Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey, has announced that he is to adapt one of his favourite novels for ITV - Anthony Trollope's Doctor Thorne. Fellowes describes himself as a "lifelong devotee" of the 19th-century author whose novel charts the story of Dr Thomas Thorne who lives with his niece Mary in the village of Greshamsbury in Barsetshire.

But this isn't the first of Trollope's novels to be adapted for TV. In 1951, the BBC serialised The Warden, Trollope's fourth novel and the first in the author's series known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire. It was broadcast live and apparently never recorded. And since then there have been a number of excellent Trollope adaptations. Let's take a look at the stand out TV version that have brought Trollope to the screen.

The Pallisers (1974)

Dramatised for BBC Two in 1974, The Pallisers was one of the most ambitious TV adaptations ever. Covering six books, spanning 20 years of narrative and with a huge cast, it took 13 months to film. After working together on The Forsyte Saga in 1967, Simon Raven suggested to fellow writer Lennox Phillips that they take on Trollope's great political book series. However, the production was plagued with problems - an energy crisis, strikes, a three-day week, and a ban on broadcasting after 10.30pm. Susan Hampshire starred as Lady Glencora, alongside Anna Massey and Anna Carteret, as well as rising stars Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews (before they took the leads together in Brideshead Revisited).

The Barchester Chronicles (1982)

_{Geraldine McEwan as Mrs Proudie. Credit: BBC}

Alan Rickman, Geraldine McEwan, Susan Hampshire, Nigel Hawthorne and Donald Pleasance all starred in the BBC's adapatation of The Warden and Barchester Towers, Trollope's first two novels in the Barsetshire series. Rickman played the odius Mr Slope, McEwan was the domineering virago Mrs Proudie, and Hawthorne the excitable Archdeacon. The series was filmed in and around Peterborough Cathedral and was nominated for a string of Baftas, eventually winning for Best Design.

READ: WHY IS TV SO IN LOVE WITH TROLLOPE?

The Way We Live Now (2001)

_{Helen Schlesinger as Madame Melmotte and David Suchet as Augustus Melmotte. Credit: BBC}

David Suchet gave a magnificent performance as Augustus Melmotte, "the great financier" in Trollope's story of power, greed and corruption set in the political and financial world of London. This was Trollope's longest novel and had been previously filmed by the BBC in 1969, with Simon Raven as script writer. This adaptation, by Andrew Davies, was filmed in four episodes and won the Bafta for Best Drama Serial in 2002.

Matthew Macfadyen also starred as cad-about-town Sir Felix Carbury, with Shirley Henderson as Melmotte's manic daughter Marie, who develops a dangerous passion for Felix.

He Knew He Was Right (2004)

Andrew Davies (the man behind the 1995 TV series of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth) adapted Trollope's tragic tale of destructive love and jealousy for BBC One. It consisted of four episodes and was directed by Scotsman Thomas Vaughan, who had previously worked on Cold Feet. It was shot at Hughenden Manor in Buckinghamshire and starred Oliver Dimsdale in the lead part as Louis Trevelyan, alongside Geoffrey Palmer and Bill Nighy.

_{Laura Fraser as Emily Trevelyan and Bill Nighy as Colonel Osborne. Credit: BBC}