Author Lindsey Davis and the first book in the Marcus Didius Falco series, The Silver Pigs.

EXCLUSIVE: ITV is in advanced development on a sweeping adaptation of Lindsey Davis’ Falco Roman private detective novels after the project was originally in with the BBC.

Deadline can reveal that Mammoth Screen will make the series, and the World On Fire and War Of The Worlds producer is in negotiations with ITV over the number episodes, casting and the production budget.

The series was originally pitched to the BBC and was in development with the public broadcaster for some time. It has now moved over to the BBC’s biggest commercial rival where it is being overseen by ITV head of drama Polly Hill.

Mammoth, which makes Victoria for ITV, optioned the Falco books back in 2013 and has worked with Lost In Austen writer Guy Andrews to adapt them for television, with author Davis consulting on the series.

She has published 20 Falco novels, starting with The Silver Pigs in 1989. Each tells a self-contained story about Marcus Didius Falco, a fictional Roman private detective who investigates crimes and acts as an often reluctant imperial agent.

Falco is described by Davis as a “laid-back” operator whose adventures take place across the Roman Empire in 70AD and beyond. As the books progress, Falco gets married, has children and acquires a dog named Nux.

Audio versions of five of Davis’ Falco novels have previously been recorded for BBC Radio 4. The recordings starred Game of Thrones actor Anton Lesser as the detective.