ that she is going away to France to escape from Soames. YJ is furious at Soames for hounding Irene. He later meets up with Irene in Paris, where they happily spend time together in galleries, lunching, and dancing in the evenings. Soames hires Polteed, a private investigator, at no expense spared, to track down Irene and get evidence against her, on the pretence that he is acting on behalf of a client--a ruse that Polteed sees through. Meanwhile, Val and Holly have been meeting up for secret rides in the park. Jolly finds out and forbids Holly to see Val again, on the grounds that their father and June despise Val’s uncle. Having been stood up, Val goes to Robin Hill where he and Holly plight their troth. Jolly is furious, however, and goads Val into agreeing to sign up for a regiment which is going off to fight the Boer War. Val agrees, provided that Jolly signs up too. Val announces his decision at dinner at his grandparents; Winifred is distressed, and Soames is unimpressed, but Emily and James are delighted. This will bring the war alive for them and they get out the map that James has brought so they can examine the details. Emily wonders how YJ will take the news of Jolly. Val says that his father is in Paris at the moment, a fact which Soames notes grimly. A bad evening is made worse for Winifred when she arrives home and discovers Dartie slumped asleep in a chair. Young Jolyon receives a telegram in Paris from Jolly telling him that he has joined up. YJ leaves to return to England, regretting that his time with Irene has been cut short. Polteed and Soames meet in a gallery where Polteed hands over evidence that Irene has been seen with a man in Paris. From Polteed’s description of the man and Soames’ face, the viewer is aware that Soames knows it is Young Jolyon.
Screencaps by Bar. Soames/Jolyon photo courtesy of the Yahoo Group Damian Lewis. Dinner photo and Soames/Irene portrait courtesy of HURSTblondie. |
1. The "Soames Has Gone All Sweet and Lovely"
Award (a/k/a Ginger Godliness Moments):
2. Most "I Want to Be Her" Moment:
3. Best Silent Acting From Damian:
4. The "Soames Scares Us to Bits" Bit:
5. Best "Snarls Out of the Side of THAT Mouth" Bits:
6. This Week's Favourite Line:
7. The Best "State the Bloomin' Obvious, Why Don't You?" Line:
8. The Best "Never a Truer Word Was Spoken" Line:
9. This Week We Were Laughing At:
10. The "We Liked Them But How Do We Categorise These Bits?" Bit:
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Little-known fact: superhero teams of prostitutes used to roam
Victorian London, rescuing put-upon women and pushing obnoxious toffs into the mud.
Really.
