'Downton Abbey' writer Julian Fellowes penning new period drama 'Belgravia' for ITV

Award-winning Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellowes is penning a new, six-part period drama called Belgravia for ITV.

Set in the absurdly wealthy London neighbourhood, it will be based on Fellowes’ own book of the same name, which was published as a serial, chapter by chapter via an app, in 2016.

The novel followed the tribulations of the Trenchards, a family made wealthy by trade, and their daughter Sophia, who falls for Edmund Bellasis, son and heir of one of the country’s most prominent families.

Beginning in 1815, on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, the action fast-forwards to the 1840s, as the area of London is newly developing.

On its website, the novel was described as ‘the story of a secret. A secret that unravels behind the porticoed doors of London’s grandest postcode’.

Fellowes spoke of his plans to adapt the book, which had mixed fortunes on its release, last year.

“I should perhaps be putting my feet up, but there are things I’ve got on my plate,” he said.

“I’m writing a slightly supernatural thriller at the moment where you can’t quite decide if it is supernatural, which I’m enjoying.

“Then I think I’m going to do Belgravia as a four-part series for television. I’m also hoping to do The Gilded Age (a New York-set period drama) for NBC Universal — there’s quite a lot going on.”

Fellowes also has the Downton Abbey movie, which is currently in production, and last year it was also announced that he was plotting a drama based on the Queen’s art collection, with Simon Cowell’s production company Syco.

ITV and NBC’s Carnival Films will be behind Belgravia, Deadline reports.

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