Vanity Fair: Four reasons why ITV's drama will be your new obsession

Vanity Fair begins in September
Natasha Sporn23 August 2018

If the news that the Downton Abbey film is officially happening isn't enough to get you back on the period drama hype, Vanity Fair may do just that.

The upcoming ITV drama will be the third modern remake of the historical classic by William Makepeace Thackery, following a BBC series in 1998 and a glitzy Hollywood film in 2004.

The BBC’s serialised adaptation wasn’t actually the first attempt by the channel, there had been three more before, but it really failed to get off the ground – moving to a deathly time-slot late on in the evening to avoid being taken out by ITV’s Heartbeat, no less.

Years later, Reese Witherspoon and James Purefoy led the star-spangled cast of the movie, accompanied by Romola Garai and Jonathan Rhys-Myers, but garnered mixed reviews, many claiming that the character of Becky Sharp was too nice to be anything interesting.

ITV Vanity Fair - in pictures

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And now ITV, joint with Amazon Studios, are throwing a stellar cast and around £10m at their own adaptation, written by Gwyneth Hughes and produced by Mammoth Studios.

While an air date is yet to be confirmed, it’s never too early to start getting excited about the next big thing on television – and here are four reasons why you’re going to want to be watching Vanity Fair.

It stars some big names among its cast

Stars: Olivia Cooke and Tom Bateman are among the cast
ITV

Olivia Cooke plays lead Becky Sharp in the drama, a far cry from being the starring female in Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One (which is out on DVD soon, in case you wanted to compare!) while Tom Bateman stars opposite her as Captain Rawdon Crawley.

Rawdon’s father, Pitt, is played by Doc Martin funnyman Martin Clunes while Suranne Jones is the scary Miss Pinkerton, whose persona becomes clear right from the first episode.

The show’s narrator? Well, there was only ever one man for the job. Michael Palin.

Narrator: Michael Palin as William M Thackery
ITV

It’s a period drama

The genre has enjoyed something of a revival in recent years, thanks in part to the hit that is Downton Abbey.

Vanity Fair has all the components of a good period drama – a great cast, well-adapted scripts and picturesque locations.

It even has the Crawley name.

Downton Abbey: The successful show gave period dramas a name on the channel
Nick Briggs/ITV/PA Wire

It’s from the same production company as big-hitters

Mammoth Studios, the brains behind Vanity Fair, also produce Victoria and Poldark, two other hugely successful shows that have filled the void since the loss of Downton from screens.

There are important lessons in the story

While Vanity Fair is a novel from 1848, there are some ideas – themes of sorts – that have weight even in 2018.

Social climbing is very much at the centre of things but there is a wider point about trying to make a name for oneself. It may not be social standing, it may be social media following.

But it’s still about becoming a name. A brand.

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