But a decade ago the dynamics that animate both shows churned within a single mini-series: “The Forsyte Saga.”  Based on the John Galsworthy novels, the series spanned the decades from the 1870s to the 1920s and starred Damian Lewis of “Homeland” as another repressed villain demented by love and loss.  His Soames Forsyte — like Brody, his character on “Homeland” — is driven by a cause he believes is just and evokes sympathy for his torment if not his misguided actions. An uptight man of property, Soames grimaces his way through an evolving London as if enduring a nasty toothache. Gina McKee was Irene (pronounced eye-REE-nee), a chilly swan-necked beauty who marries Soames for his money but openly despises him, driving him to despicable behavior.  Meanwhile the rest of the sprawling Forsyte clan — like the one on “Downton Abbey” — wallows in rivalries, resentments and opulent houses, struggling to adapt as the sun sets on the British Empire.  The 10-part series, produced by Granada Television and WGBH in Boston and spread over two seasons, had its premiere in 2002 in England and on “Masterpiece Theater” on PBS. It remains among the most beloved installments, said Rebecca Eaton, the executive producer for “Masterpiece,” ranking behind the landmark “Upstairs, Downstairs” in a 2007 fan poll.  The complete “Forsyte Saga” recently became available for the first time in America in a new DVD set by Acorn Media, which explicitly seeks to capitalize on Mr. Lewis’s newfound popularity after “Homeland.”  “Years of rejecting publicity and now, the irony,” Mr. Lewis deadpanned in a recent phone interview from North Carolina, where he was filming “Homeland.”  As source material goes, the “Forsyte” pedigree is hard to top. Galsworthy’s books about social class and materialism in late-19th- and early-20th-century Britain, published from 1906 to 1921, won him the Nobel Prize in Literature.  An earlier adaptation of the novels — a behemoth 26-part BBC production in 1967 — is widely considered to be the first modern TV costume drama. It was a phenomenon in Britain: Soames and Irene’s marriage was the subject of national debate, and local vicars were reportedly asked to change the times of services so their congregations could be home in time for “Forsyte.”  In co-producing a new “Forsyte” adaptation, “Masterpiece Theater” was returning to its roots. It was the sweeping popularity of the original series on American public television that led WGBH to start “Masterpiece Theater” in 1971.  Despite, or perhaps because of, the BBC version’s renown, the producers of the “Forsyte” reboot opted to ignore it altogether rather than compete with memories of the series. They went back to the books, seeking to highlight plotlines that would resonate more with modern audiences, like the striving of Irene and another Forsyte, June, to redefine themselves as women in a changing England.  Unlike its predecessor, which was filmed on soundstages, the 2002 “Forsyte” was shot on location in sumptuous Georgian mansions in and around Liverpool and Manchester.  The cast included once and future stars of British drama like Rupert Graves, Ioan Gruffudd and Corin Redgrave.  Mr. Lewis dazzled during casting, but his listless performance in the early days of the production puzzled the filmmakers. “Damian seemed terribly distracted and not really on his game,” said Christopher Menaul, the initial director of the series. “We thought: ‘Oh my God, what’s wrong with him? Is it the pressure already?’ ”  Fortunately it was only acute appendicitis. The actor was taken to the hospital to have his appendix removed, and production stopped for several weeks while he recuperated.  “In a way we thought, ‘Oh thank God,’ ” Mr. Menaul said, laughing. “They can deal with that. He’s not having a sort of mental crisis.”  The next land mine was one that had also bedeviled the earlier “Forsyte Saga”: Soames’s marital rape of Irene. The scene, highly controversial in Galsworthy’s novel, had scandalized television audiences in 1967. Even by today’s network standards the ripping of Irene’s bodice was savage.  “The series wasn’t considered entirely suitable to watch for young kids because of the rape scene,” said Sita Williams, the producer of the 2002 version.  The project’s overseers were sufficiently concerned about the scene that they ordered Ms. Williams to the set to make sure Mr. Menaul, the director, “didn’t go mad and make it explicit,” she said.  Nevertheless the shoot that day, on a closed set to minimize the actors’ discomfort, ended up being darker than anyone could have predicted.  “We were midway through it, and we got a phone call from the first assistant director,” Mr. Lewis said. “He said, ‘Sorry to stop shooting but something bizarre has happened: An airplane’s just flown into the World Trade Center.’ ”  Ms. Williams said, “Everyone who worked on ‘The Forsyte Saga’ will remember that. ‘Where were you when 9/11 happened?’ Well, we were filming that rape scene.”  The show had its debut in October 2002 to healthy ratings and mostly positive reviews, though Ms. McKee’s subdued performance polarized critics and viewers.  Viewed a decade later, the luxuriant sets and subtle performances still hold up. But although there are clear parallels with “Downton Abbey” — comic relief comes from a pair of befuddled dowagers, and there are assertive women and other signs of fray at the edges of Britain’s old social order — the smoldering exchanges might seem too subtle to new fans of period drama weaned on the more melodramatic contortions of “Downton.”  “It’s a family of power that saw its world crumbling around it,” Mr. Lewis said. “It’s a moment in time encapsulated by ‘Downton Abbey’ and ‘The Forsyte Saga’ that people really respond to, I think.”
The rivalries and resentments that animate âHomelandâ and âDownton Abbey,â among the best-drama nominees at the Emmy Awards, churned within a popular mini-series a decade ago, âThe Forsyte Saga.â