ITV commissions six part adaptation of Julian Fellowes' Belgravia

ITV's Head of Drama, Polly Hill, has today confirmed commission of Julian Fellowes' six part series, Belgravia, to be produced by Carnival Films, producers of the global hit Downton Abbey.

The series, which begins filming in spring 2019, is a co-production with premium cable network, EPIX.

Belgravia reunites the award-winning creative team behind Downton Abbey with Julian Fellowes adapting his bestselling novel for the screen and Carnival's Gareth Neame executive producing alongside Nigel Marchant, Liz Trubridge and Fellowes. John Alexander (Sense & Sensibility) will direct the limited series with Colin Wratten (Killing Eve) producing. Casting is currently underway.

Commented Polly Hill:

"We're delighted to be reuniting with Julian Fellowes, Gareth Neame and Carnival Films to produce Belgravia for ITV. It's a tale of scandal and intrigue set in 1840s London with some wonderful characters spanning two generations at its heart."

Commented Gareth Neame:

"It's fantastic to be working again with Julian, a master storyteller. In Belgravia he has painted a wonderful backdrop of 19th century society against which intrigue and dynastic power struggles will play out. We are delighted to be partnering with ITV once again and look forward to working with EPIX to introduce US audiences to this fantastic event series."

Belgravia is a story of secrets and dishonour amongst the upper echelon of London society in the 19th Century. When the Trenchards accept an invitation to the now legendary ball hosted by the Duchess of Richmond on the fateful evening of the Battle of Waterloo, it sets in motion a series of events that will have consequences for decades to come as secrets unravel behind the porticoed doors of London's grandest postcode.

Belgravia is a Carnival Films co-production with EPIX for ITV and is distributed by NBCUniversal International Distribution. Orion Publishing publishes the eponymous novel.

Note to Editors:

ABOUT CARNIVAL FILMS

Carnival Films is a division of NBCUniversal International Studios and one of the UK's leading drama specialists. The company is responsible for the global television phenomenon Downton Abbey and current primetime series such as The Last Kingdom for Netflix, and Jamestown and Stan Lee's Lucky Man for Sky One. The company is currently producing the Downton Abbey movie, with Focus Features and Universal Pictures International distributing. Other shows produced over Carnival's history include Poirot, Hotel Babylon, Whitechapel and Dracula, as well as award-winning mini-series such as Traffik, Any Human Heart, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies and The Hollow Crown anthology. Carnival has received a host of national and international awards including Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes and BAFTAs, and has been recognised as the UK's best production company at both the Bulldog Awards and Broadcast Awards.

ABOUT ITV

ITV is an integrated producer broadcaster and the largest commercial television network in the UK. It is the home of popular television from the biggest entertainment events, to original drama, major sport, landmark factual series and independent news. It operates a family of channels including ITV, ITVBe, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and CITV, which are broadcast free-to-air. ITV is also focused on delivering its programming via the ITV Hub, mobile devices, video on demand and third party platforms. ITV Studios is a global production business, creating and selling programmes and formats from offices in the UK, US, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, the Nordics and the Netherlands. It is the largest and most successful commercial production company in the UK, the largest independent non-scripted indie in the US and ITV Studios Global Entertainment is a leading international distribution businesses.

ABOUT EPIX

EPIX, an MGM company, is a premium television network delivering a broad line-up of quality original series and documentaries, the latest movie releases and classic film franchises - all available on TV, on demand, online and across devices. EPIX has tripled the amount of original programming on the network and has become a destination for original premium content with series including Get Shorty starring Chris O'Dowd and Ray Romano, spy thrillers Berlin Station and Deep State, docu-series Elvis Goes There with Elvis Mitchell and, premiering later this year, new series Godfather of Harlem starring and executive produced by Forest Whitaker, Pennyworth, the origin story of Batman's butler Alfred, from DC, Perpetual Grace, LTD. starring Sir Ben Kingsley and docu-series PUNK from John Varvatos and Iggy Pop. Launched in October 2009, EPIX is available nationwide through cable, telco, satellite and emerging digital distribution platforms.