Bonnets, ruffles and a period drama adaptation: these things are usually the realm of the BBC. But this spring, ITV are set to bring us a new adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair. There are so many reasons to to be excited.

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Adapted by Gwyneth Hughes (Dark Angel, The Girl, Miss Austen Regrets) and starring Olivia Cooke (the 23-year-old star of Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One), ITV brings us the story of social climber and heroine Becky Sharp.

Set against the Napoleonic Wars, Becky tries to escape the trappings of poverty and escalate into the heights of English Society – all the way up to the court of King George IV. Love, loss, a skewering of English life, and lots of good humour awaits or – in other words – of 'villainy, crime, merriment, lovemaking, jilting, laughing, cheating, fighting and dancing'. Despite being the most English of stories, the ITV adaptation was shot in Budapest, as well as at locations in and around London.

Cooke is joined by an exciting cast including Johnny Flynn (Genius) as Dobbin, Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) as Sir Pitt Crawley, Frances de La Tour (The History Boys) as Miss Matilda Crawley, Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster) as Miss Pinkerton and Michael Palin as Thackeray himself.

ITV's head of drama Polly Hill said: 'Vanity Fair feels like the perfect classic to adapt for ITV, and Gwyneth Hughes’ stunning scripts bring the novel to life in a way that will really connect with a modern audience. The question was always who would be our perfect Becky Sharp and that is undoubtedly Olivia Cooke! So we are thrilled she has agreed to play Becky, in what promises to be a very exciting new drama for ITV next year.'

The series will premiere on ITV in the UK before transferring to Amazon Prime Exclusive in the US.