Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes’ The Gilded Age moves from NBC to HBO

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

If you haven't had enough of Julian Fellowes' particular brand of high-society opulance, then fear not, for the writer's long-in-development period drama The Gilded Age is finally moving forward. The series is said to be a sweeping fictional epic of the millionaire titans of New York City in the 1880s which Fellowes initially developed for NBC, but as it was shaping up to become bigger and more ambitious, not to mention expensive, The Gilded Age has now made the leap to HBO.

"Given the opulent scope and scale of this richly textured character drama, HBO is the perfect home for ‘The Gilded Age,'" said Casey Bloys, president, HBO Programming. "We’re all huge fans of Julian and I know I speak for Bob Greenblatt — who was involved in the development of this series while at Universal Television — when I say we’re thrilled to bring his undeniable genius to our viewers." HBO has given The Gilded Age a 10-episode order. The series begins in 1885, a period of immense economic change where huge fortunes were made and lost and the disparity between old money and new money was made all the more apparent. We follow young Marian Brook, "the orphaned daughter of a Southern general, who moves into the home of her rigidly conventional aunts in New York City. Accompanied by the mysterious Peggy Scott, an African-American woman masquerading as her maid, Marian gets caught up in the dazzling lives of her stupendously rich neighbors, led by a ruthless railroad tycoon and his ambitious wife struggling for acceptance by the Astor and Vanderbilt set." In a statement, Julian Fellowes said:

I feel very privileged to be making “The Gilded Age” with HBO and Universal Television. It has been a dream of mine for some time, as I am fascinated by this brutal and intensely glamorous period of America’s history. It will be about ambition, of course, and envy and hatred and, perhaps most of all, about love. I hope people will enjoy the series. I know I will enjoy making it.

Downton Abbey producer Gareth Neame, who will also serve as a producer on The Gilded Age, added, "I’m thrilled that HBO and Universal Television will be bringing “The Gilded Age” to life. This is a compelling part of the American story and has remarkable parallels with the world we live in as these people set many of the wheels in motion that drive us today." While we await The Gilded Age, we've got the DOWNTON ABBEY movie to look forward to on September 20, 2019.