Downton Abbey creator will focus on 1880s America for new series

The brains behind hit period drama Downton Abbey is creating a new series for American TV network NBC, set in 1880s New York.

Writer Julian Fellowes' Abbey has just been picked up for a fourth season and he is now focusing his attention on 19th century America for what will be his first direct U.S. TV series.

Fellowes, who will write and produce The Gilded Age, says, "This was a vivid time with dizzying, brilliant ascents and calamitous falls, of record-breaking ostentation and savage rivalry; a time when money was king."

Meanwhile, Fellowes has also been tapped to host a new show about English stately homes.