ITV will adapt Jane Austen's unfinished novel, Sanditon, for a new drama series.

Screenwriter Andrew Davies will bring her last manuscript to life, which she wrote just months before her death in 1817. Sanditon is about the love story that emerges between Charlotte Heywood and Sidney Parker, after Charlotte moves to the coastal town where she discovers who she is and finds love.

Based on Austen's 11 original chapters, the story will be adapted into an eight-hour series, according to the Evening Standard.

Polly Hill, ITV’s Head of Drama, told the Evening Standard: “It’s a rich, romantic, family saga built upon the foundations Jane Austen laid. There is no one better to adapt her unfinished novel than Andrew who has an incredible track record for bold and original adaptations.

Davies added: "Jane Austen managed to write only a fragment of her last novel before she died – but what a fragment!"

"Sanditon tells the story of the transformation of a sleepy fishing village into a fashionable seaside resort, with a spirited young heroine, a couple of entrepreneurial brothers, some dodgy financial dealings, a West Indian heiress, and quite a bit of nude bathing. It's been a privilege and a thrill for me to develop Sanditon into a TV drama for a modern audience."

Davies has worked on other classics such as War & Peace, Mr Selfridge, Les Misérables and Pride and Prejudice, the latter of which starred Colin Firth as Mr Darcy. Casting will be announced soon, with filming expected to begin next spring.

From: Harper's BAZAAR UK